0 SABoM Mosiah 20

He [King Noah] laid a tax of ... a fifth part of their ziff. 11:32

Trivia: What wicked king became a wine-bibber?

The Book of Mosiah

CHAPTER 20

The dancing daughters of the Lamanites are stolen--The Lamanaties attack, fighting like lions--The people of Limhi fight like dragons--Gideon accuses Noah's priests of stealing the Lamanite daughters--The Lamanite king accespts this explanation--There is peace between the Lamanites and the people of Limhi. (145-122 BCE) Previous chapter | Next chapter

Stolen daughters
Absurdity 20:1-26

1 Now there was a place in Shemlon where the daughters of the Lamanites did gather themselves together to sing, and to dance, and to make themselves merry.

2And it came to pass that there was one day a small number of them gathered together to sing and to dance.

3 And now the priests of king Noah, being ashamed to return to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them, therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children.

4 And having tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the Lamanites, they laid and watched them;

The daughters of the Lamanites liked to gather and sing and dance in this secret place in Shemlon. [1]

5 And when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness.

One day, the priests of King Noah kidnapped twenty-four of them and carried them into the wilderness.

6And it came to pass that when the Lamanites found that their daughters had been missing, they were angry with the people of Limhi, for they thought it was the people of Limhi.

7 Therefore they sent their armies forth; yea, even the king himself went before his people; and they went up to the land of Nephi to destroy the people of Limhi.

When the Lamanites found out that their daughters were missing, they suspected that the people of Limhi stole them, so their king sent an army to kill the people of Limhi.

8 And now Limhi had discovered them from the tower, even all their preparations for war did he discover; therefore he gathered his people together, and laid wait for them in the fields and in the forests.

But King Limhi was in the tower and saw them coming, so he sent his people to attack them in the fields and forests.

9And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had come up, that the people of Limhi began to fall upon them from their waiting places, and began to slay them.

10And it came to pass that the battle became exceedingly sore, for they fought like lions for their prey.

So when the Lamanites came to attack, the people of Limhi fought like lions and began to kill them.

11And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites. But they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight.

The Lamanites outnumbered them more than two to one, but the people of Limhi fought like dragons.

12And it came to pass that they found the king of the Lamanites among the number of their dead; yet he was not dead, having been wounded and left upon the ground, so speedy was the flight of his people.

The king of the Lamanites was wounded and appeared to be dead. But he wasn't.

13 And they took him and bound up his wounds, and brought him before Limhi, and said: Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; he having received a wound has fallen among their dead, and they have left him; and behold, we have brought him before you; and now let us slay him.

So they took him to Limhi and said,

Let's kill him.

14 But Limhi said unto them: Ye shall not slay him, but bring him hither that I may see him. And they brought him. And Limhi said unto him: What cause have ye to come up to war against my people? Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people?

But Limhi said to them,

No, don't kill him. Bring him to me.

So they brought him to Limhi and he said to him,

Why are we fighting?

15 And now the king said: I have broken the oath because thy people did carry away the daughters of my people; therefore, in my anger I did cause my people to come up to war against thy people.

The Lamanite king said,

Because you stole our daughters.

16 And now Limhi had heard nothing concerning this matter; therefore he said: I will search among my people and whosoever has done this thing shall perish. Therefore he caused a search to be made among his people.

"Really?" King Limhi said, "I didn't know about that. I'll find whoever did that and kill them."

17 Now when Gideon had heard these things, he being the king's captain, he went forth and said unto the king: I pray thee forbear, and do not search this people, and lay not this thing to their charge.

18 For do ye not remember the priests of thy father, whom this people sought to destroy? And are they not in the wilderness? And are not they the ones who have stolen the daughters of the Lamanites?

19 And now, behold, and tell the king of these things, that he may tell his people that they may be pacified towards us; for behold they are already preparing to come against us; and behold also there are but few of us.

20 And behold, they come with their numerous hosts; and except the king doth pacify them towards us we must perish.

21 For are not the words of Abinadi fulfilled, which he prophesied against us -- and all this because we would not hearken unto the words of the Lord, and turn from our iniquities?

22 And now let us pacify the king, and we fulfil the oath which we have made unto him; for it is better that we should be in bondage than that we should lose our lives; therefore, let us put a stop to the shedding of so much blood.

When Gideon heard about these things, he said to King Limhi,

You don't need to look for the daughter stealers.

Remember your father's priests. They did it.

23 And now Limhi told the king all the things concerning his father, and the priests that had fled into the wilderness, and attributed the carrying away of their daughters to them.

24And it came to pass that the king was pacified towards his people; and he said unto them: Let us go forth to meet my people, without arms; and I swear unto you with an oath that my people shall not slay thy people.

25And it came to pass that they followed the king, and went forth without arms to meet the Lamanites. And it came to pass that they did meet the Lamanites; and the king of the Lamanites did bow himself down before them, and did plead in behalf of the people of Limhi.

26 And when the Lamanites saw the people of Limhi, that they were without arms, they had compassion on them and were pacified towards them, and returned with their king in peace to their own land.

So King Limhi told that Lamanite king that the priests stole the Lamanites' daughters, and the two kings agreed to stop fighting.

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