CHAPTER 14
A great curse was on the land--Everyone steals everything from everyone else--The brother of Shared (Gilead) defeats
Coriantumr's drunken army--Gilead's army receives strength from secret combinations--Gilead is murdered by his high priest--
Gilead's high priest is murdered by a secret combination in a secret pass--There are
battles between Lib and Coriantumr--Coriantumr killed Lib--The brother of Lib (Shiz) fights exceedingly sore battles with
Coriantumr--The whole earth is covered with rotting dead bodies--All of the deaths are caused by God's wrath--Shiz smote
upon Coriantumr but Coriantumr survived.(ca. 600 BCE)
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Secret combinations in a secret pass
14:1-31
1 And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people, in which,
if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, behold, upon the
morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land.
2 Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was his own, with his hands, and would not borrow neither
would he lend; and every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the defence of his property and his own
life and of his wives and children.
There was a great curse upon the land so that everyone had to hold everything they
owned in their hands so that no one else would steal it.
3 And now, after the space of two years, and after the death of Shared,
behold, there arose the
brother of Shared and he gave battle unto Coriantumr, in which Coriantumr did beat him and did pursue him to the
wilderness of Akish.
4 And it came to pass that the brother of Shared did give battle unto him in the wilderness of Akish;
and the battle became exceedingly sore, and many thousands fell by the sword.
Two years after Coriantumr killed Shared, Shared's brother attacked Coriantumr and many thousands fell by the sword.
5 And it came to pass that Coriantumr did lay siege to the wilderness; and the brother of Shared did march
forth out of the wilderness by night, and slew a part of the army of Coriantumr, as
they were drunken.
Shared's brother attacked Coriantumr's army and killed many of them while they were drunk.
6 And he came forth to the land of Moron, and placed himself upon the throne of Coriantumr.
He defeated Coriantumr and became king in the land of Moron.
7 And it came to pass that Coriantumr dwelt with his army in the wilderness for the space of two years,
in which he did receive great strength to his army.
8Now the brother of Shared, whose name was Gilead, also received great strength to his army,
because of secret combinations.
For the next two years the armies of Coriantumr and Shared's brother (whose name is finally revealed as Gilead) receive great strength.
Gilead's army received strength from the secret combinations. [1]
9 And it came to pass that his high priest murdered him as he
sat upon his throne.
10 And it came to pass that
one of the secret combinations murdered him in a secret pass, and
obtained unto himself the kingdom; and his name was Lib; and Lib was a man of great stature, more than any other man
among all the people.
Gilead's high priest murdered him while he sat on his throne.
Then Lib, who was one of the secret combinations, murdered the high priest in a secret pass.
Lib, by the way, was the biggest man in the entire kingdom.
11 And it came to pass that in the first year of Lib, Coriantumr came up unto the land of Moron, and
gave battle unto Lib.
12 And it came to pass that he fought with Lib, in which Lib did smite upon his arm that he was wounded;
nevertheless, the army of Coriantumr did press forward upon Lib, that he fled to the borders upon the seashore.
13 And it came to pass that Coriantumr pursued him; and
Lib gave battle unto him upon the seashore.
The armies of Lib and Coriantumr fought on the seashore.
14 And it came to pass that Lib did smite the army of Coriantumr, that they fled again to the wilderness
of Akish.
15 And it came to pass that Lib did pursue him until he came to the plains of Agosh. And Coriantumr
had taken all the people with him as he fled before Lib in that quarter of the land whither he fled.
Lib smote Coriantumr, who fled into the wilderness of Akish.
16 And when he had come to the plains of Agosh he gave battle unto Lib, and
he smote upon him until
he died; nevertheless, the brother of Lib did come against Coriantumr in the stead thereof, and the battle became
exceedingly sore, in the which Coriantumr fled again before the army of the brother of Lib.
On the plains of Agosh, Coriantumr smote Lib until he died.
Then Lib's brother fought an exceedingly sore battle with Coriantumr.
17 Now the name of the brother of Lib was called Shiz.
And it came to pass that Shiz pursued after
Coriantumr, and he did overthrow many cities, and he did slay both women and children, and he did burn the cities.
18 And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land -- Who
can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him!
19 And it came to pass that the people began to flock together in armies, throughout all the face of the
land.
20 And they were divided; and a part of them fled to the army of Shiz, and a part of them fled to the
army of Coriantumr.
Lib's brother (Shiz) pursued Coriantumr, destroy cities along the way, killing the women and children.
21 And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the scene of bloodshed and carnage,
that the whole face of the land was covered with the bodies of the dead.
22 And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march
forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children
strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh.
All of the people flocked to the two rival armies and they fought until the entire earth was covered
with rotting dead bodies,
23 And the scent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all the face of the land;
wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof.
and the land began to stink.
24 Nevertheless, Shiz did not cease to pursue Coriantumr; for he had sworn to avenge himself upon
Coriantumr of the blood of his brother, who had been slain, and the word of the Lord which came to Ether that
Coriantumr should not fall by the sword.
25 And thus we see that the Lord did visit them in the fulness of his wrath, and their wickedness
and abominations had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction.
The word of the Lord told Coriantumr that he wouldn't be killed, but everyone else would receive the fullness of his wrath.
26 And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward, even to the borders by the seashore,
and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space of three days.
Shiz and Coriantumr continued to fight.
They fought on the seashore;
27 And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiz that the people began to be frightened,
and began to flee before the armies of Coriantumr; and they fled to the land of Corihor, and swept off the inhabitants
before them, all them that would not join them.
they fought in the land of Corihor; t
28 And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor; and Coriantumr pitched his tents in the
valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comnor; wherefore, Coriantumr did gather his armies
together upon the hill Comnor, and did sound a trumpet unto the armies of Shiz to invite them forth to battle.
they fought in the valley of Shurr near the hill Comnor.
29 And it came to pass that they came forth, but were driven again; and they came the second time, and they
were driven again the second time. And it came to pass that they came again the third time, and
the battle became exceedingly sore.
They fought the first time, and the second time, and the third time, when the battle became exceedingly sore.
30 And it came to pass that
Shiz smote upon Coriantumr that he gave him many deep wounds; and Coriantumr,
having lost his blood, fainted, and was carried away as though he were dead.
Shiz smote upon Coriantumr, giving him many wounds. He was carried off as though he were dead.
31 Now the loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great that Shiz commanded his people that
they should not pursue the armies of Coriantumr; wherefore, they returned to their camp.
Finally, Shiz decided that enough people had been killed so he let the armies of Coriantumr retreat without pursuing them.