AlmaChapter55

Now it came to pass that when Moroni had received this epistle he was more angry, because he knew that Ammoron had a perfect knowledge of his fraud; yea, he knew that Ammoron knew that it was not a just cause that had caused him to wage a war against the people of Nephi.

When Moroni had read this letter, he grew angrier still, because he knew that Ammoron knew perfectly well he was a fraud. He knew that Ammoron knew there was no just cause behind the war he was waging against the people of Nephi.

And he said: Behold, I will not exchange prisoners with Ammoron save he will withdraw his purpose, as I have stated in my epistle; for I will not grant unto him that he shall have any more power than what he hath got.

And he said, "I will not exchange prisoners with Ammoron unless he gives up what he set out to do, exactly as I demanded in my letter. I will not hand him one bit more power than he already has.

Behold, I know the place where the Lamanites do guard my people whom they have taken prisoners; and as Ammoron would not grant unto me mine epistle, behold, I will give unto him according to my words; yea, I will seek death among them until they shall sue for peace.

I know the place where the Lamanites are holding my people prisoner. And since Ammoron would not grant me the terms of my letter, I will give him exactly what I said I would: I will bring death among them until they beg for peace."

And now it came to pass that when Moroni had said these words, he caused that a search should be made among his men, that perhaps he might find a man who was a descendant of Laman among them.

When Moroni had said this, he had a search made among his men, hoping to find one who was a descendant of Laman.

And it came to pass that they found one, whose name was Laman; and he was one of the servants of the king who was murdered by Amalickiah.

They found one, and his name was Laman. He had been one of the servants of the king whom Amalickiah murdered.

Now Moroni caused that Laman and a small number of his men should go forth unto the guards who were over the Nephites.

Moroni sent this Laman and a few of his men to the guards who were watching over the Nephite prisoners.

Now the Nephites were guarded in the city of Gid; therefore Moroni appointed Laman and caused that a small number of men should go with him.

The Nephites were being held in the city of Gid, so Moroni gave Laman the assignment and sent a small group of men along with him.

And when it was evening Laman went to the guards who were over the Nephites, and behold, they saw him coming and they hailed him; but he saith unto them: Fear not; behold, I am a Lamanite. Behold, we have escaped from the Nephites, and they sleep; and behold we have taken of their wine and brought with us.

When evening came, Laman went to the guards who were watching the Nephites. They saw him coming and called out to him, but he said, "Don't be afraid. I am a Lamanite. We escaped from the Nephites while they were asleep, and we took some of their wine and brought it with us."

Now when the Lamanites heard these words they received him with joy; and they said unto him: Give us of your wine, that we may drink; we are glad that ye have thus taken wine with you for we are weary.

When the Lamanites heard that, they welcomed him gladly. "Give us some of your wine to drink," they said. "We're glad you brought wine with you, because we're worn out."

But Laman said unto them: Let us keep of our wine till we go against the Nephites to battle. But this saying only made them more desirous to drink of the wine;

But Laman said, "Let's save our wine until we go into battle against the Nephites." That answer only made them want it more.

For, said they: We are weary, therefore let us take of the wine, and by and by we shall receive wine for our rations, which will strengthen us to go against the Nephites.

"We're worn out," they said. "Let's have the wine now. Before long we'll be given wine in our rations, and that will give us strength to go against the Nephites."

And Laman said unto them: You may do according to your desires.

"Do as you like," Laman said.

And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely; and it was pleasant to their taste, therefore they took of it more freely; and it was strong, having been prepared in its strength.

So they drank freely. It tasted good, so they drank all the more freely. And it was strong wine, because it had been prepared at full strength.

And it came to pass they did drink and were merry, and by and by they were all drunken.

They drank and grew cheerful, and before long every one of them was drunk.

And now when Laman and his men saw that they were all drunken, and were in a deep sleep, they returned to Moroni and told him all the things that had happened.

When Laman and his men saw that they were all drunk and sound asleep, they went back to Moroni and told him everything that had happened.

And now this was according to the design of Moroni. And Moroni had prepared his men with weapons of war; and he went to the city Gid, while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, and cast in weapons of war unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed;

This was exactly what Moroni had planned. He had equipped his men with weapons, and he went to the city of Gid while the Lamanites lay drunk and sound asleep, and threw weapons over to the prisoners until every one of them was armed —

Yea, even to their women, and all those of their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war, when Moroni had armed all those prisoners; and all those things were done in a profound silence.

even the women, and every one of the children old enough to handle a weapon. Moroni armed all of those prisoners, and all of it was done in complete silence.

But had they awakened the Lamanites, behold they were drunken and the Nephites could have slain them.

Even if they had woken the Lamanites, it would have made no difference: the Lamanites were drunk, and the Nephites could have killed them.

But behold, this was not the desire of Moroni; he did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction; and for this cause he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness.

But that was not what Moroni wanted. He took no pleasure in murder or bloodshed. His delight was in saving his people from destruction, and rather than bring the guilt of injustice on himself, he would not fall on the Lamanites and destroy them while they were drunk.

But he had obtained his desires; for he had armed those prisoners of the Nephites who were within the wall of the city, and had given them power to gain possession of those parts which were within the walls.

He had gotten what he wanted anyway. He had armed the Nephite prisoners who were inside the city wall, and had given them the power to take control of everything within the walls.

And then he caused the men who were with him to withdraw a pace from them, and surround the armies of the Lamanites.

Then he had the men who were with him pull back a short distance and form a ring around the armies of the Lamanites.

Now behold this was done in the night-time, so that when the Lamanites awoke in the morning they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nephites without, and that their prisoners were armed within.

All of this was done in the night, so that when the Lamanites woke in the morning they saw that they were surrounded by Nephites outside, and that their prisoners were armed inside.

And thus they saw that the Nephites had power over them; and in these circumstances they found that it was not expedient that they should fight with the Nephites; therefore their chief captains demanded their weapons of war, and they brought them forth and cast them at the feet of the Nephites, pleading for mercy.

So they saw that the Nephites had them in their power, and in that position they realized there was nothing to gain by fighting the Nephites. Their own chief captains called for their weapons of war, and they brought them out and threw them down at the feet of the Nephites, begging for mercy.

Now behold, this was the desire of Moroni. He took them prisoners of war, and took possession of the city, and caused that all the prisoners should be liberated, who were Nephites; and they did join the army of Moroni, and were a great strength to his army.

This was what Moroni had wanted. He took them as prisoners of war, took possession of the city, and had every one of the Nephite prisoners set free. They joined Moroni's army, and they made it much stronger.

And it came to pass that he did cause the Lamanites, whom he had taken prisoners, that they should commence a labor in strengthening the fortifications round about the city Gid.

Then he put the Lamanites he had captured to work strengthening the fortifications around the city of Gid.

And it came to pass that when he had fortified the city Gid, according to his desires, he caused that his prisoners should be taken to the city Bountiful; and he also guarded that city with an exceedingly strong force.

When Gid was fortified the way he wanted it, he had his prisoners taken to the city of Bountiful, and he guarded that city with a very strong force as well.

And it came to pass that they did, notwithstanding all the intrigues of the Lamanites, keep and protect all the prisoners whom they had taken, and also maintain all the ground and the advantage which they had retaken.

And in spite of all the schemes of the Lamanites, they kept and guarded every prisoner they had taken, and held on to all the ground and all the advantage they had won back.

And it came to pass that the Nephites began again to be victorious, and to reclaim their rights and their privileges.

The Nephites began to win again, and to take back their rights and their freedoms.

Many time did the Lamanites attempt to encircle them about by night, but in these attempts they did lose many prisoners.

Many times the Lamanites tried to encircle them by night, but in these attempts they lost many of their own men as prisoners.

And many times did they attempt to administer of their wine to the Nephites, that they might destroy them with poison or with drunkenness.

And many times they tried to get their wine to the Nephites, hoping to destroy them with poison or with drunkenness.

But behold, the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this their time of affliction. They could not be taken in their snares; yea, they would not partake of their wine, save they had first given to some of the Lamanite prisoners.

But the Nephites were not slow to remember the Lord their God in this time of trouble. They could not be caught in these traps. They would not drink any of that wine until they had first given some of it to a few of the Lamanite prisoners.

And they were thus cautious that no poison should be administered among them; for if their wine would poison a Lamanite it would also poison a Nephite; and thus they did try all their liquors.

That was how careful they were that no poison would be slipped in among them. If the wine would poison a Lamanite, it would poison a Nephite too. And that is how they tested every drink they were offered.

And now it came to pass that it was expedient for Moroni to make preparations to attack the city Morianton; for behold, the Lamanites had, by their labors, fortified the city Morianton until it had become an exceeding stronghold.

Now the time had come for Moroni to prepare an attack on the city of Morianton, because the Lamanites had worked at fortifying Morianton until it had become a powerful stronghold.

And they were continually bringing new forces into that city, and also new supplies of provisions.

They kept bringing fresh troops into that city, and fresh supplies of food as well.

And thus ended the twenty and ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

And so ended the twenty-ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.