People Gather to Defeat Gadiantons

Event 153

Reference: 3 Ne. 3:22-26; 4:1-33

And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter endof the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forththroughout all the face of the land, and they had taken theirhorses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all theirflocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all theirsubstance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens ofthousands, until they had all gone forth to the place whichhad been appointed that they should gather themselvestogether, to defend themselves against their enemies. 23 Andthe land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla,and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and theland Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the landBountiful and the land Desolation.MormonLand ofZarahemla andland of BountifulA.D. 1724 And there were a great many thousand people who werecalled Nephites, who did gather themselves together in thisland. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gatherthemselves together in the land southward, because of thegreat curse which was upon the land northward. 25 And theydid fortify themselves against their enemies; and they diddwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear thewords which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch thatthey did repent of all their sins; and they did put up theirprayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver themin the time that their enemies should come down againstthem to battle. 26 And they were exceedingly sorrowfulbecause of their enemies. And Gidgiddoni did cause thatthey should make weapons of war of every kind, and theyshould be strong with armor, and with shields, and withbucklers, after the manner of his instruction.1 AND it came to pass that in the latter end of the eighteenthyear those armies of robbers had prepared for battle, andbegan to come down and to sally forth from the hills, andout of the mountains, and the wilderness, and theirstrongholds, and their secret places, and began to takepossession of the lands, both which were in the land southand which were in the land north, and began to takepossession of all the lands which had been deserted by theNephites, and the cities which had been left desolate.Mountains andwilderness nearland of ZarahemlaA.D. 18 2 But behold, there were no wild beasts nor game in thoselands which had been deserted by the Nephites, and therewas no game for the robbers save it were in the wilderness.3 And the robbers could not exist save it were in thewilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had lefttheir lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and theirherds and all their substance, and they were in one body. 4Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunderand to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battleagainst the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body,and having so great a number, and having reserved forthemselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks ofevery kind, that they might subsist for the space of sevenyears, in the which time they did hope to destroy therobbers from off the face of the land; and thus theeighteenth year did pass away.MormonMountains andwilderness nearland of ZarahemlaA.D. 185 And it came to pass that in the nineteenth year Giddianhifound that it was expedient that he should go up to battleagainst the Nephites, for there was no way that they couldsubsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder. 6 Andthey durst not spread themselves upon the face of the landinsomuch that they could raise grain, lest the Nephitesshould come upon them and slay them; therefore Giddianhigave commandment unto his armies that in this year theyshould go up to battle against the Nephites.Land ofZarahemla andland of BountifulA.D. 197 And it came to pass that they did come up to battle; and itwas in the sixth month; and behold, great and terrible wasthe day that they did come up to battle ; and they weregirded about after the manner of robbers; and they had alamb-skin about their loins, and they were dyed in blood,and their heads were shorn, and they had head-plates uponthem; and great and terrible was the appearance of thearmies of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and because oftheir being dyed in blood.8 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, whenthey saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had allfallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord theirGod, that he would spare them and deliver them out of thehands of their enemies.9 And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhisaw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because oftheir joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallenwith fear because of the terror of their armies. 10 But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fearthem; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him forprotection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rushupon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in thestrength of the Lord they did receive them. 11 And the battlecommenced in this the sixth month; and great and terriblewas the battle thereof, yea, great and terrible was theslaughter thereof, insomuch that there never was known sogreat a slaughter among all the people of Lehi since he leftJerusalem. 12 And notwithstanding the threatenings and theoaths which Giddianhi had made, behold, the Nephites didbeat them, insomuch that they did fall back from beforethem.MormonLand ofZarahemla andland of BountifulA.D. 1913 And it came to pass that Gidgiddoni commanded that hisarmies should pursue them as far as the borders of thewilderness, and that they should not spare any that shouldfall into their hands by the way; and thus they did pursuethem and did slay them, to the borders of the wilderness,even until they had fulfilled the commandment ofGidgiddoni.Mountains andwilderness nearland of Zarahemla14 And it came to pass that Giddianhi, who had stood andfought with boldness, was pursued as he fled; and beingweary because of his much fighting he was overtaken andslain. And thus was the end of Giddianhi the robber.15 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites didreturn again to their place of security. And it came to passthat this nineteenth year did pass away, and the robbers didnot come again to battle; neither did they come again in thetwentieth year.Land ofZarahemla andland of BountifulA.D. 2016 And in the twenty and first year they did not come up tobattle, but they came up on all sides to lay siege roundabout the people of Nephi; for they did suppose that if theyshould cut off the people of Nephi from their lands, andshould hem them in on every side, and if they should cutthem off from all their outward privileges, that they couldcause them to yield themselves up according to theirwishes.A.D. 2117 Now they had appointed unto themselves another leader,whose name was Zemnarihah; therefore it was Zemnarihahthat did cause that this siege should take place. 18 Butbehold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it wasimpossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their muchprovision which they had laid up in store, 19 And because ofthe scantiness of provisions among the robbers; for behold,they had nothing save it were meat for their subsistence,which meat they did obtain in the wilderness;MormonLand ofZarahemla andland of BountifulA.D. 2120 And it came to pass that the wild game became scarce inthe wilderness insomuch that the robbers were about toperish with hunger. 21 And the Nephites were continuallymarching out by day and by night, and falling upon theirarmies, and cutting them off by thousands and by tens ofthousands. 22 And thus it became the desire of the people ofZemnarihah to withdraw from their design, because of thegreat destruction which came upon them by night and byday.Wilderness nearland of Zarahemla23 And it came to pass that Zemnarihah did give commandunto his people that they should withdraw themselves fromthe siege, and march into the furthermost parts of the landnorthward.24 And now, Gidgiddoni being aware of their design, andknowing of their weakness because of the want of food, andthe great slaughter which had been made among them,therefore he did send out his armies in the night-time, anddid cut off the way of their retreat, and did place his armiesin the way of their retreat. 25 And this did they do in thenight-time, and got on their march beyond the robbers, sothat on the morrow, when the robbers began their march,they were met by the armies of the Nephites both in theirfront and in their rear.North of land ofZarahemla andland of Bountiful26 And the robbers who were on the south were also cut offin their places of retreat. And all these things were done bycommand of Gidgiddoni.27 And there were many thousands who did yieldthemselves up prisoners unto the Nephites, and theremainder of them were slain. 28 And their leader,Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, evenupon the top thereof until he was dead. And when they hadhanged him until he was dead they did fell the tree to theearth, and did cry with a loud voice, saying:29 May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and inholiness of heart, that they may cause to be felled to the earth allwho shall seek to slay them because of power and secretcombinations, even as this man hath been felled to the earth.People 30 And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice,saying:MormonNorth of land ofZarahemla andland of BountifulA.D. 21May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God ofJacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shallcall on the name of their God for protection.People31 And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one,in singing, and praising their God for the great thing whichhe had done for them, in preserving them from falling intothe hands of their enemies. 32 Yea, they did cry:MormonHosanna to the Most High God.PeopleAnd they did cry:MormonBlessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most HighGod.People33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushingout of many tears, because of the great goodness of God indelivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and theyknew it was because of their repentance and their humilitythat they had been delivered from an everlastingdestruction.Mormon