29:1 Now when Mosiah had done this he sent out
throughout all the land, among all the people, desiring
to know their will concerning who should be their king. |
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29:2 And it came to pass that the voice of the
people came, saying: We are desirous that Aaron thy son
should be our king and our ruler. |
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29:3 Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi,
therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him;
neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither
were any of the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them
the kingdom. |
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29:4 Therefore king Mosiah sent again among the
people; yea, even a written word sent he among the
people. And these were the words that were written,
saying: |
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29:5 Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I
esteem you as such, I desire that ye should consider the
cause which ye are called to consider--for ye are
desirous to have a king. |
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29:6 Now I declare unto you that he to whom the
kingdom doth rightly belong has declined, and will not
take upon him the kingdom. |
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29:7 And now if there should be another appointed in
his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions
among you. And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the
kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw
away a part of this people after him, which would cause
wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause
of shedding much blood and perverting the way of the
Lord, yea, and destroy the souls of many people. |
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29:8 Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider
these things, for we have no right to destroy my son,
neither should we have any right to destroy another if he
should be appointed in his stead. |
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29:9 And if my son should turn again to his pride
and vain things he would recall the things which he had
said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would
cause him and also this people to commit much sin. |
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29:10 And now let us be wise and look forward to
these things, and do that which will make for the peace
of this people. |
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29:11 Therefore I will be your king the remainder of
my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, to judge
this people according to our law; and we will newly
arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint
wise men to be judges, that will judge this people
according to the commandments of God. |
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29:12 Now it is better that a man should be judged of
God than of man, for the judgments of God are always
just, but the judgments of man are not always just. |
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29:13 Therefore, if it were possible that you could
have just men to be your kings, who would establish the
laws of God, and judge this people according to his
commandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings
who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this
people--I say unto you, if this could always be the case
then it would be expedient that ye should always have
kings to rule over you. |
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29:14 And even I myself have labored with all the
power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you
the commandments of God, and to establish peace
throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor
contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering,
nor any manner of iniquity; |
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29:15 And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have
I punished according to the crime which he has committed,
according to the law which has been given to us by our
fathers. |
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29:16 Now I say unto you, that because all men are
not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king
or kings to rule over you. |
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29:17 For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked
king cause to be committed, yea, and what great
destruction! |
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29:18 Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his
abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of
his people. Behold what great destruction did come upon
them; and also because of their iniquities they were
brought into bondage. |
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29:19 And were it not for the interposition of their
all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere
repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage until
now. |
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29:20 But behold, he did deliver them because they
did humble themselves before him; and because they cried
mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and
thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among
the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards
them that put their trust in him. |
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29:21 And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot
dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much
contention, and the shedding of much blood. |
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29:22 For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and
he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the
laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before
him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of
God; |
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29:23 And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth
among his people, yea, laws after the manner of his own
wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he
causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against
him he will send his armies against them to war, and if
he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous king
doth 1pervert the ways of all righteousness. |
[1] Acts 13:10 ...thou enemy
of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the
right ways of the Lord? |
29:24 And now behold I say unto you, it is not
expedient that such abominations should come upon you. |
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29:25 Therefore, choose you by the voice of this
people, judges, that ye may be judged according to the
laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are
correct, and which were given them by the hand of the
Lord. |
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29:26 Now it is not common that the voice of the
people desireth anything contrary to that which is right;
but it is common for the lesser part of the people to
desire that which is not right; therefore this shall ye
observe and make it your law--to do your business by the
voice of the people. |
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29:27 And if the time comes that the voice of the
people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the
judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the
time he will visit you with great destruction even as he
has hitherto visited this land. |
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29:28 And now if ye have judges, and they do not
judge you according to the law which has been given, ye
can cause that they may be judged of a higher judge. |
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29:29 If your higher judges do not judge righteous
judgments, ye shall cause that a small number of your
lower judges should be gathered together, and they shall
judge your higher judges, according to the voice of the
people. |
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29:30 And I command you to do these things in the
fear of the Lord; and I command you to do these things,
and that ye have no king; that if these people commit
sins and iniquities they shall be answered upon their own
heads. |
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29:31 For behold I say unto you, the sins of many
people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings;
therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of
their kings. |
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29:32 And now I desire that this inequality should be
no more in this land, especially among this my people;
but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and
every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so
long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit
the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity
remains upon the face of the land. |
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29:33 And many more things did king Mosiah write unto
them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of
a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their
people, and also all the murmurings of the people to
their king; and he explained it all unto them. |
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29:34 And he told them that these things ought not to
be; but that the burden should come upon all the people,
that every man might bear his part. |
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29:35 And he also unfolded unto them all the
disadvantages they labored under, by having an
unrighteous king to rule over them; |
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29:36 Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and
all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the
stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of
whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be
enumerated--telling them that these things ought not to
be, that they were expressly repugnant to the
commandments of God. |
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29:37 And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had
sent these things forth among the people they were
convinced of the truth of his words. |
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29:38 Therefore they relinquished their desires for a
king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man
should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea,
and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his
own sins. |
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29:39 Therefore, it came to pass that they assembled
themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to
cast in their voices concerning who should be their
judges, to judge them according to the law which had been
given them; and they were exceedingly rejoiced because of
the liberty which had been granted unto them. |
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29:40 And they did wax strong in love towards Mosiah;
yea, they did esteem him more than any other man; for
they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking
for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the
soul; for he had not exacted riches of them, neither had
he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had
established peace in the land, and he had granted unto
his people that they should be delivered from all manner
of bondage; therefore they did esteem him, yea,
exceedingly, beyond measure. |
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29:41 And it came to pass that they did appoint
judges to rule over them, or to judge them according to
the law; and this they did throughout all the land. |
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29:42 And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to
be the first chief judge, he being also the high priest,
his father having conferred the office upon him, and
having given him the charge concerning all the affairs of
the church. |
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29:43 And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in
the ways of the Lord, and he did keep his commandments,
and he did judge righteous judgments; and there was
continual peace through the land. |
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29:44 And thus commenced the reign of the judges
throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the
people who were called the Nephites; and Alma was the
first and chief judge. |
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29:45 And now it came to pass that his father died,
being eighty and two years old, having lived to fulfil
the commandments of God. |
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29:46 And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in
the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and
three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and
nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem. |
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29:47 And thus ended the reign of the kings over the
people of Nephi; and thus ended the days of Alma, who was
the founder of their church. |
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