And it came to pass in the fifty and fourth year, there were many dissensions in the church, and there was also a contention among the people, insomuch that there was much bloodshed;.
aAnd the rebellious part were slain and driven out of the land, and they did go unto the king of the Lamanites.
And it came to pass that they did endeavor to stir up the Lamanites to war against the Nephites; but behold, the Lamanites were exceedingly afraid, insomuch that they would not hearken to the words of those dissenters.
But it came to pass in the fifty and sixth year of the reign of the Jjudges, there were dissenters whicho went up from the Nephites unto the Lamanites; and they succeeded with those others in stirring them up to anger against the Nephites; and they were all that year preparing for war.
And in the fifty and seventh year, they did come down against the Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death; yea, insomuch, that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the Jjudges, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the land Bountiful;.
aAnd the Nephites, and the armies of Moronihah, were driven even into the land of Bountiful;
aAnd there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the Wwest Ssea, even unto the Eeast; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.
And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the Jjudges.
And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the Jjudges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies, in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they retgained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.
And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of the Jjudges, they succeeded in retgaining even the half of all their possessions.
Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened, had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also whicho professed to belong to the church of God;.
aAnd it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, steealing, committing adultery, raising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites;—
aAnd because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted, and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.
But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people, because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, whicho were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people;, yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.
And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent, they did begin to prosper;.
fFor when Moronihah saw that they did repent, he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had retgained the one -half of their property, and the one -half of all their lands.
And thus ended the sixty and first year of the reign of the Jjudges.
And it came to pass in the sixty and second year of the reign of the Jjudges, that Moronihah could obtain no more possessions over the Lamanites;.
tTherefore they did abandon their design to obtain the remainder of their lands, for so numerous wasere the Lamanites that it became impossible for the Nephites to obtain more power over them; therefore Moronihah did employ all his armies in maintaining those parts which he had taken.
And it came to pass, because of the greatness of the number of the Lamanites, the Nephites were in great fear, lest they should be overpowered, and trodden down, and slain, and destroyed;.
yYea, they began to remember the prophecies of Alma, and also the words of Mosiah; and they saw that they had been a stiffnecked people, and that they had set at noaught the commandments of God;
aAnd that they had altered and trampled under their feet the laws of Mosiah, or that which the Lord commanded him to give unto the people; and thusey seeingaw that their laws had become corrupted, and that they had become a wicked people, insomuch that they were wicked even like unto the Lamanites.
And because of their iniquity, the church had begaun to dwindle; and they began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy, and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgements of God did stare them in the face.
And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the sSpirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them, because the sSpirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples;—
tTherefore the Lord did cease to preserve them by his miraculous and matchless power, for they had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness; and they saw that the Lamanites were more exceedingly more numerous than they, and except they should cleave unto the Lord their God, they must unavoidably perish.
For behold, they saw that the strength of the Lamanites was as great as their strength, even man for man. And thus had they fallen into this great transgression; yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression, in the space of not many years.