Alma 54:11
~64 BC
1830 Edition
But behold, it supposeth me that I talk to you concerning these things in vain; or it supposeth me that thou art a child of hell; therefore I will close my epistle, by telling you that I will not exchange prisoners, save it be on conditions that ye will deliver up a man, and his wife, and his children, for one prisoner; if this be the case that ye will do it, I will exchange.
Influences
Matthew 23:15 (KJV)
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Changes
But behold, it supposeth me that I talk to you concerning these things in vain; or it supposeth me that thou art a child of hell; therefore I will close my epistle, by telling you that I will not exchange prisoners, save it be on conditions that ye will deliver up a man, and his wife, and his children, for one prisoner; if this be the case that ye will do it, I will exchange.
Simple English
But I think I am wasting my time talking to you about these things. I think you are a child of hell. So I will end my letter by telling you this: I will not trade prisoners unless you give me a man, his wife, and his children for one prisoner. If you will do this, I will trade.
Paraphrase
But I’m probably wasting my breath. I think you’re a child of hell. So let me close by telling you this: I won’t exchange prisoners unless you agree to these terms—you hand over a man, his wife, and his children for each one of our prisoners. If you agree to that, I’ll make the exchange.