Episode 37: Alma talks to his sons

Alma 43-44

Back to Fighting!

43 ^1-2 After Alma finished speaking to his sons, they all went out to preach.

³ Now I (Alma) will tell you about the wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites, which happened in 74 BCE. ⁴ The Zoramites became Lamanites, who were getting ready to fight the Nephites. So the Nephites gathered their armies together in the land of Jershon.

⁵ Then thousands of Lamanites arrived in the land of Antionum, led by a man named Zerahemnah. ⁶ Since the Amalekites were even more wicked and murderous than the evil Lamanites, Zerahemnah appointed them to be chief captains over the Lamanites.

^16-17 The chief captain of the Nephites was a 25-year-old man named Moroni. ^18-20 He and his army were armed with swords and scimitars, while the Lamanites had only bows, arrows, and stones. ^21-22 The Nephites were outnumbered, but they had much better armor, with breastplates, shields, and thick clothing, while the Lamanites were naked except for loincloths of skin. When the Lamanites saw the armor of the Nephites, they were afraid and ran into the wilderness.

²³ Moroni asked Alma to ask God to help them find the Lamanites. ²⁴ And the word of the Lord told Alma that the Lamanites might be going to the land of Manti. ²⁵ So Moroni took some of his army to the land of Manti.

³⁶ When the Lamanites saw the Nephites coming, they began to attack. ³⁷ Many Lamanites died in the battle because their naked skins were exposed the Nephites swords and scimitars. ⁴⁴ But the Lamanites fought like dragons, piercing through the Nephite armor, and cut off many of their arms. ^45-50 But the Nephites had a better cause (defending their wives, children, and homes), and they had God on their side. So they won the battle. ⁵⁴ Once the Nephites had surrounded the Lamanites, Moroni saw that they were terrified, and he ordered his men to stop killing them.

A live scalping and a surrender

44 ¹ After the battle, Moroni said to Zerahemnah, “We don’t want to be men of blood. So we’re going to stop killing you. ⁵ God gave us power over you because he likes our faith, religion, rites, and church. ⁶ So give us your weapons and we won’t kill you. ⁷ Otherwise I’ll command my men to inflict wounds of death upon your bodies so that you become extinct.”

⁸ The Lamanite leader, Zarahemnah, handed in his weapons: a sword, a scimitar, and a bow. Then he said to Moroni, “I’m not going to swear we won’t attack you again, because we’d just break that promise. ⁹ Oh, and by the way, it wasn't God that won you the battle. It was your fancy breastplates and shields.”

^10-11 Moroni gave back Zarahemnah’s weapons and said, “Okay, but you’re still going to have to promise not to attack us, or we’ll spill your blood on the ground.”

¹² When Zarahemnah got his sword back, he rushed at Moroni and tried to kill him. But before he could, one of Moroni's soldiers broke Zerahemnah's sword and then scalped him (while he was still alive). Then Zerahemnah ran away. ¹³ The soldier who took his scalp and put it on the tip of his sword and taunted the rest of the Lamanite army with it.

¹⁵ Many of the Lamanites surrendered and threw down their weapons at Moroni's feet. They promised not to fight again and then ran off into the wilderness.

¹⁶ The rest of the army rallied behind Zarahemnah, who was (understandably, since he had been scalped!) angry. ^17-18 Moroni was also angry, because the Lamanites were so stubborn. He commanded his people to start killing the Lamanites. And since they were naked, they were easy to kill.

^19-20 Zarahemnah, seeing that they were all about to die, finally agreed to promise not to attack again. Moroni accepted, and the Lamanites surrendered. The Nephites took their weapons, made peace, and then let them go into the wilderness. ^21-24 There were many deaths on both sides. The Nephites threw the dead bodies into the waters of Sidon and then returned to their cities. This happened in 74 BCE and it ends the record of Alma, written on the plates of Nephi.