1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates, to preserve our genealogy --
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The people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon. 15:0
Trivia: Why did Jarom command his son Omni to write on plates?
1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Omni, being commanded by my father, Jarom, that I should write somewhat upon these plates, to preserve our genealogy --
I, Omni, was commanded by my father, Jarom, to write on these plates to preserve our genealogy. [1]
2 Wherefore, in my days, I would that ye should know that I fought much with the sword to preserve my people, the Nephites, from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites. But behold, I of myself am a wicked man, and I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done.
I fought with my sword against the Lamanites, but I'm a wicked man, who hasn't kept the statutes and commandments of the Lord.
3And it came to pass that two hundred and seventy and six years had passed away, and we had many seasons of peace; and we had many seasons of serious war and bloodshed. Yea, and in fine, two hundred and eighty and two years had passed away, and I had kept these plates according to the commandments of my fathers; and I conferred them upon my son Amaron. And I make an end.
For 276 years there were many years of war and peace.
After another two years, I passed the plates to my son Amaron. [2]
I, Amaron, write whatever I write, which isn't much, in my father's book.
5 Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.
6 For the Lord would not suffer, after he had led them out of the land of Jerusalem and kept and preserved them from falling into the hands of their enemies, yea, he would not suffer that the words should not be verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall not prosper in the land.
7 Wherefore, the Lord did visit them in great judgment; nevertheless, he did spare the righteous that they should not perish, but did deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.
320 years have passed, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed.
And I delivered the plates to my brother, Chemish. [3]
9 Now I, Chemish, write what few things I write, in the same book with my brother; for behold, I saw the last which he wrote, that he wrote it with his own hand; and he wrote it in the day that he delivered them unto me. And after this manner we keep the records, for it is according to the commandments of our fathers. And I make an end.
Now I, Chemish, write the few things that I write in the same book that my brother wrote in.
I saw him write it with his own hand on the day he gave it to me.
And that's all I have to say about that. [4]
10 Behold, I, Abinadom, am the son of Chemish. Behold, it came to pass that I saw much war and contention between my people, the Nephites, and the Lamanites; and I, with my own sword, have taken the lives of many of the Lamanites in the defence of my brethren.
I, Abinadom, am the son of Chemish. I saw much fighting between the Nephites and Lamanites, and I killed many Lamanites with my own sword.
11 And behold, the record of this people is engraven upon plates which is had by the kings, according to the generations; and I know of no revelation save that which has been written, neither prophecy; wherefore, that which is sufficient is written. And I make an end.
The details can be found on the plates of the kings.
I don't have any revelations or prophecies, so I'll end here. [5]
12 Behold, I am Amaleki, the son of Abinadom. Behold, I will speak unto you somewhat concerning Mosiah, who was made king over the land of Zarahemla; for behold, he being warned of the Lord that he should flee out of the land of Nephi, and as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord should also depart out of the land with him, into the wilderness --
13And it came to pass that he did according as the Lord had commanded him. And they departed out of the land into the wilderness, as many as would hearken unto the voice of the Lord; and they were led by many preachings and prophesyings. And they were admonished continually by the word of God; and they were led by the power of his arm, through the wilderness, until they came down into the land which is called the land of Zarahemla.
I'm Amaleki, the son of Abinadom, I'll speak somewhat about Mosiah who was warned by the Lord to flee from the land of Nephi.
14 And they discovered a people, who were called the people of Zarahemla. Now, there was great rejoicing among the people of Zarahemla; and also Zarahemla did rejoice exceedingly, because the Lord had sent the people of Mosiah with the plates of brass which contained the record of the Jews.
In the wilderness he discovered some people who were called the people of Zarahemla.
When the people of Zarahemla saw Mosiah's brass plates they rejoiced because it contained the record of the Jews.
15 Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon.
16 And they journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.
Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla left Jerusalem when king Zedekiah was carried captive to Babylon. [6]
They were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters where Mosiah discovered them.
17 And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them.
They had multiplied and become numerous, but their language was corrupted, and they had no records.
Also they were atheists, and Mosiah and his people couldn't understand their language. [7]
18But it came to pass that Mosiah caused that they should be taught in his language. And it came to pass that after they were taught in the language of Mosiah, Zarahemla gave a genealogy of his fathers, according to his memory; and they are written, but not in these plates.
Mosiah taught them his language, and Zarahelma recorded his genealogy from his memory, but they're not included in these plates. [8]
19And it came to pass that the people of Zarahemla, and of Mosiah, did unite together; and Mosiah was appointed to be their king.
The people of Zarahelma and Mosiah united and made Mosiah their king.
20And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God.
21 And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.
A large stone was brought to him, and he interpreted the engravings on it with the power of God.
The writing on the rock told about Coriantumr, who dwelt with the people of Zarahelma for nine moons. [9]
22 It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. And his first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.
The rock said that Coriantumr's parents came from the tower when God confounded the languages of the people. [10]
23 Behold, I, Amaleki, was born in the days of Mosiah; and I have lived to see his death; and Benjamin, his son, reigneth in his stead.
I, Amaleki, lived to see Mosiah's death. Benjamin, his son succeeded him as king.
24 And behold, I have seen, in the days of king Benjamin, a serious war and much bloodshed between the Nephites and the Lamanites. But behold, the Nephites did obtain much advantage over them; yea, insomuch that king Benjamin did drive them out of the land of Zarahemla.
There were wars between the Lamanites and the Nephites, but King Benjamin drove them out of the land of Zarahemla.
25And it came to pass that I began to be old; and, having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the Lord, wherefore, I shall deliver up these plates unto him, exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are good; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord; and that which is evil cometh from the devil.
26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.
Since I have no children, I'm delivering these plates to King Benjamin, and remind everyone to speak in tongues and get saved by Christ. [11]
27And now I would speak somewhat concerning a certain number who went up into the wilderness to return to the land of Nephi; for there was a large number who were desirous to possess the land of their inheritance.
Now I'm going to tell you about some people who left Zarahelma to return to the land of Nephi.
28 Wherefore, they went up into the wilderness. And their leader being a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man, wherefore he caused a contention among them; and they were all slain, save fifty, in the wilderness, and they returned again to the land of Zarahemla.
29 And it came to pass that they also took others to a considerable number, and took their journey again into the wilderness.
Their leader was a strong, mighty, stiff-necked man, who got them all killed, save fifty, who returned again to the land of Zarahemla.
30 And I, Amaleki, had a brother, who also went with them; and I have not since known concerning them. And I am about to lie down in my grave; and these plates are full. And I make an end of my speaking.
I, Amaleki, had a brother who went with them, and I haven't heard from him since.
I'm about to die and the plates are full.
So I'm going to stop talking now.
Notes
The Book of Omni is the last of the "small plates of Nephi," all of which were written in first person. The "large plates of Nephi" (Words of Mormon through Moroni) are third person accounts found and collected by Mormon and passed on to his son Moroni -- who 1400 years later, after being transformed into an angel, delivered the plates (large and small) to Joseph Smith.
It turns out that Omni's little book wasn't written by Omni, at least most of it wasn't. Omni only wrote the first three verses, from which we learn the following things: Omni fought with Lamanites, he was a wicked man, and he had a son named Amaron, who received the plates from Omni when he died.
Amaron was a bit more prolific than his father, writing five verses. From them we learn that after 320 years the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed, but the Lord saved the righteous ones. Then Amaron passed the plates to his brother Chemish.
Chemish wrote a few things in a single verse in the same book, from which we learn that his brother Amaron wrote what he wrote with his own hand (not somebody else's) and he wrote his five verses in a single day.
After Chemish made an end, his son Abinadom took over. Abinadom wrote two verses with three beholds, saying that he killed many Lamanites with his own sword. But he didn't know of any new revelations, "wherefore, that which is sufficient is written."
Now you might be wondering where these mysterious people of Zarahemla came from. It turns out that they were also long lost Israelites That's right! They were seafaring Jews that, with God's help, sailed over "the great waters" from Israel after it was attacked by Babylon in 586 BCE. (The leader of this expedition, Mulek, is named later in the Book of Mormon. See Helaman 6:10)
After arriving in the New World, the people of Zarahemla (aka the Mulekites) became exceedingly numerous. But because they didn't write on brass plates, they became atheists and their language (Reformed Egyptian) became corrupted. So the people of Zarahemla and the people of Mosiah couldn't understand one another.
But these problems were easily solved. Mosiah taught the people of Zarahamla to speak Mosiah's language (Reformed Egyptian -- like all good Jews and indigenous Americans speak), so they could write down their genealogies too. (Although they didn't get to write them on the plates of Nephi.)
"Nine moons" is "Indian talk" for nine months.
Okay, so where did this Coriantumr fellow come from? Well, Israel, of course, silly! All the indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere came from Israel at one time or another. The Nephites sailed over in 600 BCE, the people of Zarahemla (aka the Mulekites) did likewise in 586 BCE, as did Corantumr's people (aka the Jaredites) at the time of the Tower of Babel. (You can read more all about the Jaredites in the Book of Ether.)
Before handing over the plates to King Benjamin, Amaleki reminds everyone to speak in tongues and get saved by Christ -- a couple centuries before Jesus was born or any Christian had spoke in tongues.