THE BOOK OF MORMON

CHAPTER 1

Ammaron instructs Mormon concerning the sacred records—War commences between the Nephites and the Lamanites—The Three Nephites are taken away—Wickedness, unbelief, sorceries, and witchcraft prevail. About A.D. 321–26.

1 I, Mormon, make a record of the things I have seen and heard, and call it the Book of Mormon.

2 When I was about ten years old and somewhat educated in the ways of my people, Ammaron said to me, I see that you are a dedicated and observant child.

3 So when you are about twenty-four years old I want you to remember the things you have observed about this people and go to a hill called Shim, where I deposited to the Lord all the sacred engravings about this people.

4 You will take the plates of Nephi, leaving the remainder where they are, and you will engrave all the things you have observed about this people.

5 I, Mormon, son of Mormon, am a descendant of Nephi, and I remembered what Ammaron commanded me.

6 At age eleven, my father took me to Zarahemla in the land south.

7 The whole land was covered with buildings, and the people were almost as numerous as the sands of the sea.

8 In that year a war began between the Nephites—including the Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites—and the Lamanites, including the Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites.

10 The war began in the borders of Zarahemla, by the waters of Sidon. The Nephites gathered more than thirty thousand men, and they beat and killed the Lamanites in a number of battles.

12 So the Lamanites withdrew their plans, and there was peace in the land for about four years.

13 But wickedness prevailed in the whole land, so the Lord took away his disciples, and the work of miracles and healing stopped because of the sins of the people.

14 Because of their wickedness and unbelief, there were no gifts from the Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come on any.

15 I was fifteen years old and serious of mind, so the Lord visited me, and I tasted the goodness of Jesus.

16 I tried to preach to this people, but I was forbidden to preach because they had wilfully rebelled against their God, and the disciples were taken away because of their iniquity.

17 I remained among them, but I was forbidden to preach to them because of the hardness of their hearts, for which the land was cursed.

18 These Gadianton robbers, who were among the Lamanites, infested the land, so the people began to hide their treasures in the earth, but they could not keep them; they became slippery, because the Lord had cursed the land.

19 There was sorcery, witchcraft, and magic, and the power of the evil one worked on all the land, so the words of Abinadi and Samuel the Lamanite were fulfilled.

CHAPTER 2

Mormon leads the Nephite armies—Blood and carnage sweep the land—The Nephites lament and mourn with the sorrowing of the damned—Their day of grace is passed—Mormon obtains the plates of Nephi—Wars continue. About A.D. 327–50.

1 In that year a war began again between the Nephites and Lamanites. Although I was young, I was large, so the Nephites appointed me to be the leader of their armies.

2 So in my sixteenth year—after three hundred and twenty-six years had passed—I marched at the head of the Nephite army against the Lamanites.

3 In the three hundred and twenty-seventh year the Lamanites came upon us with exceedingly great power, so they frightened my armies, who would not fight but began to retreat to the north countries.

4 We came to the city of Angola, took it, and prepared to defend ourselves. We fortified the city with our might, but the Lamanites drove us out of the city.

5 And they drove us out of the land of David.

6 We marched to the land of Joshua and gathered our people as fast as possible, so we could get them together in one body.

8 But the land was filled with robbers and Lamanites, and despite the great destruction that hung over my people, they did not repent of their evil, so there was blood and destruction spread throughout the land, both with the Nephites and Lamanites. It was one complete revolution throughout the land.

9 Aaron was the king of the Lamanites, and he came against us with an army of forty-four thousand. I resisted him with forty-two thousand. I beat him with my army, so he fled from me. And three hundred and thirty years ended.

10 The Nephites began to repent of their sins and cry just as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet because no man could keep anything he owned, because of the thieves, robbers, murderers, magic arts, and witchcraft in the land.

11 Because of these things, a mourning and grieving began in all the land, especially among the Nephites.

12 When I, Mormon, saw their grieving, mourning, and sorrow before the Lord, my heart began to rejoice, knowing the mercy and long-suffering of the Lord, hoping that he would be merciful to them so they would again become a righteous people.

13 But my joy was fruitless, because they did not sorrow to repentance because of the goodness of God, but instead it was the sorrow of the damned because the Lord would not always allow them to feel happiness in sin.

14 They did not come to Jesus with broken hearts and humble spirits but cursed God and wished to die. They chose to struggle for their lives with the sword.

15 My sorrow returned to me again, and I saw that the possibility of grace was ended for them, both physically and spiritually because I saw thousands of them cut down in open rebellion against their God and heaped up as dung on the land. And three hundred and forty-four years had ended.

16 In the three hundred and forty-fifth year the Nephites began to flee before the Lamanites, and they were pursued to the land of Jashon before they could be stopped in their retreat.

17 The city of Jashon was near the land where Ammaron had deposited the records to the Lord so they would not be destroyed. According to Ammaron’s words, I took the plates and made a record.

18 On the plates of Nephi I made a full account of all the wickedness, but on these plates I withheld making such a full account, because from a young age I have beheld a continual scene of such wickedness and abominations.

19 Because of their wickedness my misery is great, and how my heart has been filled with sorrow all my days, but I know I will be lifted up at the last day.

20 In this year the people of Nephi were hunted and driven again, until we came north to the land of Shem.

21 We fortified the city of Shem and gathered our people as much as possible, so that perhaps we might save them from destruction.

22 In the three hundred and forty-sixth year they began to attack us again.

23 I spoke to my people and urged them with great energy to stand boldly and fight the Lamanites for their wives, children, houses, and homes.

24 My words aroused them somewhat to energy, so they did not flee from the Lamanites but stood with boldness against them.

25 With an army of thirty thousand we fought against an army of fifty thousand, but we stood with such firmness that they fled from us.

26 We pursued them with our armies and beat them, but the strength of the Lord was not with us. We were left to ourselves, without the Spirit of the Lord, so we became weak like our brethren.

27 My heart sorrowed because of this great disaster of my people, because of their wickedness and abominations. But we battled the Lamanites and robbers of Gadianton until again we took the lands of our inheritance.

28 The three hundred and forty-ninth year passed, and in the next year we made a treaty with the Lamanites and robbers of Gadianton, where we divided the lands of our inheritance.

29 The Lamanites gave us the land north, up to the narrow passage that led into the land south. And we gave the Lamanites all the land south.

CHAPTER 3

Mormon cries repentance to the Nephites—They gain a great victory and glory in their own strength—Mormon refuses to lead them, and his prayers for them are without faith—The Book of Mormon invites the twelve tribes of Israel to believe the gospel. About A.D. 360–62.

1 The Lamanites did not come to battle again for ten more years. I had directed my people, the Nephites, in preparing their lands and arms for the time of battle.

2 The Lord told me, Cry to this people, Repent and come to me, and be baptized, and build up my church again, and you will be spared.

3 And I called to this people, but it was for nothing. They did not realize that it was the Lord who had spared them and given them a chance for repentance. They hardened their hearts against the Lord their God.

4 After this tenth year had passed away, now three hundred and sixty years from the coming of Christ, the king of the Lamanites sent me a letter to say that they were preparing to come to battle against us again.

5 I required my people to gather together at the land Desolation.

6 We placed our armies there—and fortified with all our power—to stop the armies of the Lamanites, so they could not take any of our lands.

7 In the three hundred and sixty-first year the Lamanites came to the city of Desolation to battle, and we beat them, so they returned to their own lands again.

8 The next year they came again to battle. We beat them again and killed a great number, throwing their dead in the sea.

9 Because of this great thing that my people, the Nephites, had done, they began to boast about their own strength, and began to swear before the heavens that they would avenge themselves for the blood of their brethren who had been killed by their enemies.

10 They swore by the heavens and by the throne of God that they would battle their enemies and cut them out of the land.

11 From this time on, I, Mormon, refused to lead this people because of their wickedness and abomination.

12 Despite their wickedness, I had led them many times to battle, and had loved them with all my heart according to the love of God that was in me. And my soul had been poured out in prayer to my God all the day long for them, but it was without faith because of the hardness of their hearts.

13 Three times I delivered them from their enemies, but they have not repented of their sins.

14 When they had sworn by all that had been forbidden them by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in going to battle against their enemies, and to avenge themselves for the blood of their brethren, the voice of the Lord came to me, saying,

15 Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, and because this people didn’t repent after I had delivered them, they will be cut off from the earth.

16 So I utterly refused to fight my enemies, obedient to the Lord’s command, and I stood as an idle witness to show the world the things I saw and heard according to the witness of the Spirit, who had testified of things to come.

17 So I write to you, Gentiles, and to the house of Israel, when the work will begin the time will be close for you to prepare to return to the land of your inheritance.

18 I write to all the ends of the earth, to you, twelve tribes of Israel, who will be judged according to your works by the twelve Jesus chose to be his disciples in Jerusalem.

19 I also write to the remnant of this people, who will be judged by the twelve Jesus chose in this land, and they will be judged by the other twelve Jesus chose in Jerusalem.

20 The Spirit shows me these things, so I write to you all, so you can know that you all must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, every soul who belongs to the whole human family of Adam, and you must stand to be judged for your works, whether they are good or evil.

21 I wrote also so you may believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which you will have among you, and also that the Jews, the covenant people of the Lord, will have another witness besides Jesus, whom they saw, heard, and killed, that Jesus was the true Christ and God.

22 I desire that I could persuade all you ends of the earth to repent and prepare to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ.

CHAPTER 4

War and carnage continue—The wicked punish the wicked—Greater wickedness prevails than ever before in all Israel—Women and children are sacrificed to idols—The Lamanites begin to sweep the Nephites before them. About A.D. 363–75.

1 In the three hundred and sixty-third year the Nephites took their armies out of the land Desolation to battle against the Lamanites.

2 The Nephite armies were driven back to the land of Desolation. While they were still weary, a fresh army of the Lamanites came against them, and after a terrible battle the Lamanites took the city Desolation and killed many of the Nephites, taking many prisoners.

3 The remaining Nephites fled and joined the people of the nearby city Teancum.

4 The Nephites were beaten because they attacked the Lamanites; otherwise, they would not have been beaten.

5 The judgments of God will overtake the wicked, and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished, because it is the wicked who stir up the hearts of people to bloodshed.

6 The Lamanites prepared to attack the city Teancum, and they did this in the three hundred and sixty-fourth year.

8 They were driven back by the Nephites, and when the Nephites saw this, again they boasted about their own strength and went forth in their own might and took back the city Desolation.

9 Thousands were killed on both sides, Nephites and Lamanites.

10 After the three hundred and sixty-sixth year had passed, the Lamanites came again to battle, but the Nephites had not repented of their evil, persisting in their wickedness continually.

11 It is impossible for tongue to tell, or for man to write, a perfect description of the horrible scene of the blood and slaughter among both the Nephites and Lamanites. Every heart was hardened, so they delighted continually in the shedding of blood.

12 Never before this people had there been as great wickedness among all the children of Lehi, nor among all the house of Israel, according to the words of the Lord.

13 Because of their greater numbers the Lamanites took the city Desolation.

14 And they marched against the city Teancum, and drove the people out, taking many women and children prisoner, whom they offered as sacrifices to their idol gods.

15 In the same year, the Nephites were angry because the Lamanites had sacrificed their women and children, so they marched against the Lamanites with exceedingly great anger, beating the Lamanites and driving them from their lands.

16 The Lamanites did not come against the Nephites again until the three hundred and seventy-fifth year.

17 In that year they came against the Nephites with all their power, and their number was beyond counting.

18 From this time on the Nephites gained no power over the Lamanites but began to be swept away by them like the dew before the sun.

19 The Lamanites came against the city Desolation, and after an exceedingly severe battle, they beat the Nephites.

20 The Nephites fled to the city Boaz, where they stood with great boldness, so the Lamanites did not beat them until their second assault.

21 Then the Nephites were driven and slaughtered exceedingly, and again their women and children were sacrificed to idols.

22 Again the Nephites fled, taking all the people from towns and villages with them.

23 I, Mormon, saw that the Lamanites were about to conquer the land, so I went to the hill Shim and took all the records that Ammaron had hid to the Lord.

CHAPTER 5

Mormon again leads the Nephite armies in battles of blood and carnage—The Book of Mormon will come forth to convince all Israel that Jesus is the Christ—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites will be scattered, and the Spirit will cease to strive with them—They will receive the gospel from the Gentiles in the latter days. About A.D. 375–84.

1 I went among the Nephites and changed my mind about not helping them, and they gave me command again of their armies because they believed I could deliver them from their afflictions.

2 But I had no hope because I knew the judgments of the Lord that would come to them, because they did not repent of their sins but struggled for their lives without calling on that Being who created them.

3 We had fled to the city of Jordan, and the Lamanites came against us, but we drove them back so they did not take the city.

4 They came against us again, but we kept the city. And the Nephites kept other cities, which became strongholds to keep the Lamanites out of the rest of the country, so they could not destroy the people there.

5 Wherever the people were not gathered in, they were destroyed by the Lamanites, and their towns, villages, and cities were burned with fire. Three hundred and seventy-nine years passed.

6 In the next year the Lamanites came again to battle, and we stood boldly, but it was all for nothing because their numbers were so great that they trampled the Nephites under their feet.

7 We fled, and those whose flight was faster than the Lamanites’ escaped, and those who were slower were destroyed.

8 I do not dare to bring you too much sorrow by describing the wickedness of the people and such an awful scene of blood and slaughter as I saw, but I write a short version in order to keep the commandment I was given, and so these things can be known by the remnant of these people and by the Gentiles, who the Lord said would scatter this people, who would be considered as nothing to them; and because all things which are hid must be revealed openly.

10 I speak to the descendants of these people, and also to the Gentiles who have responsibility for the house of Israel, who realize where their blessings come from.

11 I know that such Gentiles will sorrow for the misfortune of the house of Israel and will sorrow for the destruction of this people. They will sorrow that this people did not repent when they might have been embraced in the arms of Jesus.

12 These things are written to the remnant of the house of Jacob, and they are written in this way because God knows that wickedness will not reveal them, so they will be hid up to the Lord to come out in his own chosen time.

13 This is the commandment I have received, and these writings will come out according to the commandment of the Lord when he chooses in his wisdom.

14 They will go to the unbelieving of the Jews so they may be persuaded that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, so the Father may accomplish his great and eternal purpose through his most Beloved in restoring the Jews and all the house of Israel, to the land of their inheritance, which the Lord their God has given them, fulfilling his covenant.

15 And these words will come to the seed of this people, so they can more fully believe his gospel, which will go to them from the Gentiles because this people will be scattered and become a dark, filthy, and disgusting people, beyond the description of anything that has ever been among us, even worse than what has been among the Lamanites, and this because of their unbelief and idolatry.

16 The Spirit of the Lord has already stopped working with their fathers, so they are without Christ and God in the world, and are driven like dust before the wind.

17 They were once a delightsome people, and had Christ for their shepherd, and were led by God the Father.

18 Now they are led around by Satan, like dust driven by the wind, or like a boat tossed around on the waves, without sail or anchor or anything to steer her.

19 So the Lord has withheld their blessings, which they might have received in the land, to give the Gentiles who will possess the land.

20 They will be driven and scattered by the Gentiles, and then the Lord will remember the covenant he made with Abraham and all the house of Israel.

21 The Lord will remember the prayers of the righteous, which have been offered up to him for them.

22 Then, you Gentiles, how can you stand before the power of God, unless you repent and turn from your evil ways?

23 Do you not know that you are in the hands of God? Do you not know that he has all power, and at his great command the earth will change its shape like rolling a scroll?

24 So repent and humble yourselves before him so he will not bring his justice against you, so a remnant of the seed of Jacob will not go among you as a lion and tear you in pieces, with no one to save you.

CHAPTER 6

The Nephites gather to the land of Cumorah for the final battles—Mormon hides the sacred records in the hill Cumorah—The Lamanites are victorious, and the Nephite nation is destroyed—Hundreds of thousands are slain with the sword. About A.D. 385.

1 Now I finish my record about the destruction of my people, the Nephites. We marched toward the Lamanites.

2 I wrote a letter to the king of the Lamanites and asked him to allow us to gather our people to the land of Cumorah, by a hill called Cumorah, where we could battle them.

3 The Lamanite king granted my request.

4 We marched to the land of Cumorah and pitched our tents around the hill, in a land of many waters, rivers, and springs, where we hoped to gain advantage over the Lamanites.

5 When three hundred and eighty-four years were passed, we had gathered all our people to the land of Cumorah.

6 I, Mormon, began to be old, and I knew this would be the last struggle of my people. I had been commanded of the Lord not to allow the sacred records handed down by our fathers to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, who would destroy them, so I made this record from the plates of Nephi and hid in the hill Cumorah all the records that had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, except for these few plates that I gave to my son Moroni.

7 My people, with their wives and children, now saw the Lamanite armies marching toward them, and with that awful fear of death that fills the hearts of all the wicked, they waited for them.

8 They came to battle against us, and every soul was filled with terror because of the greatness of their numbers.

9 They fell upon my people with the sword, bow, arrow, ax, and all kinds of weapons.

10 My men were cut down, even my ten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded among them, so they passed by me and did not kill me.

11 After the Lamanites returned to their camps, twenty-four of my people remained, including my son Moroni, and the next day we saw from the top of the hill Cumorah the bodies of my ten thousand, who had been led by me.

12 We also saw the ten thousand of my people led by my son Moroni.

13 And the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, he among them.

14 Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand, and Gilgal with his ten thousand, and Limhah with his ten thousand, and Jeneum with his ten thousand, and Cumenihah, Moronihah, Antionum, Shiblom, Shem, and Josh had fallen with their ten thousand each.

15 There were ten more who fell by the sword, with their ten thousand each. All my people had fallen except those twenty-four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over to the Lamanites. And the flesh, bones, and blood of the fallen lay on the earth, left by the hands of their destroyers to decay on the land and to crumble and return to their mother earth.

16 My soul was torn with anguish because of the slain of my people, and I cried, O you beautiful ones, how could you have departed from the ways of the Lord! How could you have rejected Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

18 If you had not done this, you would not have fallen. But you are fallen, and I mourn your loss.

19 O you lovely sons and daughters, you fathers and mothers, you husbands and wives, you beautiful ones, how is it that you could have fallen!

20 But now you are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring you back.

21 The day soon comes that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies now decaying in filth must soon become perfect bodies; and then you must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ to be judged according to your works; and if you are righteous, then you are blessed with your fathers who have gone before you.

22 If only you had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But you are gone, and the Eternal Father of heaven knows your condition, and he does with you according to his justice and mercy.

CHAPTER 7

Mormon invites the Lamanites of the latter days to believe in Christ, accept His gospel, and be saved—All who believe the Bible will also believe the Book of Mormon. About A.D. 385.

1 Now I want to speak to the remnant of this people who are spared, if God will give them my words, so they may know the things of their fathers. I speak to you, you remnant of the house of Israel, and these are the words I speak:

2 Know that you are of the house of Israel.

3 Know that you must repent, or you cannot be saved.

4 Know that you must lay down your weapons of war, and no more delight in the shedding of blood, and do not take them again unless God commands you.

5 Know that you must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was killed by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he has risen again, so he has gained victory over the grave, and in him the sting of death is swallowed up.

6 He causes the resurrection of the dead so that men will be raised to stand before his judgment-seat.

7 He has caused the redemption of the world, so that whoever is found guiltless before him at the judgment day will dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, who are one God, in a state of happiness that has no end.

8 So repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and grasp the gospel of Christ, which will be set before you, not only in this record but also in the record that will come to the Gentiles from the Jews, the record that will also come from the Gentiles to you.

9 I write for the intent that you may believe that record, and if you believe that record, you will believe this record also, and if you believe this you will know about your fathers, and also the marvelous works that were done by the power of God among them.

10 And you will know that you are a remnant of the seed of Jacob, so you are numbered among the people of the first covenant. And if you believe in Christ and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior as he has commanded us, it will be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen.

CHAPTER 8

The Lamanites seek out and destroy the Nephites—The Book of Mormon will come forth by the power of God—Woes pronounced on those who breathe out anger and strife against the work of the Lord—The Nephite record will come forth in a day of wickedness, degeneracy, and apostasy. About A.D. 400–421.

1 I, Moroni, finish the record of my father, Mormon. I have only few things to write, which I have been commanded by my father.

2 After the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, the Nephites who had escaped into the south were hunted by the Lamanites until they were all destroyed.

3 My father also was killed by them, and I remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. They are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. Whether they will kill me, I do not know.

4 So I will write and hide the records in the earth, and it does not matter where I go.

5 My father has made this record, and he has written the intent of it. I would write the intent also if I had room on the plates, but I do not, and I have no ore because I am alone. My father has been killed in battle, and all my family, and I have no friends or place to go, and I do not know how long the Lord will allow me to live.

6 Four hundred years have passed away since the coming of our Lord and Savior.

7 The Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, from city to city and place to place, until they are extinct, and their fall has been great. Great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites.

8 It is the hand of the Lord that has done it. And the Lamanites are at war with each other, and the whole land is one continual round of murder and bloodshed, and no one knows the end of the war.

9 I say no more about them, because nobody is left in the land except for the Lamanites and robbers.

10 No one knows the true God except the disciples of Jesus, who stayed in the land until the wickedness of the people was so great that the Lord would not allow them to remain with the people, and no one knows whether they are in the land now.

11 But my father and I have seen them, and they have ministered to us.

12 Whoever receives this record and will not condemn it because of its imperfections will know of greater things than these. I am Moroni, and if it were possible, I would tell you all things.

13 I end my speaking about this people. I am the son of Mormon, and my father was a descendant of Nephi.

14 I am the one who hides this record to the Lord. The plates themselves are worthless because of the commandment of the Lord, because he said that no one will have them for profit. But the record is of great worth, and the Lord will bless whoever will bring it to light.

15 No one can have power to bring this to light unless God gives it to him because God wills that it will be done with an eye focused only on his glory, or on the welfare of the ancient and long dispersed covenant people of the Lord.

16 He is blessed who will bring this record to light, because it will be brought out of darkness into light according to the word of God. It will be brought out of the earth, and it will shine forth out of darkness and come to the knowledge of the people, and it will be done by the power of God.

17 If there are faults, they are the faults of a man. We know of no fault, but God knows all things, so he who condemns, let him be aware so he won’t be in danger of hell fire.

18 And he that says, Show me a sign, or you will be afflicted, he needs to be careful that he is not demanding what God forbids.

19 Whoever judges carelessly will be judged the same because his wages will be according to his works; so whoever strikes out will be struck also by the Lord.

20 See what the scripture says, that man will not strike or judge because the Lord says, judgment is mine, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.

21 Whoever will breathe out anger and contention against the work of the Lord, and against the covenant people of the Lord and say, We will destroy the work of the Lord, and the Lord will not remember his covenant with the house of Israel, that man is in danger of being cut down and cast into the fire because the eternal purposes of the Lord will roll on, until all his promises are fulfilled.

23 Search the prophecies of Isaiah. I cannot write them. Those saints who have gone before me, who have possessed this land, will cry from the dust to the Lord, and as the Lord lives he will remember the covenant he has made with them.

24 He knows that they prayed for their brethren, and he knows their faith because in his name they could remove mountains and make the earth shake, and by the power of his word they caused prisons to tumble to the ground, and fiery furnaces could not harm them, nor wild beasts or poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word.

25 And they prayed for him who the Lord would allow to bring these things forth.

26 No one can say they will not come because they surely will, as the Lord has spoken. They will come out of the earth by the hand of the Lord, and no one can stop it, and it will come in a day when it will be said that miracles are finished; and it will come even like one speaking from the dead.

27 It will come in a day when the blood of saints will cry to the Lord because of secret combinations and the works of darkness.

28 It will come in a day when the power of God will be denied, and churches become polluted and lifted up in the pride of their hearts, when leaders of churches and teachers will rise in pride, even envying those who belong to their churches.

29 It will come in a day when there will be news of fires, tempests, vapors of smoke in foreign lands, wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in various places.

31 It will come in a day of great pollutions on the earth, murders, robbing, lying, deceiving, whoredoms, and all kinds of abominations, when many will say, Do this, or do that, but it doesn’t matter, because the Lord will support all at the last day. But curses to those, for they are in the worst of bitterness and in the chains of sin.

32 It will come in a day when churches will say, Come to me, and for your money your sins will be forgiven.

33 O you wicked, twisted, and stubbornly proud people, why have you built up churches for your own profit? Why have you changed the holy word of God so you will bring damnation on your souls? Look to the revelations of God because the time is coming when all these things must be fulfilled.

34 The Lord has shown me great and marvelous things about what must shortly happen, at the day when these things will come among you.

35 I speak to you like you were here, even though you are not. But Jesus Christ has shown you to me, and I know your works.

36 I know that you walk in the pride of your hearts, and only a few are not prideful, with expensive clothing, envying, contention, evil intent, persecutions, and all kinds of iniquities. Your churches, every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 You love your money, possessions, fine clothing, and decoration of your churches more than you love the poor, the needy, the sick, and the afflicted.

38 O you pollutions, hypocrites, and teachers, who sell yourselves for things that will decay. Why have you polluted the holy church of God? Why are you ashamed to take on you the name of Christ? Why do you not believe that the value of endless happiness is greater than misery that never dies? Is it because of the praise of the world?

39 Why do you dress yourselves with things that have no life but allow the hungry, needy, naked, sick, and afflicted to pass by you, and you don’t notice them?

40 Why do you build up your secret abominations for profit, and make widows and orphans mourn before the Lord, and the blood of their fathers and husbands to cry to the Lord from the ground for vengeance on your heads?

41 The sword of vengeance hangs over you, and the time soon comes when he avenges the blood of the saints upon you because he will not allow their cries any longer.

CHAPTER 9

Moroni calls on those who do not believe in Christ to repent—He proclaims a God of miracles, who gives revelations and pours out gifts and signs on the faithful—Miracles cease because of unbelief—Signs follow those who believe—Men are exhorted to be wise and keep the commandments. About A.D. 401–21.

1 Now I speak to those who do not believe in Christ.

2 The Lord will come in the great day when the earth will be changed like a scroll that is rolled, and the elements will melt with fiery heat. In that great day when you will be brought to stand before the Lamb of God, then will you say that there is no God?

3 Then will you continue to deny the Christ, or can you see the Lamb of God? Do you think you will live with him while you are conscious of your guilt? Do you suppose that you could be happy to dwell with that holy Being when your souls are tormented with an awareness of guilt that you have continually abused his laws?

4 You would be more miserable to live with a holy and righteous God, knowing your filthiness, than you would to live with the damned souls in hell.

5 When you are brought to see your nakedness before God, and the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will light a fire within you that cannot be put out.

6 O you who do not believe, turn to the Lord, cry mightily to the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps at that great and last day you may be found spotless, pure, beautiful, and white, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

7 Again I speak to you who deny the revelations of God and say that they are finished, that there are no revelations, prophecies, gifts, healing, speaking with tongues, or the interpretation of tongues.

8 Whoever denies these things does not know the gospel of Christ. He has not read the scriptures or does not understand them.

9 Do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that he does not vary or change in any way?

10 If you have imagined a god who changes, then you have imagined for yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

11 I will show you a God of miracles, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things in them.

12 He created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son, and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.

13 And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord. This is how all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ causes the resurrection, which causes a redemption from an endless sleep, where all men will be awakened from sleep by the power of God when the trump will sound. And they will come forth, small and great, and all will stand before his judgment bar, being redeemed and released from this eternal band of temporal death.

14 Then the judgment of the Holy One comes upon them, and he who is filthy will be filthy still, and he who is righteous will be righteous still. He who is happy will be happy still, and he who is unhappy will be unhappy still.

15 All of you who have imagined for yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I ask, have all the things of which I have spoken been fulfilled? Has the end come yet? No, and God has not stopped being a God of miracles.

16 Are the things God has done not marvelous in our eyes? Yes, and who can understand the marvelous works of God?

17 Who will say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth would be, and by the power of his word man was created from the dust of the earth, and by the power of his word miracles have been done?

18 Who will say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And the apostles also did many mighty miracles.

19 And if those miracles were done, how has God stopped being a God of miracles while he is an unchangeable Being? He does not change; if so he would stop being God, but he does not stop being God, and he is a God of miracles.

20 The reason he stopped doing miracles among men is because they weakened in unbelief and departed from the right way, and did not know the God they should trust.

21 I say to you who believe in Christ, doubting nothing, whatever you will ask the Father in the name of Christ it will be given him; and this promise is to everyone throughout the world.

22 Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said this to his disciples who stayed behind, and also to all his disciples, where the crowd could hear: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone;

23 And whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who believes not will be damned.

24 These signs will follow those who believe: they will cast out devils in my name, and speak with new tongues, and pick up serpents, and if they drink poison it will not hurt them, and they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.

25 And whoever will believe in my name, doubting nothing, to him I will confirm all my words, even to the ends of the earth.

26 Who can stand against the works of the Lord? Who can deny his words? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who will despise the works of the Lord? Who will despise the children of Christ? All you who despise the works of the Lord will be amazed and perish.

27 So don’t despise or be amazed, but listen to the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for whatever you need. Do not doubt, but believe and begin like in times of old, and come to the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.

28 Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; don’t ask for what you will consume with your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken that you will yield to no temptation but that you will serve the true and living God.

29 Do not be baptized unworthily, or partake of the sacrament of Christ unworthily, but do all things in worthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if you do this and continue to the end, you will not be cast out.

30 I speak to you as though I speak from the dead because I know that you will have my words.

31 Don’t condemn me because of my imperfection, or my father because of his imperfection, nor those who have written before him; but instead give thanks to God that he has shown you our imperfections, so you can learn to be wiser than we have been.

32 We have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters called reformed Egyptian among us, being handed down and changed by us according to our manner of speech.

33 If our plates had been sufficiently large we would have written in Hebrew, but the Hebrew has been changed by us also. If we could have written in Hebrew, you would have had no imperfection in our record.

34 But the Lord knows what we have written, and no other people know our language, so he has prepared a way for this to be interpreted.

35 And these things are written so we may cleanse our garments of the blood of our brethren, who have diminished in unbelief.

36 These things we have desired for our brethren, like their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have lived in the land.

37 May the Lord Jesus Christ allow their prayers to be answered according to their faith, and may God the Father remember the covenant he made with the house of Israel, and may he bless them forever through faith on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.