AlmaChapter44

And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. And Moroni said unto Zerahemnah: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do not desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.

The Nephites stopped and pulled back a pace from the Lamanites. And Moroni said to Zerahemnah, "Zerahemnah, we do not want to be men of blood. You know that you are in our hands, yet we do not want to kill you.

Behold, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the yoke of bondage. But this is the very cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.

We have not come out to battle against you so that we could shed your blood for power, and we do not want to bring anyone under the yoke of slavery. Yet that is the very reason you have come against us; in fact, you are angry with us because of our religion.

But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

But now you can see that the Lord is with us; you can see that he has delivered you into our hands. And I want you to understand that this has happened to us because of our religion and our faith in Christ. Now you can see that you cannot destroy this faith of ours.

Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are faithful unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.

"You see now that this is the true faith of God. You see that God will support us, and keep us, and preserve us, as long as we are faithful to him, to our faith, and to our religion. And the Lord will never allow us to be destroyed unless we fall into transgression and deny our faith.

And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, by our faith, by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—

And now, Zerahemnah, I command you in the name of that all-powerful God who has strengthened our arms so that we have gained power over you. I command you by our faith, by our religion, by our rites of worship, by our church, by the sacred support we owe to our wives and our children, and by the liberty that binds us to our lands and our country. I command you by our defense of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness, and by all that is most dear to us —

Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.

and that is not all. I command you by all your longing to live: hand over your weapons of war to us, and we will not seek your blood. We will spare your lives if you will go your way and never again come to war against us.

And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and inflict the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.

"But if you do not, you are in our hands, and I will command my men to fall on you and inflict the wounds of death on your bodies until you are wiped out. Then we will see who will have power over this people; then we will see who will be brought into slavery."

And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his sword and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an oath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer.

When Zerahemnah heard this, he came forward and handed over his sword, his scimitar, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and he said, "Here are our weapons of war. We will hand them over to you, but we won't let ourselves swear an oath to you, because we know that we would break it, and so would our children. Take our weapons of war, and let us go our way into the wilderness; otherwise we will keep our swords, and we will either die or conquer.

Behold, we are not of your faith; we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your breastplates and your shields that have preserved you.

We are not of your faith. We don't believe that it is God who has delivered us into your hands; we believe it is your cunning that has protected you from our swords. It is your breastplates and your shields that have protected you."

And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words, Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict.

When Zerahemnah had finished speaking, Moroni handed the sword and the weapons of war he had received back to Zerahemnah, saying, "We will end this conflict.

Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken, therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart except ye depart with an oath that ye will not return again against us to war. Now as ye are in our hands we will spill your blood upon the ground, or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.

I cannot take back the words I have spoken; so as the Lord lives, you will not leave unless you leave with an oath that you will never again come to war against us. Now, since you are in our hands, either we will spill your blood on the ground, or you will submit to the conditions I have proposed."

And now when Moroni had said these words, Zerahemnah retained his sword, and he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni’s soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers.

When Moroni had said these words, Zerahemnah kept his sword, and in his anger he rushed forward to kill Moroni. But as he raised his sword, one of Moroni's soldiers struck it down to the ground, and it broke at the hilt. Then the soldier struck Zerahemnah and took off his scalp, and the scalp fell to the ground. And Zerahemnah drew back from them into the middle of his soldiers.

And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice:

And the soldier standing by, the one who had struck off Zerahemnah's scalp, picked the scalp up from the ground by the hair, laid it on the point of his sword, and held it out toward the Lamanites, calling out with a loud voice:

Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace.

"Just as this scalp of your chief has fallen to the earth, so will you fall to the earth unless you hand over your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace."

Now there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a covenant of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to depart into the wilderness.

Many who heard these words and saw the scalp on the sword were struck with fear, and many came forward and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni and entered into a covenant of peace. And all who entered into the covenant were allowed to depart into the wilderness.

Now it came to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites.

But Zerahemnah was furious, and he stirred up the rest of his soldiers to anger, to fight even more fiercely against the Nephites.

And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites; therefore he commanded his people that they should fall upon them and slay them. And it came to pass that they began to slay them; yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might.

Now Moroni was angry because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites, so he commanded his people to fall on them and kill them. And they began to kill them; the Lamanites fought back with their swords and with all their might.

But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; yea, behold they were pierced and smitten, yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites; and they began to be swept down, even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied.

But their naked skin and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites, and they were pierced and struck down. They fell very fast before the swords of the Nephites, and they began to be swept down, just as Moroni's soldier had prophesied.

Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they never would come to war again against them.

When Zerahemnah saw that they were all about to be destroyed, he cried out mightily to Moroni, promising that he and his people would covenant with the Nephites never to come to war against them again, if they would spare the lives of those who were left.

And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should cease again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.

So Moroni put a stop to the work of death among the people once again. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites, and after they had entered into a covenant of peace with him, they were allowed to depart into the wilderness.

Now the number of their dead was not numbered because of the greatness of the number; yea, the number of their dead was exceedingly great, both on the Nephites and on the Lamanites.

Their dead were not counted, because there were too many to count. The number of dead was enormous, among the Nephites and the Lamanites alike.

And it came to pass that they did cast their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the sea.

They threw their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have been carried away and are buried in the depths of the sea.

And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands.

And the armies of the Nephites, the armies of Moroni, returned to their houses and their lands.

And thus ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the record of Alma, which was written upon the plates of Nephi.

And so ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And so ended the record of Alma, which was written on the plates of Nephi.