AlmaChapter17

And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

As Alma was traveling south from the land of Gideon toward the land of Manti, to his astonishment he met the sons of Mosiah, traveling toward the land of Zarahemla.

Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

These sons of Mosiah had been with Alma when the angel first appeared to him, so Alma was overjoyed to see his brothers. And what added even more to his joy: they were still his brothers in the Lord. In fact, they had grown strong in the knowledge of the truth, for they were men of sound understanding, and they had searched the scriptures diligently so that they might know the word of God.

But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.

But that is not all. They had given themselves to much prayer and fasting, and so they had the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with the power and authority of God.

And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.

They had been teaching the word of God among the Lamanites for fourteen years, with great success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth. By the power of their words, many were brought before the altar of God to call on his name and confess their sins before him.

Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much labor in the spirit.

This is what their journeys had been like. They went through many hard times, suffering in both body and mind: hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, and much spiritual labor as well.

Now these were their journeyings: Having taken leave of their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges; having refused the kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this was the minds of the people;

And this is how their journeys began. They had said goodbye to their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges, after refusing the kingdom their father wanted to hand over to them, which was also what the people wanted.

Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings; and this they did that they might provide food for themselves while in the wilderness.

Even so, they left the land of Zarahemla, taking their swords, spears, bows, arrows, and slings so they could provide food for themselves in the wilderness.

And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.

And so they set out into the wilderness with the group they had chosen, to go up to the land of Nephi and preach the word of God to the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

They traveled many days in the wilderness, and they fasted and prayed much, asking the Lord to grant them a portion of his Spirit to go with them and stay with them. They wanted to be an instrument in the hands of God to bring their brothers, the Lamanites, if it were possible, to the knowledge of the truth, and to a knowledge of how worthless the traditions of their fathers were, for those traditions were not correct.

And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.

And the Lord visited them with his Spirit and said to them, "Be comforted." And they were comforted.

And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

The Lord also said to them, "Go out among the Lamanites, your brothers, and establish my word. Yet you must be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, so that you may show them a good example in me, and I will make you an instrument in my hands for the salvation of many souls."

And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

At this, the sons of Mosiah and those who were with them took courage, and they went out among the Lamanites to declare the word of God to them.

And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

When they arrived at the borders of the land of the Lamanites, they split up and went their separate ways, trusting in the Lord that they would meet again at the end of the harvest, for they believed the work they had undertaken was enormous.

And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.

And it truly was. They had undertaken to preach the word of God to a wild and hardened and ferocious people, a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites and in robbing and plundering them. Their hearts were set on riches, on gold and silver and precious stones, yet they tried to get these things by murder and plunder so they would not have to work for them with their own hands.

Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.

So they were a very lazy people. Many of them worshiped idols, and the curse of God had fallen on them because of the traditions of their fathers. Even so, the promises of the Lord were extended to them on condition of repentance.

Therefore, this was the cause for which the sons of Mosiah had undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of redemption.

And that is why the sons of Mosiah had taken on this work: so that perhaps they might bring them to repentance, so that perhaps they might bring them to know the plan of redemption.

Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of God which was given unto him.

So they separated from one another and went out among them, each man alone, according to the word and power of God that was given to him.

Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them, and he departed from them, after having blessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land.

Now Ammon was the leader among them, or rather, he was the one who ministered to them. Before he left them, he blessed each of them for his own assignment and shared the word of God with them, ministering to them before his departure. And so each of them took his own journey through the land.

And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being called after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites.

Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, named after the sons of Ishmael, who had also become Lamanites.

And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.

As Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and bound him. It was their custom to bind every Nephite who fell into their hands and carry him before the king, and it was then left to the king's pleasure to kill him, hold him captive, throw him into prison, or drive him out of the land, whatever the king wanted.

And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

So Ammon was carried before the king over the land of Ishmael. His name was Lamoni, and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.

The king asked Ammon whether he wanted to live in the land among the Lamanites, among his people.

And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.

And Ammon said to him, "Yes, I want to live among this people for a time, perhaps even until the day I die."

And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.

King Lamoni was very pleased with Ammon. He had his bands untied, and he wanted Ammon to marry one of his daughters.

But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.

But Ammon said to him, "No, but I will be your servant." So Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni, and he was placed with other servants to watch Lamoni's flocks, according to the custom of the Lamanites.

And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—

After he had been in the king's service three days, he was with the Lamanite servants, driving their flocks to the watering place called the water of Sebus, where all the Lamanites drove their flocks for water.

Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.

As Ammon and the king's servants were driving their flocks to this watering place, a group of Lamanites who had already been there watering their own flocks stood and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the king's servants, and the animals fled in every direction.

Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.

The king's servants began to murmur, saying, "Now the king will kill us, just as he killed our brothers because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men." And they began to weep bitterly, saying, "Look, our flocks are scattered already."

Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.

They wept because they were afraid of being killed. But when Ammon saw it, his heart swelled with joy, for he thought, "I'll show these fellow servants of mine the power that is in me. I'll bring these flocks back to the king, and then I'll win the hearts of these fellow servants and lead them to believe my words."

And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.

Those were Ammon's thoughts when he saw the distress of those he called his brothers.

And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.

So he rallied them with his words, saying, "My brothers, take heart. Let's go find the flocks. We'll gather them together and bring them back to the watering place. That way we'll save the flocks for the king, and he won't kill us."

And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.

So they went looking for the flocks. They followed Ammon, rushing ahead with great speed, and they headed off the king's flocks and gathered them back to the watering place.

And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.

And those men stood there again to scatter the flocks. But Ammon said to his brothers, "Circle around the flocks so they don't run, and I'll go deal with these men who are scattering them."

Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and they were in number not a few.

So they did what Ammon told them, and he went out to confront the men standing by the waters of Sebus. And they were not few in number.

Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.

They were not afraid of Ammon, because they thought any one of their men could kill him whenever they pleased. They did not know that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of their hands; in fact, they knew nothing about the Lord at all. They delighted in destroying their brothers, and that is why they stood there to scatter the king's flocks.

But Ammon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and thus he slew a certain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing that they could not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him.

But Ammon stepped forward and began throwing stones at them with his sling. He slung stones among them with tremendous power, and he killed some of them, until they began to be amazed at his power. Still, they were angry over their dead brothers, and they were determined that he would fall. So when they saw that they couldn't hit him with their stones, they came at him with clubs to kill him.

But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.

But every man who raised his club to strike Ammon, Ammon struck off his arm with his sword. He met their blows by striking their arms with the edge of his sword, until they were astonished and began to flee before him. And there were not a few of them; he drove them off by the strength of his arm.

Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.

Six of them had fallen by his sling, but he killed no one with his sword except their leader; and he struck off as many arms as were raised against him, and they were not a few.

And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and they watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had done.

When he had driven them far away, he returned, and the servants watered their flocks and brought them back to the king's pasture. Then they went in to the king, carrying the arms that had been struck off by the sword of Ammon, the arms of the men who had tried to kill him, and these were carried in to the king as a testimony of the things they had done.