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with unwearied diligence, that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily. And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them; therefore as many as have come to this, ye know of yourselves, are firm and steadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have been made free. And ye know also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up, lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin; for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them; and this because of their faith in Christ. And now because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe; for because of their firmness when they are once enlightened, behold the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days, notwithstanding their iniquity; yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief, the Lord shall prolong their days until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites again, to the knowledge of the truth; yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times, the promises of the Lord hath been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them; and this is according to the prophecy, that they should be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true Shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep. Therefore I say unto you, it shall be better for them than for you, except ye repent. For behold, had the mighty works been shewn unto them which have been shewn unto you; yea, unto them who have dwindled in unbelief because of the traditions of their fathers, ye can see of yourselves, that they never would again have dwindled in unbelief; therefore, saith the Lord, I will not utterly destroy thein, but I will cause that in the

day of my wisdom, they shall return again unto me, saith the Lord. And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites, if they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them, saith the Lord because of their unbelief, notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth, shall these things be, saith the Lord.

.9 And now it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word, went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him, they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord. But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel, were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him, as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones, neither with their arrows. Now when they saw this, that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized. For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people; shewing signs and wonders; working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come; telling them of things which must shortly come, that they might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the words of Samuel, went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins. But the more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stones and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying, take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him, we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind him, and away with him. And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people. And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites; and thus were the affairs of the people. And thus ended the eighty and sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended, also, the eighty

and seventh year of the reign of the judges, the more part of the people remaining in their pride and wickedness, and the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God. And these were the conditions also, in the eighty and eighth year of the reign of the Judges. And there was but little alteration in the affairs of the people, save it were the people began to be more hardened in iniquity, and do more and more of that which was contrary to the commandments of God, in the eighty and ninth year of the reign of the judges.

10. But it came to pass in the ninetieth year of the reign of the Judges, there were great signs given unto the people, and wonders; and the words of the prophets began to be fulfilled; and angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the people began to harden their hearts, all save it were the most believing part of them, both of the Nephites, and also of the Lamanites, and began to depend upon their own strength, and upon their own wisdom, saying, some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we krow that all these great and marvellous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken. And they began to reason and to contend among themselves, saying, that it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not shew himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem? Yea, why will he not shew himself in this land, as well as in the land of Jerusalem? But behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvellous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true. And they will, by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery, which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance, if we will yield ourselves unto them all the days of our lives. And many more things did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumours and contentions upon

all the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which was good, and against that which should come; and notwithstanding the signs and the wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people, upon all the face of the land. And thus ended the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the book of Helaman, according to the record of Helaman and

his sons.

THE BOOK OF NEPHI,

THE SON OF NEPHI, WHO WAS THE SON OF HELAMAN.

CHAPTER I.

And Helaman was the son of Helaman, who was the son of Alma, who was the son of Alma, being a descendant of Nephi who was the son of Lehi, who came out of Jerusalem in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, the king of Judah.

1. Now it came to pass that the ninety and first year had passed away and it was six hundred years from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; and it was in the year that Lachoneus was the Chief Judge and the Governor over the land. And Nephi the son of Helaman, had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, giving charge unto his son Nephi, who was his eldest son, concerning the plates of brass, and all the records which had been kept, and all those things which had been kept sacred, from the departure of Lehi out of Jerusalem; then he departed out of the land, and whither he went, no man knoweth; and his son Nephi did keep the records in his stead, yea, the record of this people.

2. And it came to pass that in the commencement of the ninety and second year, behold, the prophecies of the prophets began to be fulfilled more fully; for there began to be greater signs and greater miracles wrought among the people. But there were some who began to say that the time was past for the words to be fulfilled, which were spoken by Samuel, the Lamanite. And they began to rejoice over their brethren, saying, behold the time is past, and the words of Samuel are not fulfilled;

therefore, your joy and your faith concerning this thing, hath been vain. And it came to pass that they did make a great uproar throughout the land; and the people who believed, began to be very sorrowful, lest by any means those things which had been spoken might not come to pass. But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day, and that night, and that day, which shall be as one day, as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.

3. Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death, except the sign should come to pass which had been given by Samuel the prophet. Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceeding sorrowful. And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God, in behalf of his people; yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers. And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord, all the day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying, lift up your head and be of good cheer, for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to shew unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men, from the foundation of the world, and do the will, both of the Father, and of the Son of the Father, because of me, and of the Son, because of my flesh. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.

4. And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold at the going down of the sun, there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished, because there was no darkness when the night came. And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the word of the prophets, had been frustrated; for the signal which had been given was already at hand; and they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the

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