25:1 And now king Mosiah caused that all the people
should be gathered together. |
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25:2 Now there were not so many of the children of
Nephi, or so many of those who were descendants of Nephi,
as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a
descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the
wilderness. |
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25:3 And there were not so many of the people of
Nephi and of the people of Zarahemla as there were of the
Lamanites; yea, they were not half so numerous. |
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25:4 And now all the people of Nephi were assembled
together, and also all the people of Zarahemla, and they
were gathered together in two bodies. |
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25:5 And it came to pass that Mosiah did read, and
caused to be read, the records of Zeniff to his people;
yea, he read the records of the people of Zeniff, from
the time they left the land of Zarahemla until they
returned again. |
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25:6 And he also read the account of Alma and his
brethren, and all their afflictions, from the time they
left the land of Zarahemla until the time they returned
again. |
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25:7 And now, when Mosiah had made an end of reading
the records, his people who tarried in the land were
struck with wonder and amazement. |
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25:8 For they knew not what to think; for when they
beheld those that had been delivered out of bondage they
were filled with exceedingly great joy. |
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25:9 And again, when they thought of their brethren
who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with
sorrow, and even shed many tears of sorrow. |
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25:10 And again, when they thought of the immediate
goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his
brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of
bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to
God. |
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25:11 And again, when they thought upon the
Lamanites, who were their brethren, of their sinful and
polluted state, they were filled with pain and anguish
for the welfare of their souls. |
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25:12 And it came to pass that those who were the
children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to
wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with
the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be
called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took
upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be
called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those
who were called Nephites. |
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25:13 And now all the people of Zarahemla were
numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom
had been conferred upon none but those who were
descendants of Nephi. |
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25:14 And now it came to pass that when Mosiah had
made an end of speaking and reading to the people, he
desired that Alma should also speak to the people. |
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25:15 And Alma did speak unto them, when they were
assembled together in large bodies, and he went from one
body to another, preaching unto the people repentance and
faith on the Lord. |
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25:16 And he did exhort the people of Limhi and his
brethren, all those that had been delivered out of
bondage, that they should remember that it was the Lord
that did deliver them. |
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25:17 And it came to pass that after Alma had taught
the people many things, and had made an end of speaking
to them, that king Limhi was desirous that he might be baptized; and all his people were desirous that they
might be baptized also. |
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25:18 Therefore, Alma did go forth into the water and
did baptize them; yea, he did baptize them after the manner
he did his brethren in the waters of Mormon; yea, and as
many as he did baptize did belong to the church of God; and this because of their belief on the
words of Alma. |
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25:19 And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted
unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave
him power to ordain priests and teachers over every
church. |
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25:20 Now this was done because there were so many
people that they could not all be governed by one
teacher; neither could they all hear the word of God in
one assembly; |
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25:21 Therefore they did assemble themselves together
in different bodies, being called churches; every church having their priests and their
teachers, and every priest preaching the word according
as it was delivered to him by the mouth of Alma. |
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25:22 And thus, notwithstanding there being many churches they were all one church, yea, even the church
of God; for there was nothing preached in all the
churches except it were repentance and faith in God. |
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25:23 And now there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass
that whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name
of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God; |
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25:24 And they were called the people of God. And the
Lord did pour out his Spirit upon them, and they were
blessed, and prospered in the land. |
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