CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 9
An angel tells Alma to return to Ammoniah--Alma preaches again to the people of Ammoniah--He warns them to repent or God will send
Lamanites to destroy them--He says Jesus is coming soon--He says they are a lost and fallen people--The people try to throw him in
prison--Alma's friend Amulek begins to preach. (82 BCE)
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Alma Speaks Again to the People of Ammonihah
1 And again, I, Alma, having been commanded of God that
I should take Amulek and go
forth and preach again unto this people, or the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to
pass as I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with me, saying:
God commanded Amulek and me (but mostly me) [1] to return and preach to the people of Ammonihah. So I did.
But they argued with me, saying,
2 Who art thou? Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of one man, although he
should preach unto us that the earth should pass away?
Why should we believe you when you say that God will soon destroy the earth?
3 Now they understood not the words which they spake; for
they knew not that the earth
should pass away.
But then they didn't know the earth would pass away.
4 And they said also: We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst prophesy that
this great city should be destroyed in one day.
They also said,
We don't believe you when you say that God will destroy this city in one day.
5 Now they knew not that God could do such marvelous works, for they were a hard-hearted
and a stiffnecked people.
6 And they said: Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than one man among this
people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?
7 And they stood forth to lay their hands on me; but behold, they did not. And I
stood with boldness to declare unto them, yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:
8 behold, O ye wicked and perverse generation, how have ye forgotten the tradition
of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.
9 Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by the
hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through the wilderness?
10 And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our fathers out of the
hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?
11 Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his
long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this
period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless misery and woe.
They were a hard-hearted and stiff-necked people.
So I said to them,
12 Behold, now I say unto you that he commandeth you to repent; and except ye
repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. But behold, this is not all -- he has commanded you
to repent, or he will utterly destroy you from off the face of the earth; yea, he will visit you in his anger, and in his
fierce anger he will not turn away.
13 Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that:
Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as
ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.
Repent, or God will kill you.
14 Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the Lamanites have not
kept the commandments of God, they have been cut off from the presence of the Lord. Now we see that the word of
the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have been cut off from his presence, from the beginning
of their transgressions in the land.
The Lamanites have been cut off from the presence of the Lord.
15 Nevertheless I say unto you, that
it shall be more tolerable for them in the
day of judgment than for you, if ye remain in your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them in this life than
for you, except ye repent.
16 For there are many promises which are extended to the Lamanites; for it is
because of the traditions of their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of ignorance; therefore the
Lord will be merciful unto them and prolong their existence in the land.
17 And at some period of time they will be brought to believe in his word, and to
know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will be
merciful unto all who call on his name.
18 But behold, I say unto you that if ye persist in your wickedness that your
days shall not be prolonged in the land, for the Lamanites shall be sent upon you; and if ye repent not they shall
come in a time when you know not, and ye shall be visited with utter destruction; and it shall be according to the
fierce anger of the Lord.
It will be even worse for you than for the Lamanites, unless you repent.
19 For he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your iniquities, to destroy
his people. I say unto you, Nay; he would rather suffer that the Lamanites might destroy all his people
who are called the people of Nephi, if it were possible that they could fall into sins and transgressions, after having had
so much light and so much knowledge given unto them of the Lord their God;
20 Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord; yea, after
having been favored above every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things made known
unto them, according to their desires, and their faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and
which is to come;
21 Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and
having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation,
and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and the gift of translation;
22 Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by
the hand of the Lord; having been saved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind;
and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of bondage time
after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all
manner of things --
23 And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have received so
many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress contrary to the light and knowledge which they do
have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into transgression, it would be far more
tolerable for the Lamanites than for them.
24 For behold, the promises of the Lord are extended to the Lamanites, but they
are not unto you if ye transgress; for has not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed, that if ye will rebel
against him that ye shall utterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth?
25 And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit
many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: epent ye,
for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;
Repent or God will send the Lamanites to kill you.
26 And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory
shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy,
and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.
27 And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance,
through faith on his name.
28 Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all
men shall reap a reward of their works, according to that which they have been -- if they have been righteous they
shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have
been evil they shall reap the damnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil.
29 Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people.
30 And now, my beloved brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye ought to be
beloved, and ye ought to ring forth works which are meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have been grossly
hardened against the word of God, and seeing that ye are a lost and a fallen people.
The Son of God will come not many days from now.
31 Now it came to pass that when I, Alma, had spoken
these words, behold, the people
were wroth with me because I said unto them that they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people.
You are a hard-hearted and stiff-necked people.
32 And also because I said unto them that they were a lost and a fallen people they
were angry with me, and sought to lay their hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison.
When I said these things the people became angry and tried to throw me in prison.
33 But it came to pass that the Lord did not suffer them that they should take me at
that time and cast me into prison.
But God wouldn't let them.
34 And it came to pass that Amulek went and stood forth,
and began to preach unto them also. And now the words of Amulek are not all written, nevertheless
a part of his words are written in this book.
After that, I stopped speaking and let Amulek speak.
But only some of his words are included in this book.
And it came to pass: 9:1, 31, 33, 34
Behold: 9:7, 8, 12(2), 13, 18,
23, 24, 27, 29, 31
Yea: 9:7, 8, 11, 12, 15,
20(2), 22
(9:20) Every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people -- Revelation 14:6
(9:25) Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. -- Matthew 4:17
(9:26) and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
-- John 1:14
(9:30) Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. -- Matthew 3:8
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The Annotated Book of Mormon
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Alma 9