AlmaChapter17

And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

As Alma was traveling south from the land of Gideon, on his way to the land of Manti, to his astonishment he met the sons of Mosiah, who were traveling toward the land of Zarahemla.

Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

These sons of Mosiah had been with Alma when the angel first appeared to him, so Alma was overjoyed to see his brothers. What added even more to his joy was that they were still his brothers in the Lord. They had grown strong in the knowledge of the truth, because they were men of sound understanding and had searched the scriptures diligently so that they might know the word of God.

But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.

And that's not all. They had given themselves to much prayer and fasting, so they had the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with the power and authority of God.

And they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.

They had been teaching the word of God among the Lamanites for fourteen years, with much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth. By the power of their words, many were brought before the altar of God to call on his name and confess their sins before him.

Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much labor in the spirit.

Now these are the circumstances of their travels, because they went through many hard times. They suffered much in both body and mind: hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, and also much labor in the spirit.

Now these were their journeyings: Having taken leave of their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges; having refused the kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this was the minds of the people;

Now this is how their travels began. They had said goodbye to their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges, having refused the kingdom their father wanted to give them, which was what the people wanted for them too.

Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings; and this they did that they might provide food for themselves while in the wilderness.

Even so, they left the land of Zarahemla and took their swords, spears, bows, arrows, and slings, and they did this so they could provide food for themselves in the wilderness.

And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.

And so they went into the wilderness with the numbers they had chosen, to go up to the land of Nephi and preach the word of God to the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

They traveled many days in the wilderness, fasting much and praying much that the Lord would grant them a portion of his Spirit to go with them and stay with them, so that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring their brothers the Lamanites, if it were possible, to the knowledge of the truth, and to the knowledge of how corrupt and false the traditions of their fathers were.

And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.

And the Lord visited them with his Spirit and said to them, "Be comforted." And they were comforted.

And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

And the Lord also said to them, "Go among the Lamanites, your brothers, and establish my word. But you shall be patient in long-suffering and affliction, so that you may show them good examples in me, and I will make you an instrument in my hands for the salvation of many souls."

And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

So the sons of Mosiah, and those who were with them, took courage in their hearts to go out to the Lamanites and declare the word of God to them.

And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

After they had arrived at the borders of the Lamanites' land, they separated and went their own ways, trusting in the Lord that they would meet again at the end of their harvest, because they thought the work they had taken on was huge.

And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.

And it certainly was because they had taken on the work of preaching the word of God to a wild, hardened, and ferocious people, a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites and robbing and plundering them. Their hearts were set on riches, on gold, silver, and precious stones, but they tried to get these things by murdering and plundering so they wouldn't have to work for them with their own hands.

Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.

So they were a very lazy people. Many of them worshiped idols, and God's curse had fallen on them because of the traditions of their fathers. Even so, the Lord's promises were still held out to them on the condition that they repent.

Therefore, this was the cause for which the sons of Mosiah had undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of redemption.

So this was why the sons of Mosiah had taken on the work: that they might perhaps bring them to repentance, and perhaps bring them to know the plan of redemption.

Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of God which was given unto him.

So they separated from each other and went out among them, each one alone, according to the word and power of God given to him.

Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them, and he departed from them, after having blessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land.

Now Ammon was the leader among them, or rather, he ministered to them, and he left them after blessing them according to their various assignments, giving them the word of God, or ministering to them before he went. And so they each took their own journeys throughout the land.

And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being called after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites.

And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land named after the sons of Ishmael, who had also become Lamanites.

And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.

As Ammon entered that land, the Lamanites took him and tied him up, as was their custom with every Nephite who fell into their hands, and carried him before the king. So it was up to the king to kill him, keep him captive, throw him in prison, or drive him out of his land, however he pleased.

And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

So Ammon was carried before the king over that land. His name was Lamoni, and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.

The king asked Ammon whether he wanted to live in the land among the Lamanites, or to go back to his own people.

And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.

And Ammon said to him, "Yes, I want to live among the Lamanites for a while, perhaps until the day I die."

And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.

King Lamoni was very pleased with Ammon and had him untied, and he wanted Ammon to marry one of his daughters.

But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.

But Ammon said to him, "No, but I'll be your servant." So Ammon became king Lamoni's servant, and he was put with the other servants to watch Lamoni's flocks, as was the Lamanite custom.

And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water—

After he had been in the king's service three days, he was out with the Lamanitish servants, taking their flocks to the watering place called the water of Sebus, where all the Lamanites drive their flocks so they can water them.

Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.

So as Ammon and the king's servants were driving their flocks to this watering place, a number of Lamanites who had been there watering their own flocks stood up and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the king's servants. They scattered them so badly that the animals ran off in every direction.

Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.

Now the king's servants started complaining, "The king will kill us now, just as he killed our brothers because their flocks were scattered by these men's wickedness." And they began weeping bitterly, saying, "Our flocks are already scattered."

Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.

They were weeping because they were afraid of being killed. When Ammon saw this, his heart swelled with joy because he said to himself, "I will show these fellow servants of mine my power, the power that is in me, by restoring these flocks to the king, so that I can win their hearts and lead them to believe my words."

And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.

These were Ammon's thoughts when he saw the distress of the men he called his brothers.

And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.

So he encouraged them with his words: "My brothers, cheer up. Let's go look for the flocks. We'll gather them and bring them back to the watering place. That way we'll save the flocks for the king, and he won't kill us."

And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.

So they went to look for the flocks. They followed Ammon, rushed out with great speed, headed off the king's flocks, and gathered them together again at the watering place.

And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.

Those men stood up again to scatter their flocks, but Ammon said to his brothers, "Surround the flocks so they don't run off, while I go and fight the men who are scattering them."

Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and they were in number not a few.

So they did as Ammon told them, and he went out and stood to fight the men by the waters of Sebus. There were quite a few of them.

Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.

They weren't afraid of Ammon, because they thought that any one of their men could kill him whenever they pleased. They didn't know that the Lord had promised Mosiah he would deliver his sons out of their hands, and they knew nothing at all about the Lord. That is why they delighted in destroying their brothers, and that is why they stood there to scatter the king's flocks.

But Ammon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and thus he slew a certain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing that they could not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him.

But Ammon stood out in front and began throwing stones at them with his sling. With great power he slung stones among them, and he killed a number of them, so that they were amazed at his power. Still, they were angry because their brothers had been killed, and they were determined that he would go down. So, seeing that they couldn't hit him with their stones, they came at him with clubs to kill him.

But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.

But every man who lifted his club to strike Ammon had his arm cut off by Ammon's sword. Ammon blocked their blows by striking their arms with the edge of his sword, until they were amazed and fled from him. And there were not a few of them; he drove them off by the strength of his arm.

Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.

Six of them had fallen by the sling, but with his sword he killed no one except their leader. He cut off as many arms as were lifted against him, and there were not a few.

And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and they watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had done.

After he had driven them far off, he came back, and they watered their flocks and returned them to the king's pasture. Then they went in to the king, carrying the arms Ammon's sword had cut off from the men who had tried to kill him, as a testimony of what they had done.