Alma 14:26
1830 Edition
Influences
Changes
Simple English
Alma cried out: 'How long will we suffer these hard times, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength through our faith in Christ to be free.' They broke the ropes they were tied with. When the people saw this, they began to run away because they were afraid of being destroyed.
Paraphrase
Alma cried out, 'How long must we endure this, Lord? Give us strength to match our faith in Christ—strength to break free!' And they snapped the ropes. When the people saw this, they panicked and tried to run.
Notes
In Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, Jerald and Sandra Tanner list at least 17 significant parallels between the Apostle Paul in the Bible and Alma in the Book of Mormon.
Compare Alma 14:22 with Acts 16:23—both Alma and Paul were cast into prison. Compare Alma 14:26 with Acts 16:25—both men prayed to the Lord while imprisoned. Compare Alma 14:27 with Acts 16:26—in each account, a great earthquake occurs. Finally, compare Alma 14:28 with Acts 16:26—in both cases, the prisoners’ bands were loosed.
Additional parallels between Paul and Alma can be found in Mosiah 27:8; Alma 36:6; Alma 36:14; Mosiah 27:10–11; Mosiah 27:12; Mosiah 27:13; Mosiah 27:19; Mosiah 27:23–24; Mosiah 27:32; Alma 30:32; and Alma 15:11.