Nephites Contend with Lamanites

Event 183

Reference: Morm. 3:1-22; 4:1-9

AND it came to pass that the Lamanites did not come tobattle again until ten years more had passed away. Andbehold, I had employed my people, the Nephites, inpreparing their lands and their arms against the time ofbattle.MormonLand northwardA.D. 350 to 3592 And it came to pass that the Lord did say unto me:Cry unto this people—Repent ye, and come unto me, and be yebaptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be spared.The Lord3 And I did cry unto this people, but it was in vain; and theydid not realize that it was the Lord that had spared them,and granted unto them a chance for repentance. And beholdthey did harden their hearts against the Lord their God.Mormon4 And it came to pass that after this tenth year had passedaway, making, in the whole, three hundred and sixty yearsfrom the coming of Christ, the king of the Lamanites sentan epistle unto me, which gave unto me to know that theywere preparing to come again to battle against us.A.D. 3605 And it came to pass that I did cause my people that theyshould gather themselves together at the land Desolation, toa city which was in the borders, by the narrow pass whichled into the land southward. 6 And there we did place ourarmies, that we might stop the armies of the Lamanites, thatthey might not get possession of any of our lands; thereforewe did fortify against them with all our force.City by the narrowpass at land ofDesolation7 And it came to pass that in the three hundred and sixty andfirst year the Lamanites did come down to the city ofDesolation to battle against us;City of DesolationA.D. 361and it came to pass that in that year we did beat them,insomuch that they did return to their own lands again.8 And in the three hundred and sixty and second year theydid come down again to battle. And we did beat them again,and did slay a great number of them, and their dead werecast into the sea. 9 And now, because of this great thingwhich my people, the Nephites, had done, they began toboast in their own strength, and began to swear before theheavens that they would avenge themselves of the blood oftheir brethren who had been slain by their enemies. 10 AndA.D. 362 they did swear by the heavens, and also by the throne ofGod, that they would go up to battle against their enemies,and would cut them off from the face of the land.MormonCity of DesolationA.D. 36211 And it came to pass that I, Mormon, did utterly refusefrom this time forth to be a commander and a leader of thispeople, because of their wickedness and abomination. 12Behold, I had led them, notwithstanding their wickedness Ihad led them many times to battle, and had loved them,according to the love of God which was in me, with all myheart; and my soul had been poured out in prayer unto myGod all the day long for them; nevertheless, it was withoutfaith, because of the hardness of their hearts. 13 And thricehave I delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, andthey have repented not of their sins. 14 And when they hadsworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord andSavior Jesus Christ, that they would go up unto theirenemies to battle, and avenge themselves of the blood oftheir brethren, behold the voice of the Lord came unto me,saying:Land ofDesolation15 Vengeance is mine, and I will repay; and because this peoplerepented not after I had delivered them, behold, they shall be cutoff from the face of the earth.The Lord16 And it came to pass that I utterly refused to go up againstmine enemies; and I did even as the Lord had commandedme; and I did stand as an idle witness to manifest unto theworld the things which I saw and heard, according to themanifestations of the Spirit which had testified of things tocome. 17 Therefore I write unto you, Gentiles, and also untoyou, house of Israel, when the work shall commence, thatye shall be about to prepare to return to the land of yourinheritance; 18 Yea, behold, I write unto all the ends of theearth; yea, unto you, twelve tribes of Israel, who shall bejudged according to your works by the twelve whom Jesuschose to be his disciples in the land of Jerusalem. 19 And Iwrite also unto the remnant of this people, who shall also bejudged by the twelve whom Jesus chose in this land; andthey shall be judged by the other twelve whom Jesus chosein the land of Jerusalem.Mormon20 And these things doth the Spirit manifest unto me;therefore I write unto you all. And for this cause I writeunto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand beforethe judgment-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs tothe whole human family of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil; 21 Andalso that ye may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, whichye shall have among you; and also that the Jews, thecovenant people of the Lord, shall have other witnessbesides him whom they saw and heard, that Jesus, whomthey slew, was the very Christ and the very God. 22 And Iwould that I could persuade all ye ends of the earth torepent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat ofChrist.MormonLand ofDesolationA.D. 3621 AND now it came to pass that in the three hundred andsixty and third year the Nephites did go up with their armiesto battle against the Lamanites, out of the land Desolation.South of land ofDesolationA.D. 3632 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites weredriven back again to the land of Desolation. And while theywere yet weary, a fresh army of the Lamanites did comeupon them; and they had a sore battle, insomuch that theLamanites did take possession of the city Desolation, anddid slay many of the Nephites, and did take many prisoners.City of Desolation3 And the remainder did flee and join the inhabitants of thecity Teancum. Now the city Teancum lay in the borders bythe seashore; and it was also near the city Desolation. 4 Andit was because the armies of the Nephites went up unto theLamanites that they began to be smitten; for were it not forthat, the Lamanites could have had no power over them. 5But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake thewicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked arepunished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of thechildren of men unto bloodshed.City of Teancumnear seashore6 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did makepreparations to come against the city Teancum.7 And it came to pass in the three hundred and sixty andfourth year the Lamanites did come against the cityTeancum, that they might take possession of the cityTeancum also.A.D. 364 to 3668 And it came to pass that they were repulsed and drivenback by the Nephites. And when the Nephites saw that theyhad driven the Lamanites they did again boast of their ownstrength; and they went forth in their own might, and tookpossession again of the city Desolation. 9 And now all thesethings had been done, and there had been thousands slainon both sides, both the Nephites and the Lamanites.City of Desolation