1 And it came to pass that Shez, who was a descendant of Heth -- for Heth had perished by the famine, and all his household save it were Shez -- wherefore, Shez began to build up again a broken people.
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Gilead ... received great strength to his army, because of secret combinations. Ether 14:8 9:35
Trivia: Why did the Lord chasten the brother of Jared for three hours?
1 And it came to pass that Shez, who was a descendant of Heth -- for Heth had perished by the famine, and all his household save it were Shez -- wherefore, Shez began to build up again a broken people.
King Heth died in God's famine; his only surviving descendent, Shez, became the next king.
2 And it came to pass that Shez did remember the destruction of his fathers, and he did build up a righteous kingdom; for he remembered what the Lord had done in bringing Jared and his brother across the deep; and he did walk in the ways of the Lord; and he begat sons and daughters.
Shez walked in the ways of the Lord, but his oldest son (also named Shez) rebelled against him.
3 And his eldest son, whose name was Shez, did rebel against him; nevertheless, Shez was smitten by the hand of a robber, because of his exceeding riches, which brought peace again unto his father.
4 And it came to pass that his father did build up many cities upon the face of the land, and the people began again to spread over all the face of the land. And Shez did live to an exceedingly old age; and he begat Riplakish. And he died, and Riplakish reigned in his stead.
Fortunately for King Shez, robbers killed Shez Jr., restoring peace to his kingdom.
King Shez built many cities and the people spread over the face of the land.
When King Shez was exceedingly old, he had son named Riplakish, who replaced him as king.
5 And it came to pass that Riplakish did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have many wives and concubines, and did lay that upon men's shoulders which was grievous to be borne; yea, he did tax them with heavy taxes; and with the taxes he did build many spacious buildings.
King Riplakish had many wives and concubines (which was not right in the sight of the Lord) [1] and he imposed heavy taxes on the people. [2]
6 And he did erect him an exceedingly beautiful throne; and he did build many prisons, and whoso would not be subject unto taxes he did cast into prison; and whoso was not able to pay taxes he did cast into prison; and he did cause that they should labor continually for their support; and whoso refused to labor he did cause to be put to death.
He built a fancy throne that he paid for with taxes.
Whoever refused to pay taxes was thrown into prison, and any prisoner that refused to work was killed.
7 Wherefore he did obtain all his fine work, yea, even his fine gold he did cause to be refined in prison, and all manner of fine workmanship he did cause to be wrought in prison. And it came to pass that he did afflict the people with his whoredoms and abominations.
Riplakish reigned for 42 years, afflicting everyone with his whoredoms and abominations.
8 And when he had reigned for the space of forty and two years the people did rise up in rebellion against him; and there began to be war again in the land, insomuch that Riplakish was killed, and his descendants were driven out of the land.
The people finally rebelled, and Riplakish was killed in the resulting war.
9 And it came to pass after the space of many years, Morianton, (he being a descendant of Riplakish) gathered together an army of outcasts, and went forth and gave battle unto the people; and he gained power over many cities; and the war became exceedingly sore, and did last for the space of many years; and he did gain power over all the land, and did establish himself king over all the land.
After a war that lasted many years, Morianton (a descendant of Riplakish) became king.
10 And after that he had established himself king he did ease the burden of the people, by which he did gain favor in the eyes of the people, and they did anoint him to be their king.
11 And he did do justice unto the people, but not unto himself because of his many whoredoms; wherefore he was cut off from the presence of the Lord.
Although the people liked him and he treated them well, he was cut off from the presence of the Lord because of his many whoredoms.
12 And it came to pass that Morianton built up many cities, and the people became exceedingly rich under his reign, both in buildings, and in gold and silver, and in raising grain, and in flocks, and herds, and such things which had been restored unto them.
During his reign the people built many cities and became exceedingly rich.
13 And Morianton did live to an exceedingly great age, and then he begat Kim; and Kim did reign in the stead of his father; and he did reign eight years, and his father died. And it came to pass that Kim did not reign in righteousness, wherefore he was not favored of the Lord.
Morianton lived to an exceedingly great age and then begat Kim, who replaced him as king.
14 And his brother did rise up in rebellion against him, by which he did bring him into captivity; and he did remain in captivity all his days; and he begat sons and daughters in captivity, and in his old age he begat Levi; and he died.
Kim's brother rebelled against him and put Kim in captivity, where he remained for the rest of his life.
15 And it came to pass that Levi did serve in captivity after the death of his father, for the space of forty and two years. And he did make war against the king of the land, by which he did obtain unto himself the kingdom.
16 And after he had obtained unto himself the kingdom he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord; and the people did prosper in the land; and he did live to a good old age, and begat sons and daughters; and he also begat Corom, whom he anointed king in his stead.
In his old age he begat Levi, who remained in captivity for 42 years.
Then he went to war and became king. Levi did right in the sight of the Lord and the people prospered.
He lived to a good old age and begat Corom, who became the next king.
17 And it came to pass that Corom did that which was good in the sight of the Lord all his days; and he begat many sons and daughters; and after he had seen many days he did pass away, even like unto the rest of the earth; and Kish reigned in his stead.
Corom did things that were good in the eyes of the Lord.
Then he died and Kish became king.
Then Kish died and was replaced with Lib. [3]
19 And it came to pass that Lib also did that which was good in the sight of the Lord. And in the days of Lib the poisonous serpents were destroyed. Wherefore they did go into the land southward, to hunt food for the people of the land, for the land was covered with animals of the forest. And Lib also himself became a great hunter.
Lib did good in the sight of the Lord and the poisonous serpents were removed. [4]
20 And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.
Lib and his people built a great city in the narrow neck of land. [5]
21 And they did preserve the land southward for a wilderness, to get game. And the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants.
22 And they were exceedingly industrious, and they did buy and sell and traffic one with another, that they might get gain.
They made the southern land into a game preserve and covered the whole face of the northern land with people. [6]
23 And they did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work.
24And they did have silks, and fine-twined linen; and they did work all manner of cloth, that they might clothe themselves from their nakedness.
25 And they did make all manner of tools to till the earth, both to plow and to sow, to reap and to hoe, and also to thrash.
26 And they did make all manner of tools with which they did work their beasts.
27 And they did make all manner of weapons of war. And they did work all manner of work of exceedingly curious workmanship.
The people of Lib had silk clothes [7] and tools and weapons made from iron and brass with exceedingly curious workmanship.
28 And never could be a people more blessed than were they, and more prospered by the hand of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands, for the Lord had spoken it.
There never was and never will be a people more blessed than Lib's people.
They lived on the best land on earth, according to God anyway.
29 And it came to pass that Lib did live many years, and begat sons and daughters; and he also begat Hearthom.
King Lib lived for many years and begat Hearthom.
30 And it came to pass that Hearthom reigned in the stead of his father. And when Hearthom had reigned twenty and four years, behold, the kingdom was taken away from him. And he served many years in captivity, yea, even all the remainder of his days.
Hearthom was king for 24 years and then his kingdom was taken away from him.
The rest of his life was spent in captivity. [8]
31 And he begat Heth, and Heth lived in captivity all his days. And Heth begat Aaron, and Aaron dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Amnigaddah, and Amnigaddah also dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Coriantum, and Coriantum dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Com.
Hearthom begat Heth, who begat Aaron, who begat Amnigaddah, who begat Coriantum, who begat Com.
They all lived in captivity all their days.
32 And it came to pass that Com drew away the half of the kingdom. And he reigned over the half of the kingdom forty and two years; and he went to battle against the king, Amgid, and they fought for the space of many years, during which time Com gained power over Amgid, and obtained power over the remainder of the kingdom.
33 And in the days of Com there began to be robbers in the land>; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom.
Com drew away half the kingdom and ruled over that half for 42 years.
Then he went to war with another king (Amgid).
They fought for many years until finally Com defeated Amgid and took control of his kingdom.
There were robbers in Com's kingdom who adopted the old plans and took ancient oaths.
Com fought against the robbers but he didn't have much success.
Notes
God hates taxes. He is a Republican (or a Libertarian).
The story doesn't say where Kish and Lib came from.
These are the ones that God sent in the last chapter to punish the people.
Those that died from getting bit by God's poisonous serpents were eaten by whoever managed to survive God's famine and poisonous snakes.
I guess God's poisonous serpents were still biting people for the last six generations or so.
Modern-day Panama?
South and North America, respectively.
Silk fabrics were not present in the pre-Columbian New World.
I don't know what living in captivity means but it sounds exceedingly biblical.