Helaman Sends Epistle to Moroni

Event 120

Reference: Alma 56:1-57; 57:1-36; 58:1-41

AND now it came to pass in the commencement of thethirtieth year of the reign of the judges, on the second dayin the first month, Moroni received an epistle fromHelaman, stating the affairs of the people in that quarter ofthe land. 2 And these are the words which he wrote, saying:MormonMoroni’s Camp62 B.C.My dearly beloved brother, Moroni, as well in the Lord as in thetribulations of our warfare; behold, my beloved brother, I havesomewhat to tell you concerning our warfare in this part of theland. 3 Behold, two thousand of the sons of those men whomAmmon brought down out of the land of Nephi—now ye haveknown that these were descendants of Laman, who was the eldestson of our father Lehi; 4 Now I need not rehearse unto youconcerning their traditions or their unbelief, for thou knowestconcerning all these things— 5 Therefore it sufficeth me that I tellyou that two thousand of these young men have taken theirweapons of war, and would that I should be their leader; and wehave come forth to defend our country. 6 And now ye also knowconcerning the covenant which their fathers made, that they wouldnot take up their weapons of war against their brethren to shedblood.Helaman7 But in the twenty and sixth year, when they saw our afflictionsand our tribulations for them, they were about to break thecovenant which they had made and take up their weapons of warin our defence. 8 But I would not suffer them that they shouldbreak this covenant which they had made, supposing that Godwould strengthen us, insomuch that we should not suffer morebecause of the fulfilling the oath which they had taken.66 B.C.9 But behold, here is one thing in which we may have great joy.For behold, in the twenty and sixth year, I, Helaman, did march atthe head of these two thousand young men to the city of Judea, toassist Antipus, whom ye had appointed a leader over the people ofthat part of the land. 10 And I did join my two thousand sons, (forthey are worthy to be called sons) to the army of Antipus, in whichstrength Antipus did rejoice exceedingly; for behold, his army hadbeen reduced by the Lamanites because their forces had slain avast number of our men, for which cause we have to mourn. 11Nevertheless, we may console ourselves in this point, that theyhave died in the cause of their country and of their God, yea, andthey are happy. 12 And the Lamanites had also retained manyprisoners, all of whom are chief captains, for none other have theyspared alive. And we suppose that they are now at this time in theland of Nephi; it is so if they are not slain.City of Judea 13 And now these are the cities of which the Lamanites haveobtained possession by the shedding of the blood of so many ofour valiant men: 14 The land of Manti, or the city of Manti, and thecity of Zeezrom, and the city of Cumeni, and the city of Antiparah.HelamanCities south andwest of land ofZarahemla66 B.C.15 And these are the cities which they possessed when I arrived atthe city of Judea; and I found Antipus and his men toiling withtheir might to fortify the city. 16 Yea, and they were depressed inbody as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day andtoiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had sufferedgreat afflictions of every kind. 17 And now they were determinedto conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well supposethat this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons ofmine, gave them great hopes and much joy.City of Judea18 And now it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw thatAntipus had received a greater strength to his army, they werecompelled by the orders of Ammoron to not come against the cityof Judea, or against us, to battle. 19 And thus were we favored ofthe Lord; for had they come upon us in this our weakness theymight have perhaps destroyed our little army; but thus were wepreserved. 20 They were commanded by Ammoron to maintainthose cities which they had taken. And thus ended the twenty andsixth year.And in the commencement of the twenty and seventh year we hadprepared our city and ourselves for defence. 21 Now we weredesirous that the Lamanites should come upon us; for we were notdesirous to make an attack upon them in their strongholds.65 to 64 B.C.22 And it came to pass that we kept spies out round about, towatch the movements of the Lamanites, that they might not passus by night nor by day to make an attack upon our other citieswhich were on the northward. 23 For we knew in those cities theywere not sufficiently strong to meet them; therefore we weredesirous, if they should pass by us, to fall upon them in their rear,and thus bring them up in the rear at the same time they were metin the front. We supposed that we could overpower them; butbehold, we were disappointed in this our desire. 24 They durst notpass by us with their whole army, neither durst they with a part,lest they should not be sufficiently strong and they should fall. 25Neither durst they march down against the city of Zarahemla;neither durst they cross the head of Sidon, over to the city ofNephihah. 26 And thus, with their forces, they were determined tomaintain those cities which they had taken.27 And now it came to pass in the second month of this year, therewas brought unto us many provisions from the fathers of those mytwo thousand sons. 28 And also there were sent two thousand menunto us from the land of Zarahemla. And thus we were preparedwith ten thousand men, and provisions for them, and also for theirwives and their children. 29 And the Lamanites, thus seeing ourforces increase daily, and provisions arrive for our support, theybegan to be fearful, and began to sally forth, if it were possible to put an end to our receiving provisions and strength. 30 Now whenwe saw that the Lamanites began to grow uneasy on this wise, wewere desirous to bring a stratagem into effect upon them; thereforeAntipus ordered that I should march forth with my little sons to aneighboring city, as if we were carrying provisions to aneighboring city. 31 And we were to march near the city ofAntiparah, as if we were going to the city beyond, in the bordersby the seashore.HelamanCity of Judea65 to 64 B.C.32 And it came to pass that we did march forth, as if with ourprovisions, to go to that city.Between city ofJudea and city bythe sea33 And it came to pass that Antipus did march forth with a part ofhis army, leaving the remainder to maintain the city. But he did notmarch forth until I had gone forth with my little army, and camenear the city Antiparah.34 And now, in the city Antiparah were stationed the strongestarmy of the Lamanites; yea, the most numerous.City of Antiparah35 And it came to pass that when they had been informed by theirspies, they came forth with their army and marched against us.36 And it came to pass that we did flee before them, northward.And thus we did lead away the most powerful army of theLamanites; 37 Yea, even to a considerable distance, insomuch thatwhen they saw the army of Antipus pursuing them, with theirmight, they did not turn to the right nor to the left, but pursuedtheir march in a straight course after us; and, as we suppose, it wastheir intent to slay us before Antipus should overtake them, andthis that they might not be surrounded by our people. 38 And nowAntipus, beholding our danger, did speed the march of his army.But behold, it was night; therefore they did not overtake us, neitherdid Antipus overtake them; therefore we did camp for the night.North of city ofAntiparah39 And it came to pass that before the dawn of the morning,behold, the Lamanites were pursuing us. Now we were notsufficiently strong to contend with them; yea, I would not sufferthat my little sons should fall into their hands; therefore we didcontinue our march, and we took our march into the wilderness. 40Now they durst not turn to the right nor to the left lest they shouldbe surrounded; neither would I turn to the right nor to the left lestthey should overtake me, and we could not stand against them, butbe slain, and they would make their escape; and thus we did fleeall that day into the wilderness, even until it was dark.Wilderness northof city ofAntiparah41 And it came to pass that again, when the light of the morningcame we saw the Lamanites upon us, and we did flee before them.42 But it came to pass that they did not pursue us far before theyhalted; and it was in the morning of the third day of the seventhmonth. 43 And now, whether they were overtaken by Antipus weknew not, but I said unto my men: Behold, we know not but they have halted for the purpose thatwe should come against them, that they might catch us in theirsnare; 44 Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go againstthem to battle?HelamanWilderness northof city ofAntiparah65 to 64 B.C.45 And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that neverhad I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. 46For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of themvery young) even so they said unto me:Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that weshould fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethrenif they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they shouldoverpower the army of Antipus.Lamanite Sons47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; andthey did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they didupon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that ifthey did not doubt, God would deliver them. 48 And theyrehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying:HelamanWe do not doubt our mothers knew it.Lamanite Sons49 And it came to pass that I did return with my two thousandagainst these Lamanites who had pursued us. And now behold, thearmies of Antipus had overtaken them, and a terrible battle hadcommenced. 50 The army of Antipus being weary, because of theirlong march in so short a space of time, were about to fall into thehands of the Lamanites; and had I not returned with my twothousand they would have obtained their purpose. 51 For Antipushad fallen by the sword, and many of his leaders, because of theirweariness, which was occasioned by the speed of their march—therefore the men of Antipus, being confused because of the fall oftheir leaders, began to give way before the Lamanites.HelamanNorth of city ofAntiparah52 And it came to pass that the Lamanites took courage, andbegan to pursue them; and thus were the Lamanitespursuing them with great vigor when Helaman came upontheir rear with his two thousand, and began to slay themexceedingly, insomuch that the whole army of theLamanites halted and turned upon Helaman. 53 Now whenthe people of Antipus saw that the Lamanites had turnedthem about, they gathered together their men and cameagain upon the rear of the Lamanites.Mormon54 And now it came to pass that we, the people of Nephi, thepeople of Antipus, and I with my two thousand, did surround theLamanites, and did slay them; yea, insomuch that they werecompelled to deliver up their weapons of war and also themselvesas prisoners of war.Helaman55 And now it came to pass that when they had surrenderedthemselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain. 56But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallento the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength ofGod; yea, never were men known to have fought with suchmiraculous strength; and with such mighty power did they fallupon the Lamanites, that they did frighten them; and for this causedid the Lamanites deliver themselves up as prisoners of war.HelamanNorth of city ofAntiparah65 to 64 B.C.57 And as we had no place for our prisoners, that we could guardthem to keep them from the armies of the Lamanites, therefore wesent them to the land of Zarahemla, and a part of those men whowere not slain of Antipus, with them; and the remainder I took andjoined them to my stripling Ammonites, and took our march backto the city of Judea.City of Judea1 AND now it came to pass that I received an epistle fromAmmoron, the king, stating that if I would deliver up thoseprisoners of war whom we had taken that he would deliver up thecity of Antiparah unto us. 2 But I sent an epistle unto the king, thatwe were sure our forces were sufficient to take the city ofAntiparah by our force; and by delivering up the prisoners for thatcity we should suppose ourselves unwise, and that we would onlydeliver up our prisoners on exchange. 3 And Ammoron refusedmine epistle, for he would not exchange prisoners; therefore webegan to make preparations to go against the city of Antiparah.4 But the people of Antiparah did leave the city, and fled to theirother cities, which they had possession of, to fortify them; and thusthe city of Antiparah fell into our hands. 5 And thus ended thetwenty and eighth year of the reign of the judges.City of Antiparah6 And it came to pass that in the commencement of the twenty andninth year, we received a supply of provisions, and also anaddition to our army, from the land of Zarahemla, and from theland round about, to the number of six thousand men, besides sixtyof the sons of the Ammonites who had come to join their brethren,my little band of two thousand. And now behold, we were strong,yea, and we had also plenty of provisions brought unto us.63 B.C.7 And it came to pass that it was our desire to wage a battle withthe army which was placed to protect the city Cumeni. 8 And nowbehold, I will show unto you that we soon accomplished ourdesire; yea, with our strong force, or with a part of our strongforce, we did surround, by night, the city Cumeni, a little beforethey were to receive a supply of provisions.9 And it came to pass that we did camp round about the city formany nights; but we did sleep upon our swords, and keep guards,that the Lamanites could not come upon us by night and slay us,which they attempted many times; but as many times as theyattempted this their blood was spilt. 10 At length their provisionsdid arrive, and they were about to enter the city by night. And we,instead of being Lamanites, were Nephites; therefore, we did takethem and their provisions. 11 And notwithstanding the LamanitesOutside the city ofCumeni being cut off from their support after this manner, they were stilldetermined to maintain the city; therefore it became expedient thatwe should take those provisions and send them to Judea, and ourprisoners to the land of Zarahemla.HelamanOutside the city ofCumeni63 B.C.12 And it came to pass that not many days had passed away beforethe Lamanites began to lose all hopes of succor; therefore theyyielded up the city unto our hands; and thus we had accomplishedour designs in obtaining the city Cumeni.City of Cumeni13 But it came to pass that our prisoners were so numerous that,notwithstanding the enormity of our numbers, we were obliged toemploy all our force to keep them, or to put them to death. 14 Forbehold, they would break out in great numbers, and would fightwith stones, and with clubs, or whatsoever thing they could getinto their hands, insomuch that we did slay upwards of twothousand of them after they had surrendered themselves prisonersof war. 15 Therefore it became expedient for us, that we should putan end to their lives, or guard them, sword in hand, down to theland of Zarahemla; and also our provisions were not any more thansufficient for our own people, notwithstanding that which we hadtaken from the Lamanites. 16 And now, in those criticalcircumstances, it became a very serious matter to determineconcerning these prisoners of war; nevertheless, we did resolve tosend them down to the land of Zarahemla; therefore we selected apart of our men, and gave them charge over our prisoners to godown to the land of Zarahemla.17 But it came to pass that on the morrow they did return. Andnow behold, we did not inquire of them concerning the prisoners;for behold, the Lamanites were upon us, and they returned inseason to save us from falling into their hands. For behold,Ammoron had sent to their support a new supply of provisions andalso a numerous army of men.18 And it came to pass that those men whom we sent with theprisoners did arrive in season to check them, as they were about tooverpower us. 19 But behold, my little band of two thousand andsixty fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before theLamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposedthem. 20 And as the remainder of our army were about to give waybefore the Lamanites, behold, those two thousand and sixty werefirm and undaunted. 21 Yea, and they did obey and observe toperform every word of command with exactness; yea, and evenaccording to their faith it was done unto them; and I did rememberthe words which they said unto me that their mothers had taughtthem. 22 And now behold, it was these my sons, and those menwho had been selected to convey the prisoners, to whom we owethis great victory; for it was they who did beat the Lamanites;therefore they were driven back to the city of Manti. 23 And weretained our city Cumeni, and were not all destroyed by the sword;nevertheless, we had suffered great loss. 24 And it came to pass that after the Lamanites had fled, Iimmediately gave orders that my men who had been woundedshould be taken from among the dead, and caused that theirwounds should be dressed.HelamanCity of Cumeni63 B.C.25 And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my twothousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood;nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our greatastonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was notone soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there onesoul among them who had not received many wounds. 26 Andnow, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea,that they should be spared while there was a thousand of ourbrethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to themiraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in thatwhich they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God,and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by hismarvelous power. 27 Now this was the faith of these of whom Ihave spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they doput their trust in God continually.28 And now it came to pass that after we had thus taken care of ourwounded men, and had buried our dead and also the dead of theLamanites, who were many, behold, we did inquire of Gidconcerning the prisoners whom they had started to go down to theland of Zarahemla with. 29 Now Gid was the chief captain over theband who was appointed to guard them down to the land. 30 Andnow, these are the words which Gid said unto me:Behold, we did start to go down to the land of Zarahemla withour prisoners.GidBetween city ofCumeni and landof ZarahemlaAnd it came to pass that we did meet the spies of our armies,who had been sent out to watch the camp of the Lamanites. 31And they cried unto us, saying—Behold, the armies of the Lamanites are marching towardsthe city of Cumeni; and behold, they will fall upon them, yea,and will destroy our people.Spies32 And it came to pass that our prisoners did hear their cries,which caused them to take courage; and they did rise up inrebellion against us.Gid33 And it came to pass because of their rebellion we did causethat our swords should come upon them.And it came to pass that they did in a body run upon ourswords, in the which, the greater number of them were slain;and the remainder of them broke through and fled from us.34 And behold, when they had fled and we could not overtakethem, we took our march with speed towards the city Cumeni;and behold, we did arrive in time that we might assist ourbrethren in preserving the city. 35 And behold, we are againCity of Cumeni delivered out of the hands of our enemies. And blessed is thename of our God; for behold, it is he that has delivered us; yea,that has done this great thing for us.GidCity of Cumeni63 B.C.36 Now it came to pass that when I, Helaman, had heard thesewords of Gid, I was filled with exceeding joy because of thegoodness of God in preserving us, that we might not all perish;yea, and I trust that the souls of them who have been slain haveentered into the rest of their God.Helaman1 AND behold, now it came to pass that our next object was toobtain the city of Manti; but behold, there was no way that wecould lead them out of the city by our small bands. For behold,they remembered that which we had hitherto done; therefore wecould not decoy them away from their strongholds. 2 And theywere so much more numerous than was our army that we durst notgo forth and attack them in their strongholds. 3 Yea, and it becameexpedient that we should employ our men to the maintaining thoseparts of the land which we had regained of our possessions;therefore it became expedient that we should wait, that we mightreceive more strength from the land of Zarahemla and also a newsupply of provisions.4 And it came to pass that I thus did send an embassy to thegovernor of our land, to acquaint him concerning the affairs of ourpeople.And it came to pass that we did wait to receive provisions andstrength from the land of Zarahemla. 5 But behold, this did profitus but little; for the Lamanites were also receiving great strengthfrom day to day, and also many provisions; and thus were ourcircumstances at this period of time. 6 And the Lamanites weresallying forth against us from time to time, resolving by stratagemto destroy us; nevertheless we could not come to battle with them,because of their retreats and their strongholds.7 And it came to pass that we did wait in these difficultcircumstances for the space of many months, even until we wereabout to perish for the want of food.8 But it came to pass that we did receive food, which was guardedto us by an army of two thousand men to our assistance; and this isall the assistance which we did receive, to defend ourselves andour country from falling into the hands of our enemies, yea, tocontend with an enemy which was innumerable. 9 And now thecause of these our embarrassments, or the cause why they did notsend more strength unto us, we knew not; therefore we weregrieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgmentsof God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utterdestruction. 10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer toGod, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands ofour enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retainour cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support ofour people. 11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us withassurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he didspeak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and didcause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him. 12 Andwe did take courage with our small force which we had received,and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, andto maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and ourchildren, and the cause of our liberty.HelamanCity of Cumeni63 B.C.13 And thus we did go forth with all our might against theLamanites, who were in the city of Manti; and we did pitch ourtents by the wilderness side, which was near to the city.South of city ofManti14 And it came to pass that on the morrow, that when theLamanites saw that we were in the borders by the wildernesswhich was near the city, that they sent out their spies round aboutus that they might discover the number and the strength of ourarmy.15 And it came to pass that when they saw that we were not strong,according to our numbers, and fearing that we should cut them offfrom their support except they should come out to battle against usand kill us, and also supposing that they could easily destroy uswith their numerous hosts, therefore they began to makepreparations to come out against us to battle.16 And when we saw that they were making preparations to comeout against us, behold, I caused that Gid, with a small number ofmen, should secrete himself in the wilderness, and also thatTeomner and a small number of men should secrete themselvesalso in the wilderness.Wilderness17 Now Gid and his men were on the right and the others on theleft; and when they had thus secreted themselves, behold, Iremained, with the remainder of my army, in that same placewhere we had first pitched our tents against the time that theLamanites should come out to battle.South of city ofManti18 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did come out with theirnumerous army against us. And when they had come and wereabout to fall upon us with the sword, I caused that my men, thosewho were with me, should retreat into the wilderness.19 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did follow after us withgreat speed, for they were exceedingly desirous to overtake us thatthey might slay us; therefore they did follow us into thewilderness; and we did pass by in the midst of Gid and Teomner,insomuch that they were not discovered by the Lamanites.Wilderness20 And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had passed by, orwhen the army had passed by, Gid and Teomner did rise up fromtheir secret places, and did cut off the spies of the Lamanites thatthey should not return to the city. 21 And it came to pass that when they had cut them off, they ran tothe city and fell upon the guards who were left to guard the city,insomuch that they did destroy them and did take possession of thecity. 22 Now this was done because the Lamanites did suffer theirwhole army, save a few guards only, to be led away into thewilderness.HelamanCity of Manti63 B.C.23 And it came to pass that Gid and Teomner by this means hadobtained possession of their strongholds.And it came to pass that we took our course, after having traveledmuch in the wilderness towards the land of Zarahemla. 24 Andwhen the Lamanites saw that they were marching towards the landof Zarahemla, they were exceedingly afraid, lest there was a planlaid to lead them on to destruction; therefore they began to retreatinto the wilderness again, yea, even back by the same way whichthey had come. 25 And behold, it was night and they did pitch theirtents, for the chief captains of the Lamanites had supposed that theNephites were weary because of their march; and supposing thatthey had driven their whole army therefore they took no thoughtconcerning the city of Manti.Wilderness26 Now it came to pass that when it was night, I caused that mymen should not sleep, but that they should march forward byanother way towards the land of Manti.27 And because of this our march in the night-time, behold, on themorrow we were beyond the Lamanites, insomuch that we didarrive before them at the city of Manti.City of Manti28 And thus it came to pass, that by this stratagem we did takepossession of the city of Manti without the shedding of blood.29 And it came to pass that when the armies of the Lamanites didarrive near the city, and saw that we were prepared to meet them,they were astonished exceedingly and struck with great fear,insomuch that they did flee into the wilderness.30 Yea, and it came to pass that the armies of the Lamanites didflee out of all this quarter of the land. But behold, they havecarried with them many women and children out of the land.Wilderness31 And those cities which had been taken by the Lamanites, all ofthem are at this period of time in our possession; and our fathersand our women and our children are returning to their homes, allsave it be those who have been taken prisoners and carried off bythe Lamanites. 32 But behold, our armies are small to maintain sogreat a number of cities and so great possessions. 33 But behold,we trust in our God who has given us victory over those lands,insomuch that we have obtained those cities and those lands,which were our own. 34 Now we do not know the cause that thegovernment does not grant us more strength; neither do those menwho came up unto us know why we have not received greaterstrength. 35 Behold, we do not know but what ye are unsuccessful,and ye have drawn away the forces into that quarter of the land; ifCities south andwest of land ofZarahemla so, we do not desire to murmur. 36 And if it is not so, behold, wefear that there is some faction in the government, that they do notsend more men to our assistance; for we know that they are morenumerous than that which they have sent. 37 But, behold, itmattereth not—we trust God will deliver us, notwithstanding theweakness of our armies, yea, and deliver us out of the hands of ourenemies.HelamanCities south andwest of land ofZarahemla63 B.C.38 Behold, this is the twenty and ninth year, in the latter end, andwe are in the possession of our lands; and the Lamanites have fledto the land of Nephi.39 And those sons of the people of Ammon, of whom I have sohighly spoken, are with me in the city of Manti; and the Lord hassupported them, yea, and kept them from falling by the sword,insomuch that even one soul has not been slain. 40 But behold,they have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast inthat liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strictto remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they doobserve to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and hiscommandments continually; and their faith is strong in theprophecies concerning that which is to come. 41 And now, mybeloved brother, Moroni, may the Lord our God, who hasredeemed us and made us free, keep you continually in hispresence; yea, and may he favor this people, even that ye mayhave success in obtaining the possession of all that which theLamanites have taken from us, which was for our support. Andnow, behold, I close mine epistle. I am Helaman, the son of Alma.City of Manti