HelamanChapter9

Behold, now it came to pass that when Nephi had spoken these words, certain men who were among them ran to the judgment-seat; yea, even there were five who went, and they said among themselves, as they went:

When Nephi had said these things, some of the men who were listening ran for the judgment seat. Five of them went, and as they ran they said to each other,

Behold, now we will know of a surety whether this man be a prophet and God hath commanded him to prophesy such marvelous things unto us. Behold, we do not believe that he hath; yea, we do not believe that he is a prophet; nevertheless, if this thing which he has said concerning the chief judge be true, that he be dead, then will we believe that the other words which he has spoken are true.

"Now we'll know for certain whether this man is a prophet, and whether God commanded him to prophesy such amazing things to us. We don't believe he did. We don't believe he's a prophet. But if what he said about the chief judge is true, that he is dead, then we'll believe that the rest of what he said is true too."

And it came to pass that they ran in their might, and came in unto the judgment-seat; and behold, the chief judge had fallen to the earth, and did lie in his blood.

They ran with all their might, and they came to the judgment seat. And there was the chief judge, fallen to the ground, lying in his own blood.

And now behold, when they saw this they were astonished exceedingly, insomuch that they fell to the earth; for they had not believed the words which Nephi had spoken concerning the chief judge.

When they saw it they were so shocked that they fell to the ground, because they had not believed what Nephi said about the chief judge.

But now, when they saw they believed, and fear came upon them lest all the judgments which Nephi had spoken should come upon the people; therefore they did quake, and had fallen to the earth.

But now that they had seen it, they believed. And fear came over them, that every judgment Nephi had spoken of would come on the people. So they lay there on the ground, trembling.

Now, immediately when the judge had been murdered—he being stabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy, and he fled, and the servants ran and told the people, raising the cry of murder among them;

Now, the judge had been murdered by his own brother, who came in disguise and stabbed him and then ran. The servants ran out and told the people, raising the cry of murder among them.

And behold the people did gather themselves together unto the place of the judgment-seat—and behold, to their astonishment they saw those five men who had fallen to the earth.

So the people gathered at the place of the judgment seat, and to their astonishment they saw those five men lying on the ground.

And now behold, the people knew nothing concerning the multitude who had gathered together at the garden of Nephi; therefore they said among themselves: These men are they who have murdered the judge, and God has smitten them that they could not flee from us.

Now the people knew nothing about the crowd that had gathered at Nephi's garden. So they said to each other, "These are the men who murdered the judge, and God has struck them down so they couldn't get away from us."

And it came to pass that they laid hold on them, and bound them and cast them into prison. And there was a proclamation sent abroad that the judge was slain, and that the murderers had been taken and were cast into prison.

They took hold of them, tied them up, and threw them in prison. And a proclamation went out that the judge had been killed, and that the murderers had been caught and thrown in prison.

And it came to pass that on the morrow the people did assemble themselves together to mourn and to fast, at the burial of the great chief judge who had been slain.

The next day the people gathered to mourn and to fast at the burial of the great chief judge who had been killed.

And thus also those judges who were at the garden of Nephi, and heard his words, were also gathered together at the burial.

And the judges who had been at Nephi's garden and had heard his words were gathered at the burial too.

And it came to pass that they inquired among the people, saying: Where are the five who were sent to inquire concerning the chief judge whether he was dead? And they answered and said: Concerning this five whom ye say ye have sent, we know not; but there are five who are the murderers, whom we have cast into prison.

They asked around among the people, "Where are the five who were sent to find out whether the chief judge was dead?" And the people answered, "We know nothing about these five you say you sent. But there are five men who are the murderers, and we have thrown them in prison."

And it came to pass that the judges desired that they should be brought; and they were brought, and behold they were the five who were sent; and behold the judges inquired of them to know, concerning the matter, and they told them all that they had done, saying:

The judges asked that those men be brought in, and they were brought in, and they were the five who had been sent. The judges questioned them about the matter, and they told them everything they had done. They said,

We ran and came to the place of the judgment-seat, and when we saw all things even as Nephi had testified, we were astonished insomuch that we fell to the earth; and when we were recovered from our astonishment, behold they cast us into prison.

"We ran to the place of the judgment seat, and when we saw everything exactly as Nephi had testified, we were so shocked that we fell to the ground. And when we had recovered from the shock, they threw us in prison.

Now, as for the murder of this man, we know not who has done it; and only this much we know, we ran and came according as ye desired, and behold he was dead, according to the words of Nephi.

As for the murder of this man, we don't know who did it. All we know is this: we ran and came just as you wanted, and he was dead, exactly as Nephi said."

And now it came to pass that the judges did expound the matter unto the people, and did cry out against Nephi, saying: Behold, we know that this Nephi must have agreed with some one to slay the judge, and then he might declare it unto us, that he might convert us unto his faith, that he might raise himself to be a great man, chosen of God, and a prophet.

Then the judges explained the matter to the people, and they cried out against Nephi. They said, "We know that this Nephi must have made an agreement with someone to kill the judge, so he could announce it to us afterward, to convert us to his faith and raise himself up to be a great man, chosen of God, a prophet.

And now behold, we will detect this man, and he shall confess his fault and make known unto us the true murderer of this judge.

Now we will expose this man, and he will confess his crime and tell us who really murdered this judge."

And it came to pass that the five were liberated on the day of the burial. Nevertheless, they did rebuke the judges in the words which they had spoken against Nephi, and did contend with them one by one, insomuch that they did confound them.

The five were set free on the day of the burial. Even so, they rebuked the judges for the words they had spoken against Nephi, and they argued with them one by one until they refuted them.

Nevertheless, they caused that Nephi should be taken and bound and brought before the multitude, and they began to question him in divers ways that they might cross him, that they might accuse him to death—

Still, the judges had Nephi seized and tied up and brought before the crowd, and they began to question him every way they could think of, trying to trip him up so they could bring a charge against him that would cost him his life.

Saying unto him: Thou art confederate; who is this man that hath done this murder? Now tell us, and acknowledge thy fault; saying, Behold here is money; and also we will grant unto thee thy life if thou wilt tell us, and acknowledge the agreement which thou hast made with him.

They said to him, "You're in on this. Who is the man who did the murder? Tell us now, and admit your part." And they said, "Here is money. And we'll spare your life too, if you'll tell us and admit the agreement you made with him."

But Nephi said unto them: O ye fools, ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye stiffnecked people, do ye know how long the Lord your God will suffer you that ye shall go on in this your way of sin?

But Nephi said to them, "You fools! You who are uncircumcised in heart, you blind and stiff-necked people, do you know how long the Lord your God will let you go on in this way of sin?

O ye ought to begin to howl and mourn, because of the great destruction which at this time doth await you, except ye shall repent.

You ought to begin to howl and mourn, because of the terrible destruction that is waiting for you at this very hour, unless you repent.

Behold ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should murder Seezoram, our chief judge. But behold, I say unto you, that this is because I have testified unto you that ye might know concerning this thing; yea, even for a witness unto you, that I did know of the wickedness and abominations which are among you.

"You say that I made an agreement with a man to murder Seezoram, our chief judge. But I tell you, I said what I said so that you would know about this, as a witness to you that I did know about the wickedness and the abominations among you.

And because I have done this, ye say that I have agreed with a man that he should do this thing; yea, because I showed unto you this sign ye are angry with me, and seek to destroy my life.

And because I did that, you say I made an agreement with a man to have it done. Because I showed you this sign, you are angry with me and you are trying to kill me.

And now behold, I will show unto you another sign, and see if ye will in this thing seek to destroy me.

"Now I will show you another sign, and we will see whether you will try to kill me for this one too.

Behold I say unto you: Go to the house of Seantum, who is the brother of Seezoram, and say unto him—

"I say to you: go to the house of Seantum, who is Seezoram's brother, and say to him,

Has Nephi, the pretended prophet, who doth prophesy so much evil concerning this people, agreed with thee, in the which ye have murdered Seezoram, who is your brother?

'Has Nephi, this so-called prophet who prophesies so much evil about this people, made an agreement with you, so that you have murdered Seezoram, your own brother?'

And behold, he shall say unto you, Nay.

And he will say to you, 'No.'

And ye shall say unto him: Have ye murdered your brother?

And you will say to him, 'Have you murdered your brother?'

And he shall stand with fear, and wist not what to say. And behold, he shall deny unto you; and he shall make as if he were astonished; nevertheless, he shall declare unto you that he is innocent.

And he will stand there in fear, not knowing what to say. He will deny it to you, and he will act as if he is astonished. Even so, he will declare to you that he is innocent.

But behold, ye shall examine him, and ye shall find blood upon the skirts of his cloak.

"But you will examine him, and you will find blood on the hem of his cloak.

And when ye have seen this, ye shall say: From whence cometh this blood? Do we not know that it is the blood of your brother?

And when you have seen it, you will say, 'Where did this blood come from? Do we not know that this is your brother's blood?'

And then shall he tremble, and shall look pale, even as if death had come upon him.

And then he will tremble and turn pale, as if death had come over him.

And then shall ye say: Because of this fear and this paleness which has come upon your face, behold, we know that thou art guilty.

And then you will say, 'Because of this fear and this paleness on your face, we know that you are guilty.'

And then shall greater fear come upon him; and then shall he confess unto you, and deny no more that he has done this murder.

And then greater fear will come over him. And then he will confess to you, and he will deny no longer that he committed this murder.

And then shall he say unto you, that I, Nephi, know nothing concerning the matter save it were given unto me by the power of God. And then shall ye know that I am an honest man, and that I am sent unto you from God.

And then he will tell you that I, Nephi, know nothing about this except what was given to me by the power of God. And then you will know that I am an honest man, and that I am sent to you from God."

And it came to pass that they went and did, even according as Nephi had said unto them. And behold, the words which he had said were true; for according to the words he did deny; and also according to the words he did confess.

So they went and did exactly what Nephi had told them. And what he had said proved true: Seantum denied it, just as Nephi said he would, and he confessed, just as Nephi said he would.

And he was brought to prove that he himself was the very murderer, insomuch that the five were set at liberty, and also was Nephi.

And so he was brought to prove that he himself was the real murderer, and the five were set free, and Nephi with them.

And there were some of the Nephites who believed on the words of Nephi; and there were some also, who believed because of the testimony of the five, for they had been converted while they were in prison.

There were some of the Nephites who believed Nephi's words, and there were others who believed because of the testimony of the five, who had been converted while they were in prison.

And now there were some among the people, who said that Nephi was a prophet.

And now there were some among the people who said that Nephi was a prophet.

And there were others who said: Behold, he is a god, for except he was a god he could not know of all things. For behold, he has told us the thoughts of our hearts, and also has told us things; and even he has brought unto our knowledge the true murderer of our chief judge.

And there were others who said, "He is a god! If he were not a god, he couldn't know all things. He has told us the thoughts of our hearts, and he has told us other things besides. He has even made known to us the real murderer of our chief judge."