30. And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes 'worse than though they had never known these things.

CHAPTER 25.

1. AND behold, now it came to pass that those Lamanites were more angry, because they had slain their brethren; therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites; and they did no more attempt to slay the people of "Anti-Nephi-Lehi at that time;

2. But they took their armies and went over into the borders of the land of Zarahemla, and fell upon the people who were in the 'land of Ammonihah, and "destroyed them.

3. And after that, they had many battles with the Nephites, in the which they were driven and slain;

4. And among the Lamanites who were slain, were almost all the "seed of Amulon and his brethren, who were the priests of Noah, and they were slain by the hands of the Nephites;

5. And the remainder having fled into the east wilderness, and having usurped the power and authority over the Lamanites, caused that many of the Lamanites should "perish by fire because of their belief;

6. For many of them, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the words which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the traditions of their fathers, and to believe in the Lord, and that he gave great power unto the Nephites; and thus there were many of them converted in the wilder

ness.

7. And it came to pass that those rulers who were the remnant of the "children of Amulon, caused that they should be put to death, yea, all those that believed in these things.

8. Now this martyrdom caused that many of their brethren should be stirred up to anger; and there began to be contention in the wilderness; and the Lamanites began to hunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren, and began to slay them, and they fled into the east wilderness.

t, vers. 1, 28, 29. Alma 21: 3-11. 23: 14. 47:36.

a, see t, Alma 23.

d, see u, Mos. 23. Jacob 7.

b, see i, Alma 8. e, see f, Mos. 17.

c, Alma 16: 2, 3, 9—11. f, Alma 17-23. g, see n,

h, see u, Mos. 23. i, see f, Mos. 17.

j, see u, Mos. 23.

9. And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites; thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass, which he said concerning the seed of the priests who caused that he should suffer death by fire.

10. For he said unto them, 'What ye shall do unto me, shall be a type of things to come.

11. And now Abinadi was the first that suffered "death by fire, because of his belief in God; now this is what he meant, that many should suffer death by fire, "according as he had suffered.

12. And he said unto the priests of Noah, that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was, and that they should be scattered abroad and slain, even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts; and now behold, these words were verified, for they were driven by the Lamanites, and they were hunted, and they were smitten.

13. And it came to pass that when the Lamanites saw that they could not overpower the Nephites, they returned again to their own land; and many of them came over to dwell in the land of Ishmael and the land of Nephi, and did join themselves to the people of God, who were the people of "Anti-Nephi-Lehi;

14. And they did also bury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had, and they began to be a righteous people; and they did walk in the ways of the Lord, and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes,

15. Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses; for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet, for it was not all fulfilled. But notwithstanding the law of Moses, they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances, until the time that he should be revealed unto them.

16. Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the Spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come.

17. And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren did rejoice exceedingly, for the success which they had had among the Lamanites, seeing that the Lord had granted unto them according to their "prayers, and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular.

k, Mos. 17: 15-20. 5-7. o, vers. 8,9. r, see t, Alma 23. Nep. 32.

7, Mos. 13: 10. Mos. 17: 18.

s, see l, Alma 24.

P,

n, vers.

m, Mos. 17: 13-20. see w, Alma 17. q, see b, II. Nep. 5. t, see o, II. Nep. 25. u, see e, II

CHAPTER 26.

1. AND now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed, when we started from the 'land of Zarahemla, that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

2. And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

3. Behold, I answer for you, for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss; but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvellous light of God? And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

4. Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.

5. Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your mights, yea, all the day long did ye labour; and behold the number of your sheaves, and they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted;

6. Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh, they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

7. But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day.

8. Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness for ever.

9. For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God.

10. And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying, Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting;

11. But Ammon said unto him, I do not boast in my own strength, or in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God

12. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength Í am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will

a, Mos. 28: 9.

d, Alma 23: 5.
g, see p, Mos. 23.

Alma 17:6-9.

b, see h, Omni 1.
e, Hela. 5: 12. III. Nep. 14: 26, 27.
h, see h, Omni 1.
i, see n, Jacob 7.

c, Alma 23: 8-13. f, see i, II. Nep. 9.

boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land for which we will praise his name for ever.

13. Behold, how many thousands of our brethren, has he loosed from the 'pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice? 14. Yea, we have reason to praise him for ever, for he is the most high God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell.

15. Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light; yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love; yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvellous work;

16. Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God for ever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

17. Who could have supposed that our God would have been so merciful as to have snatched us from our awful, sinful, and polluted state?

18. Behold, we went forth even in wrath, with mighty threatenings to 'destroy his church.

19. O then, why did he not consign us to an awful destruction? yea, why did he not let the sword of his justice fall upon us, and doom us to "eternal despair?

20. O my soul, almost as it were, fleeth at the thought. Behold, he did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting "gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls.

21. And now behold, my brethren, what natural man is there that knoweth these things? I say unto you, there is none that knoweth these things, save it be the penitent;

22. Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

23. Now do ye remember, my brethren, that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla, we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren the Lamanites, and they laughed us to scorn?

i, see p, II. Nep. 28. m, see m, Jacob 6.

k, see p, II. Nep. 28.

1, Mos. 27: 10, 34.

n, see i, 1. Nep. 15.

o, see e, II. Nep. 32.

24. For they said unto us. Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the Pincorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning? Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

25. And moreover they did say, Let us take up arms against them, that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land, lest they overrun us and destroy us.

26. But behold, my beloved brethren, we came into the wilderness not with the intent to destroy our brethren, but with the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.

27. Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said, Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with "patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you

success.

28. And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have travelled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world; not upon the mercies of the world alone, but upon the mercies of God.

29. And we have entered into their houses and taught them, and we have taught them in their streets; yea, and we have taught them upon their hills; and we have also entered into their 'temples and their "synagogues and taught them; and we have been "cast out, and mocked, and spit upon, and smote upon our cheeks; and we have been stoned, and taken and bound with "strong cords, and cast into prison; and through the power and wisdom of God we have been delivered again;

30. And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full, if perhaps we could be the means of "saving some.

31. Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are "many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren, and also towards us.

32. For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives, than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have 2 buried

P, see n, Jacob 7.

8, see r. 21: 11. 26: 4.

q, Alma 17: 9-12.

t, see h, II. Nep. 5. w, Alma 20: 29, 30. z, Alma, 24: 20-24.

r, ver. 28. Alma 17: 11. u, see u, Alma 16. v, Alma 20: 29, 30. x, ver. 26. y, Alma 23: 8-13. Alma 2a, see l, Alma 24.