CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 13
Priests are ordained directly by God--Their garments are washed white in the blood of the Lamb--Melchizedek
was the Prince of Peace--He was the greatest person to ever live. (82 BCE)
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Melchizedek was the Prince of Peace
(He was the greatest person ever)
1 And again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God
gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God
ordained priests, after
his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.
2 And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the
people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.
3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained -- being called and prepared from
the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works;
in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising
exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was
prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.
4 And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while
others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while,
if it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.
5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same standing with their brethren; thus
this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in
and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared --
6 And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of
the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his
rest --
7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the
foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from
eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things --
8 Now they were ordained after this manner -- being called with a holy calling, and ordained
with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and
high priesthood, is without beginning or end --
9 Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the
Son,the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace,
equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.
10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many
who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance,
and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;
Alma continued his speech to Zeezrom and people of Ammonihah who have gathered.
Here's some of what he said:
Priests were ordained directly by God, according to the order of his Son.
11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and
their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.
12 Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white,
being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were
many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their
God.
13 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should humble yourselves before God, and
bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest.
14 Yea, humble yourselves even as the people in the days of Melchizedek, who was also a high
priest after this same order which I have spoken, who also took upon him the high priesthood forever.
Their garments were washed white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes;
yea, even our father Abraham
paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed.
16 Now these ordinances were given after this manner, that thereby the people might look
forward on the Son of God, it being a type of his order, or it being his order, and this that they might look forward
to him for a remission of their sins, that they might enter into the rest of the Lord.
17 Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong
in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness;
Abraham paid tithes to the high priest Melchizedek equal to one-tenth of all that he owned. [1]
18 But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high
priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent; and
Melchizedek did establish peace in the land in his days; therefore he was called the prince of peace, for he was the
king of Salem; and he did reign under his father.
He was called the prince of peace [2],
and he
reigned under his father. [3]
19 Now, there were many before him, and also there were many afterwards,
but none were greater; therefore, of him they have more particularly made mention.
No one was greater than him. [4]
20 Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may suffice. Behold,
the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction.
21 And now it came to pass that when Alma had said these words unto them, he stretched forth
his hand unto them and cried with a mighty voice, saying: Now is the time to repent, for the day of salvation draweth
nigh;
22 Yea, and the voice of the Lord, by the mouth of angels, doth declare it unto all nations;
yea, doth declare it, that they may have glad tidings of great joy; yea, and he doth sound these
glad tidings among all his people, yea, even to them that are scattered abroad upon the face of the earth; wherefore they have come
unto us.
23 And they are made known unto us in plain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot
err; and this because of our being wanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have
these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard.
24 For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for
the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his
glory.
25 And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels,
of his coming; for the time cometh, we know not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be
sooner or later, in it I will rejoice.
26 And it shall be made known unto just and holy men, by the mouth of angels, at the time of
his coming, that the words of our fathers may be fulfilled, according to that which they have spoken concerning him,
which was according to the spirit of prophecy which was in them.
It's time for you to repent.
27 And now, my brethren, I wish from the inmost part of my heart, yea, with great anxiety
even unto pain, that ye would hearken unto my words, and cast off your sins, and not procrastinate the day of your
repentance;
29 Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having
the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.
Don't procrastinate the day of your repentance
30 And may the Lord grant unto you repentance, that ye may not bring down his wrath upon
you, that ye may not be bound down by the chains of hell, that ye may not suffer the second death.
or you may be bound down by the chains of hell and suffer the second
death.
31And Alma spake many more words unto the people, which are not written in this book.
Alma said many more words than this, but they're not writtn down in this book.
And it came to pass: 13:21
Exceedingly: 13:3(2), 12
Behold: 13:18, 20, 24
Yea: 13:3, 14, 15, 17, 22(4),
27
13:9a Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 5:6
13:9b Full of grace and truth John 1:14
13:11 And have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:14
13:13 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. Matthew 3:8
13:15 For this Melchisedec ... To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. Hebrews 7:1-2
3:20 Which they ... wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 2 Peter 3:16
3:22 And the angel said unto them ... I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10
3:28a Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. Matthew 26:41
3:28b To be tempted above that ye are able ... to bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13
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The Annotated Book of Mormon
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Alma 13
