HelamanChapter4

And it came to pass in the fifty and fourth year there were many dissensions in the church, and there was also a contention among the people, insomuch that there was much bloodshed.

In the fifty-fourth year there were many dissensions in the church, and there was conflict among the people as well, so much that much blood was shed.

And the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, and they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.

The rebellious ones were killed or driven out of the land, and those who were driven out went to the king of the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that they did endeavor to stir up the Lamanites to war against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were exceedingly afraid, insomuch that they would not hearken to the words of those dissenters.

They tried to stir the Lamanites up to war against the Nephites, but the Lamanites were very much afraid, and they would not listen to what those dissenters said.

But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the judges, there were dissenters who went up from the Nephites unto the Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to anger against the Nephites; and they were all that year preparing for war.

But in the fifty-sixth year of the reign of the judges, more dissenters went up from the Nephites to the Lamanites, and together with the others they succeeded in stirring them up to anger against the Nephites. They spent that whole year preparing for war.

And in the fifty and seventh year they did come down against the Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death; yea, insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the land Bountiful.

In the fifty-seventh year they came down against the Nephites to battle, and they began the work of death. By the fifty-eighth year of the reign of the judges they had succeeded in taking possession of the land of Zarahemla, and of all the lands as far as the land near the land Bountiful.

And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful;

The Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven all the way back into the land of Bountiful,

And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.

and there they fortified a line against the Lamanites, from the west sea all the way to the east. It was a day's journey for a Nephite along the line they had fortified, where they stationed their armies to defend their north country.

And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the judges.

And so those Nephite dissenters, with the help of a huge Lamanite army, had taken everything the Nephites held in the land southward. All this was done in the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth years of the reign of the judges.

And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they regained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.

In the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah and his armies succeeded in taking back many parts of the land; they regained many cities that had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.

And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in regaining even the half of all their possessions.

And in the sixty-first year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in regaining half of all their possessions.

Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.

Now this heavy loss for the Nephites, and the terrible slaughter among them, would not have happened if it had not been for their wickedness and the abominations among them. And those things were found even among people who claimed to belong to the church of God.

And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—

It was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their enormous riches; it was because of the way they oppressed the poor, keeping their food from the hungry, keeping their clothing from the naked, striking their humble brothers on the cheek, mocking what was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in fierce quarrels, and deserting to the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites.

And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

And because of this terrible wickedness of theirs, and their boasting in their own strength, they were left to their own strength. So they did not prosper. They were afflicted and struck down and driven back by the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.

But Moronihah preached many things to the people because of their wickedness, and so did Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman. They preached many things to the people, and they prophesied many things to them about their sins, and about what would come on them if they did not repent.

And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper.

And the people did repent, and as far as they repented, they began to prosper.

For when Moronihah saw that they did repent he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands.

When Moronihah saw that they were repenting, he ventured to lead them out from place to place and from city to city, until they had regained half their property and half of all their lands.

And thus ended the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges.

And so the sixty-first year of the reign of the judges ended.

And it came to pass in the sixty and second year of the reign of the judges, that Moronihah could obtain no more possessions over the Lamanites.

In the sixty-second year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah could gain no more ground against the Lamanites.

Therefore they did abandon their design to obtain the remainder of their lands, for so numerous were the Lamanites that it became impossible for the Nephites to obtain more power over them; therefore Moronihah did employ all his armies in maintaining those parts which he had taken.

So they gave up their plan to take back the rest of their lands. The Lamanites were so numerous that it became impossible for the Nephites to gain any more power over them, and Moronihah put all his armies to work holding the parts he had already taken.

And it came to pass, because of the greatness of the number of the Lamanites the Nephites were in great fear, lest they should be overpowered, and trodden down, and slain, and destroyed.

And because the Lamanites were so numerous, the Nephites were deeply afraid that they would be overpowered, trampled down, killed, and destroyed.

Yea, they began to remember the prophecies of Alma, and also the words of Mosiah; and they saw that they had been a stiffnecked people, and that they had set at naught the commandments of God.

They began to remember the prophecies of Alma and the words of Mosiah, and they saw that they had been a stubborn people, and that they had treated the commandments of God as nothing.

And that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people; and they saw that their laws had become corrupted, and that they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even like unto the Lamanites.

They saw that they had altered the laws of Mosiah and trampled them underfoot, the very laws the Lord had commanded him to give the people. And they saw that their laws had become corrupt, and that they had become a wicked people, as wicked as the Lamanites.

And because of their iniquity the church had begun to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face.

Because of their wickedness the church had begun to shrink, and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation, and the judgments of God stared them in the face.

And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples—

They saw that they had become weak, like their brothers the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord no longer protected them. It had withdrawn from them, because the Spirit of the Lord does not dwell in unholy temples.

Therefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their God, they must unavoidably perish.

So the Lord stopped preserving them by his miraculous and matchless power, because they had fallen into a state of unbelief and terrible wickedness. And they saw that the Lamanites were far more numerous than they were, and that unless they held fast to the Lord their God, they would inevitably be destroyed.

For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.

They saw that the strength of the Lamanites was equal to their own, man for man. This was how they had fallen into such serious transgression, and how they had become weak because of that transgression, in the space of only a few years.