CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 19
The Lamanites fear that King Lamoni is dead since he hasn't moved in two days--But the queen says he doesn't stink enough to be dead--Ammon agrees with the queen, saying the king is just sleeping
and will wake up the next day--The queen believes Ammon--King Lamoni wakes up the next day praising Jesus--The king, queen, Ammon, and everyone else sink down to the earth--Except for Abish, who ran
to tell everyone else--The people begin to murmur--A man who was angry at Ammon for killing his brother tries to kill him, but he falls down dead--The people say Ammon is the Great Spirit, or was sent by the Great Spirit, or is a
monster sent by the Nephites--The queen praises Jesus and speaks in tongues--Some believe and some don't--Those who believe stop being wicked
and establish a church. (90 BCE)
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King Lamoni wakes from his sleep with God
1 And it came to pass that
after two days and two nights they were about to take his
body and lay it in a sepulchre, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead.
2 Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in
unto her.
By now the people were thinking that King Lamoni was probably dead. He had been lying motionless on his bed for two days,
so the queen called for Ammon to ask him what to do.
3 And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the
queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do.
4 And she said unto him: The servants of my husband have made it known unto me that thou art a prophet
of a holy God, and that thou hast power to do many mighty works in his name;
So Ammon came to see the queen and she said to him,
5 Therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband,
for he has been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but
others say that he is dead and that he stinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulchre;
but as for myself, to me he doth not stink.
My husband's body has been lying on a bed for two days.
Some say he stinks and should be buried, but I don't think he stinks.
6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew
that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which
was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness -- yea, this light had infused such
joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in
his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God --
Ammon knew that the king was merely under the dark veil of unbelief.
7 Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king
according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead.
8 And he said unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepeth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise
again; therefore bury him not.
So he said to the queen,
He's sleeping in God. He'll wake up tomorrow.
So don't bury him.
Do you believe me?
9 And Ammon said unto her: Believest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had
no witness save thy
word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said.
The queen said,
I only have your word and the word of our servants.
But, sure, I guess I believe you.
10 And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding
faith; I say unto thee, woman,
there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.
11 And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that
time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise.
Ammon said,
Bless you for your faith.
There's never been a Nephite with stronger faith than you.
12 And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he
arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou.
She waited by the king's bed until the next day.
He woke up just like Ammon said he would.
When he did, he said,
13 For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be born of
a woman, and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words,
his heart was
swollen within him, and he sunk again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit.
I've seen my Redeemer, who will be born of a woman, and will save everyone who believes in him.
The king's heart was swollen, and he sunk with joy, and the queen sunk down with him.
Ammon also sunk to the earth.
14 Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his prayers upon the Lamanites, his
brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of
their iniquities and their traditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving
to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with joy; and thus they
all three had sunk to the earth.
So now all three of them were sunk.
15 Now, when the servants of the king had seen that they had fallen, they also began to cry unto God,
for the fear of the Lord had come upon them also, for it was they who had stood before the king and testified unto him
concerning the great power of Ammon.
When the servants of the king saw that Ammon, the king and the queen had all fallen down,
they started calling out to God, and then they also fell down to the earth.
16 And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in their
might, even until they had all fallen to the earth, save it were one
of the Lamanitish women, whose name was Abish,
she having been converted unto the Lord for many years, on account of a remarkable vision of her father --
The last person standing was a Lamanitish woman named Abish [1], who had converted to the Lord years ago.
17 Thus, having been converted to the Lord, and never having made it known, therefore, when she saw that
all the servants of Lamoni had fallen to the earth, and also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay
prostrate upon the earth, she knew that it was the power of God; and supposing that this opportunity, by making known
unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would cause them to believe in the power
of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people.
18 And they began to assemble themselves together unto the house of the king. And there came a multitude,
and to their astonishment they beheld the king, and the queen, and their servants prostrate upon the earth, and they all
lay there as though they were dead; and they also saw Ammon, and behold, he was a Nephite.
She ran from house to house, telling people about how everyone had sunk to the earth.
19 And now the people began to murmur among themselves; some saying that it was a great evil that had
come upon them, or upon the king and his house, because he had suffered that the Nephite should remain in the land.
20 But others rebuked them, saying: The king hath brought this evil upon his house,
because he slew his servants who had had their flocks scattered at the waters of Sebus.
21 And they were also rebuked by those men who had stood at the waters of Sebus and scattered the flocks
which belonged to the king, for they were angry with Ammon because of the number which he had slain of their brethren
at the waters of Sebus, while defending the flocks of the king.
A large crowd gathered, and they were astonished by the huge group laying on the floor, looking dead.
They were unsure what to make of it, but they were pretty sure there was some kind of wickedness going on.
22 Now, one of them, whose brother had been slain with the sword of Ammon, being
exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon
Ammon, to slay him; and as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead.
One of the members of the crowd was angry at Ammon, because Ammon had killed his brother in the waters of Sebus incident.
He pulled out his sword and ran towards him, ready to kill him -- but when he lifted his sword to strike Ammon,
he fell down dead.
23 Now we see that Ammon could not be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare
him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith -- therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord.
24 And it came to pass that when the multitude beheld that the man had fallen
dead, who lifted the sword to slay Ammon, fear came upon them all, and they durst not put forth their hands to touch
him or any of those who had fallen; and they began to marvel again among themselves what could be the cause of this
great power, or what all these things could mean.
This happened because Ammon couldn't be killed, since God said to Mosiah his father, "I will spare him."
25 And it came to pass that there were many among them who
said that Ammon was
the Great Spirit, and others said he was sent by the Great Spirit;
26But others rebuked them all, saying
that he was a monster, who had been sent from the Nephites to
torment them.
27 And there were some who said that Ammon was sent by the Great Spirit to afflict
them because of their iniquities; and that it was the Great Spirit that had always attended the Nephites, who had
ever delivered them out of their hands; and they said that it was this Great Spirit who had destroyed so many of
their brethren, the Lamanites.
Now the crowd was really confused. Some of them said that Ammon was the Great Spirit, some thought that he was sent by the Great Spirit,
and others thought he was a monster who was sent by the Nephites to torment them.
28 And thus the contention began to be exceedingly sharp among them. And while
they were thus contending, the woman servant who had caused the multitude to be gathered together came, and when she
saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto
tears.
Everyone was arguing, and on the verge of fighting, so Abish walked up to the queen, and took her hand to help her up.
29 And it came to pass that she went and took the queen by the hand, that perhaps
she might raise her from the ground; and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and cried
with a loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, have mercy on this
people!
Then the queen yelled out,
O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful Hell!
O blessed God, have mercy on this people!
30 And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy,
speaking many words which
were not understood; and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood
upon his feet.
Then she spoke in tongues for a while [2], grabbed the king's hand and he stood up on his feet.
31 And he, immediately, seeing the contention among his people, went forth and began
to rebuke them, and to teach them the words which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon; and as many as heard his words
believed, and were converted unto the Lord.
The king saw that the people were confused, and he tried to set the record straight about Ammon,
God, the Great Spirit, and everything else.
32 But there were many among them who would not hear his words; therefore they went their way.
Most of the people believed him and were converted, but some didn't, and they went away.
33 And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them,
and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing -- that their
hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.
34 And behold, many did declare unto the people that
they had seen angels and had conversed with them;
and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness.
35 And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and
as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among
them.
36 And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his
Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name.
Many Lamanites were converted that day.
They stopped being wicked and established a church.