CHAPTER 62
Moroni carries the standard of liberty to the land of Gideon--Thousands gather to help him fight against Pachus's
army--The king-men who refused to fight for their country are executed--Teancum murders King Ammoron while he slept and is caught and
killed by the Lamanites--Moroni's army kills many Lamanites in a great slaughter--Helaman dies. (61-57 BCE)
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Moroni and Paharon drive out the Lamanites
62:1-8
1And now it came to pass that when Moroni had received this epistle his heart did take
courage, and was filled with exceedingly great joy because of the faithfulness
of Pahoran, that he was not also a traitor to the freedom and cause of his country.
2 But he did also mourn exceedingly because of the iniquity of those
who had driven Pahoran from the judgment-seat, yea, in fine because of those who had rebelled against their
country and also their God.
When Moroni read Pahoran's letter, he was filled with joy and sadness.
3And it came to pass that Moroni took a small number of men, according
to the desire of Pahoran, and gave Lehi and Teancum command over the
remainder of his army, and took his march towards the land of Gideon.
4 And he did raise the standard of liberty in whatsoever place he did enter, and gained
whatsoever force he could in all his march towards the land of Gideon.
He took a few men and marched toward the land of Gideon, raising the standard of liberty [1]
wherever he went.
5And it came to pass that thousands did flock unto his standard, and did
take up their swords in the defence of their freedom, that they might not come into bondage.
Thousands flocked to his standard, and took up their swords in defense of freedom.
6 And thus, when Moroni had gathered together whatsoever men he could in all his march, he came to
the land of Gideon; and uniting his forces with those of Pahoran they became exceedingly
strong, even stronger than the men of Pachus, who was the king of those dissenters who had driven the freemen
out of the land of Zarahemla and had taken possession of the land.
When Moroni and his men arrived in the land of Gideon, they were joined by the men sent by Pahoran. Their combined
army was now stronger than the men of Pachus, who was
the king of the dissenters and who drove the freemen out of the land of Zarahemla.
7And it came to pass that Moroni and Pahoran went down with their
armies into the land of Zarahemla, and went forth against the city, and did meet the men of Pachus,
insomuch that they did come to battle.
The combined forces of Moroni and Pahoran went to the land of Zarahemla to fight Pachus's army.
8 And behold, Pachus was slain and his men were taken prisoners, and Pahoran was restored
to his judgment-seat.
Pachus was killed and Pahoran was restored to his judgment seat.
The king-men and freedom-deniers are executed
62:9-11
9 And the men of Pachus received their trial, according to the law, and also
those king-men
who had been taken and cast into prison; and they were executed according to the law; yea, those men of
Pachus and those king-men, whosoever would not take up arms in the defence of their country, but would
fight against it, were put to death.
10 And thus it became expedient that this law should be strictly observed for the safety of
their country; yea, and whosoever was found denying their freedom was
speedily executed according to the law.
The king-men who supported Pachus were killed, along with those king-men who refused to fight for their country.
11 And thus ended the thirtieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi;
Moroni and Pahoran having restored peace to the land of Zarahemla, among their own people,
having inflicted death
upon all those who were not true to the cause of freedom.
And whoever denied their freedom was also killed for not being true to the cause of freedom.
62:12-52
12And it came to pass in the commencement of the thirty and first year of
the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Moroni immediately caused that provisions should be sent, and
also an army of six thousand men should be sent unto Helaman, to assist him in preserving that part of the
land.
13 And he also caused that an army of six thousand men, with a sufficient quantity of food,
should be sent to the armies of Lehi and Teancum. And it
came to pass that this was done to fortify the land against the Lamanites.
Moroni sent 6000 men and provisions to Helaman, Lehi, and Teancum.
14And it came to pass that Moroni and Pahoran, leaving a large body of
men in the land of Zarahemla, took their march with a large body of men towards the land of Nephihah, being
determined to overthrow the Lamanites in that city.
15And it came to pass that
as they were marching towards the land,
they took a large body of men of the Lamanites, and slew many of them, and took their provisions and their
weapons of war.
Along the way, they captured a large number of Lamanites and killed many of them.
16And it came to pass after they had taken them, they caused them to
enter into a covenant that they would no more take up their weapons of war against the Nephites.
17 And when they had entered into this covenant they sent them to dwell with the people of
Ammon, and they were in number about four thousand who had not been slain.
The ones they didn't kill (about 4000) were forced to promise never to attack the Nephites again.
18And it came to pass that when they had sent them away they pursued
their march towards the land of Nephihah. And it came to pass that when they had come to the city of Nephihah, they did pitch their tents in the plains of Nephihah, which is near the city of
Nephihah.
19 Now Moroni was desirous that the Lamanites should come out to battle against them, upon
the plains; but the Lamanites, knowing of their exceedingly great courage, and
beholding the greatness of their numbers, therefore they durst not come out against them; therefore they
did not come to battle in that day.
Moroni's army marched to the land of Nephihah.
He wanted to fight the Lamanites there, but they were too afraid to fight against his army.
20 And when the night came, Moroni went forth in the darkness of the night, and came upon
the top of the wall to spy out in what part of the city the Lamanites did camp with their army.
21And it came to pass that they were on the east, by the entrance;
and they were all asleep. And now Moroni returned to his army, and caused that they should prepare in
haste strong cords and ladders, to be let down from the top of the wall into the inner part of the wall.
22And it came to pass that Moroni caused that his men should march forth
and come upon the top of the wall, and let themselves down into that part of the city, yea, even on the west,
where the Lamanites did not camp with their armies.
23And it came to pass that they were all let down into the city by
night, by the means of their strong cords and their ladders; thus when the morning came they were all within
the walls of the city.
So after dark, Moroni's army climbed over the wall and entered the city.
24 And now, when the Lamanites awoke and saw that the armies of Moroni were within the walls,
they were affrighted exceedingly, insomuch that they did flee out by the pass.
When the Lamanites saw the Nephites within the walls of the city, they ran away.
25 And now when Moroni saw that they were fleeing before him, he did cause that his men should
march forth against them, and slew many, and surrounded many others, and took them prisoners; and the remainder
of them fled into the land of Moroni, which was in the borders by the seashore.
But many of them were killed by Moroni and his army before they could escape.
26 Thus had Moroni and Pahoran obtained the possession of the city of Nephihah without the loss of
one soul; and there were many of the Lamanites who were slain.
So Moroni and Pahoran took the city of Nephihah without losing a single soul, while killing many Lamanites.
27Now it came to pass that many of the Lamanites that were prisoners were desirous to join the
people of Ammon and become a free people.
28And it came to pass that as many as were desirous, unto them it was
granted according to their desires.
29 Therefore, all the prisoners of the Lamanites did join the people of Ammon, and did begin
to labor exceedingly, tilling the ground, raising all manner of grain, and flocks
and herds of every kind; and thus were the Nephites relieved from a great burden; yea, insomuch that they
were relieved from all the prisoners of the Lamanites.
30Now it came to pass that Moroni, after he had obtained possession of the city of
Nephihah, having taken many prisoners, which did reduce the armies of the
Lamanites exceedingly, and having regained many of the Nephites who had been
taken prisoners, which did strengthen the army of Moroni exceedingly; therefore
Moroni went forth from the land of Nephihah to the land of Lehi.
Many of the Lamanites that were captured in the battle wanted to join the people of Ammon.
31And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that Moroni was coming
against them, they were again frightened and fled before the army of Moroni.
32And it came to pass that Moroni and his army did pursue them from
city to city, until they were met by Lehi and Teancum; and the Lamanites
fled from Lehi and Teancum, even down upon the borders by the seashore,
until they came to the land of Moroni.
33 And the armies of the Lamanites were all gathered together, insomuch that they were
all in one body in the land of Moroni. Now, Ammoron, the king of the Lamanites, was also with them.
34And it came to pass that Moroni and Lehi and
Teancum did encamp with their armies round about in the borders of the land of Moroni, insomuch that the Lamanites
were encircled about in the borders by the wilderness on the south, and in the borders by the wilderness on the
east.
35 And thus they did encamp for the night. For behold, the Nephites and the Lamanites also
were weary because of the greatness of the march; therefore they did not resolve upon any stratagem in the
night-time, save it were Teancum; for he was exceedingly angry with Ammoron,
insomuch that he considered that Ammoron, and Amalickiah his brother, had been the cause of this great
and lasting war between them and the Lamanites, which had been the cause of so much war and bloodshed,
yea, and so much famine.
Moroni and his army went throughout the land chasing Lamanites from city to city. The remaining Lamanites fled to he land of
Moroni with Ammoron, the Lamanite king.
36And it came to pass that Teancum in his anger did go forth into the
camp of the Lamanites, and did let himself down over the walls of the city. And he went forth with a cord,
from place to place, insomuch that he did find the king; and he did cast a javelin at him, which did pierce
him near the heart. But behold, the king did awaken his servants before he died, insomuch that they did
pursue Teancum, and slew him.
37Now it came to pass that when Lehi and Moroni knew that
Teancum was dead they were exceedingly sorrowful; for behold, he had been a man who
had fought valiantly for his country, yea, a true friend to liberty; and he had suffered very
many exceedingly sore afflictions. But behold, he was dead, and had gone the way
of all the earth.
That night when it was dark, Teancum snuck into the Lamanite's camp and threw a javelin through King Ammoron's heart.
[2]
But the king alerted his servants before he died, and they chased down Teancum and killed him.
38Now it came to pass that Moroni marched forth on the
morrow, and came upon the Lamanites, insomuch that they did slay them with a great slaughter; and they did drive them out of the land; and they
did flee, even that they did not return at that time against the Nephites.
39 And thus ended the thirty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi;
and thus they had had wars, and bloodsheds, and famine, and affliction, for the space of many years.
40 And there had been murders, and contentions, and dissensions, and all manner of iniquity among
the people of Nephi; nevertheless for the righteous' sake, yea, because of the prayers of the righteous, they
were spared.
41 But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war
between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of
the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of
their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.
The next day, Moroni attacked the Lamaites and killed them with a great slaughter.
42And it came to pass that after Moroni had fortified those parts of
the land which were most exposed to the Lamanites, until they were sufficiently strong, he returned to the
city of Zarahemla; and also Helaman returned to the place of his inheritance; and there was once more peace
established among the people of Nephi.
43 And Moroni yielded up the command of his armies into the hands of his son, whose name
was Moronihah; and he retired to his own house that he might spend the remainder of his days in peace.
44 And Pahoran did return to his judgment-seat; and Helaman did take upon him again to preach
unto the people the word of God; for because of so many wars and contentions it had become expedient that a
regulation should be made again in the church.
45 Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth, and did declare the word of God with
much power unto the convincing of many people of their wickedness, which did cause them to repent of
their sins and to be baptized unto the Lord their God.
46And it came to pass that they did establish again the church
of God, throughout all the land.
47 Yea, and regulations were made concerning the law. And their judges, and their
chief judges were chosen.
After the battles, Moroni returned to the city of Zarahemla and gave command of his armies to his son, Mornihah.
48 And the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to multiply and
to wax exceedingly strong again in the land. And they began to
grow exceedingly rich.
49 But notwithstanding their riches, or their strength, or their prosperity, they were not
lifted up in the pride of their eyes; neither were they slow to remember the Lord their God; but they did
humble themselves exceedingly before him.
50 Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had delivered
them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions and he had delivered
them out of the hands of their enemies.
51 And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless
them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land.
And the Nephites prospered and became exceedingly strong, rich, and humble.
52And it came to pass that all these things were done. And Helaman died,
in the thirty and fifth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.