3 NephiChapter3

And now it came to pass that in the sixteenth year from the coming of Christ, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received an epistle from the leader and the governor of this band of robbers; and these were the words which were written, saying:

In the sixteenth year from the coming of Christ, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received a letter from the leader and governor of this band of robbers. These are the words that were written:

Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write this epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be your right and liberty; yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by the hand of a god, in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so.

Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, I am writing to you, and I offer you the very highest praise for your firmness, and for the firmness of your people as well, in holding on to what you think is your right and your liberty. You do stand well, as if you were held up by the hand of a god, in the defense of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or what you call your country.

And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—Go down upon the Nephites and destroy them.

And it seems a pity to me, most noble Lachoneus, that you should be so foolish and so vain as to think you can stand against so many brave men, who are at my command, who at this very moment stand under arms and wait, impatient for the word, "Go down against the Nephites and destroy them."

And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing of their everlasting hatred towards you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction.

And I know their unconquerable spirit, for I have tested them on the field of battle, and I know their undying hatred for you because of the many wrongs you have done them. So if they were to come down against you, they would visit you with utter destruction.

Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in the field of battle.

That is why I have written this letter, sealing it with my own hand, out of concern for your welfare, because of your firmness in what you believe to be right, and your noble spirit on the field of battle.

Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your lands, and your possessions, rather than that they should visit you with the sword and that destruction should come upon you.

So I write to you, asking you to yield up to my people your cities, your lands, and your possessions, rather than have them visit you with the sword and bring destruction down on you.

Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance.

Or, to put it another way: give yourselves up to us, and join with us, and come to know our secret works, and become our brothers, so that you may be like us — not our slaves, but our brothers and partners in everything we own.

And behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall not be destroyed; but if ye will not do this, I swear unto you with an oath, that on the morrow month I will command that my armies shall come down against you, and they shall not stay their hand and shall spare not, but shall slay you, and shall let fall the sword upon you even until ye shall become extinct.

And I swear this to you with an oath: if you will do this, you will not be destroyed. But if you will not do this, I swear to you with an oath that in a month's time I will give the order for my armies to come down against you, and they will not hold back their hand, and they will spare no one, but they will kill you, and they will let the sword fall on you until you are wiped out.

And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the secret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto us.

And I am Giddianhi, and I am the governor of this, the secret society of Gadianton. I know this society and its works to be good, and they are of ancient date, and they have been handed down to us.

And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.

And I write this letter to you, Lachoneus, and I hope that you will deliver up your lands and your possessions without the shedding of blood, so that my people may recover their rights and their government. They broke away from you because of your wickedness in withholding their rights of government from them. And unless you do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi.

And now it came to pass when Lachoneus received this epistle he was exceedingly astonished, because of the boldness of Giddianhi demanding the possession of the land of the Nephites, and also of threatening the people and avenging the wrongs of those that had received no wrong, save it were they had wronged themselves by dissenting away unto those wicked and abominable robbers.

When Lachoneus received this letter he was astonished at Giddianhi's boldness in demanding possession of the land of the Nephites, and in threatening the people, and in avenging the wrongs of men who had suffered no wrong at all, except the wrong they had done themselves by breaking away and joining those wicked and detestable robbers.

Now behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them.

Now Lachoneus the governor was a just man, and he could not be frightened by the demands and the threats of a robber. So he did not listen to the letter of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers. Instead he had his people cry out to the Lord for strength against the time when the robbers would come down against them.

Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place.

He sent a proclamation out among all the people that they should gather their wives and their children, their flocks and their herds, and everything they owned, all but their land, into one place.

And he caused that fortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all them who were numbered among the Nephites, should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night.

And he had fortifications built all around them, and he had them made very strong. And he ordered that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all those who were counted among the Nephites, should be stationed as guards all around them, to watch over them and to guard them from the robbers day and night.

Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in no wise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.

And he said to them, "As the Lord lives, unless you repent of all your sins and cry out to the Lord, you will in no way be delivered from the hands of those Gadianton robbers."

And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus.

The words and prophecies of Lachoneus were so powerful and so remarkable that they brought fear on all the people, and the people put out all their strength to do what Lachoneus had said.

And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them.

And Lachoneus appointed chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time when the robbers would come down out of the wilderness against them.

Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great commander of the armies of the Nephites was appointed, and his name was Gidgiddoni.

Now the highest of all the chief captains, the chief commander of the armies of the Nephites, was appointed, and his name was Gidgiddoni.

Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that had the spirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge.

Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint as their chief captains (except in their times of wickedness) someone who had the spirit of revelation and of prophecy. So this Gidgiddoni was a great prophet among them, and so was the chief judge.

Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands.

Now the people said to Gidgiddoni, "Pray to the Lord, and let us go up into the mountains and out into the wilderness, so that we can fall on the robbers and destroy them in their own lands."

But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us; therefore as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands.

But Gidgiddoni said to them, "The Lord forbid. If we were to go up against them, the Lord would deliver us into their hands. Instead we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait until they come against us. So, as the Lord lives, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands."

And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the place which had been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies.

In the seventeenth year, toward the end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone out over the whole face of the land. The people had taken their horses and their chariots, their cattle and all their flocks and their herds and their grain and everything they owned, and they marched out by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all come to the place appointed for them to gather, to defend themselves against their enemies.

And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation.

And the land appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land that lay between the land of Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, out to the line between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation.

And there were a great many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in the land southward, because of the great curse which was upon the land northward.

And there were many thousands of people, called Nephites, who gathered together in this land. Now Lachoneus had them gather in the land southward, because of the great curse that was on the land northward.

And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle.

And they fortified themselves against their enemies. They lived in one land and as one body, and they feared the words Lachoneus had spoken, so much that they repented of all their sins. And they offered up their prayers to the Lord their God, asking him to deliver them at the time when their enemies came down against them to battle.

And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni did cause that they should make weapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armor, and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction.

And they were very sorrowful because of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni had them make weapons of war of every kind, and had the people made strong with armor, and with shields, and with bucklers, just as he instructed them.