# 3 Nephi 4

*Paraphrase*

### The Robbers Invade Empty Lands

At the end of the eighteenth year, the robber armies came down from the hills and mountains—from their wilderness hideouts and strongholds. They began taking over lands the Nephites had abandoned, moving into the empty cities left behind in both the north and the south.

But there was no wild game left in those deserted lands—nothing for the robbers to hunt except in the deep wilderness. The robbers couldn’t survive without food, and they had no choice but to stay in the wilderness. The Nephites had evacuated everything—their flocks, herds, and all their supplies. They’d gathered together in one place. So the robbers had no way to steal food or supplies except by attacking the Nephites head-on. And the Nephites, united in one body with massive numbers, had stockpiled enough provisions—horses, cattle, and flocks of every kind—to last seven years. They hoped to completely destroy the robbers in that time. And so the eighteenth year ended.

### Giddianhi’s Attack

In the nineteenth year, Giddianhi realized he had to attack the Nephites. There was no other way for his people to survive—they had to plunder, rob, and kill. They didn’t dare spread out across the land to grow crops, because the Nephites would hunt them down and slaughter them. So Giddianhi commanded his armies to march against the Nephites that year.

They came to battle in the sixth month. It was a terrifying day. They were dressed like bandits, wearing lambskins around their waists stained with blood. Their heads were shaved, and they wore helmets. Giddianhi’s armies looked fearsome—armored and covered in blood.

### The Nephites Pray and Fight

When the Nephite armies saw Giddianhi’s forces, they all dropped to the ground. They cried out to the Lord their God, begging him to spare them and deliver them from their enemies. When Giddianhi’s armies saw this, they started shouting for joy. They thought the Nephites had collapsed in terror at the sight of them. But they were wrong. The Nephites weren’t afraid of them—they feared only God. They were praying for his protection. So when Giddianhi’s armies rushed at them, the Nephites were ready. They stood strong in the Lord’s strength and met the attack.

The battle began in that sixth month. It was brutal and terrible. The slaughter was worse than anything the people of Lehi had ever seen since leaving Jerusalem. Despite all of Giddianhi’s threats and oaths, the Nephites beat them back.

Gidgiddoni ordered his armies to chase them to the edge of the wilderness, killing every robber they caught along the way. They pursued them and cut them down all the way to the wilderness border, exactly as Gidgiddoni had commanded. Giddianhi had fought boldly, but as he fled, exhausted from battle, he was overtaken and killed. That was the end of Giddianhi the robber.

The Nephite armies returned to their safe places. The rest of the nineteenth year passed, and the robbers didn’t attack again. They didn’t come in the twentieth year either.

### Zemnarihah’s Siege

In the twenty-first year, instead of attacking, they surrounded the Nephites on all sides—laying siege. They thought that if they could cut the Nephites off from their lands and trap them, blocking all their outside access, they could force them to surrender. They’d appointed a new leader named Zemnarihah. He was the one who ordered the siege.

But this actually worked in the Nephites’ favor. The robbers couldn’t maintain a siege long enough to matter, because the Nephites had huge stockpiles of supplies. The robbers, on the other hand, had very little food—only meat they could hunt in the wilderness.

Soon the wild game ran out, and the robbers started starving. Meanwhile, the Nephites kept marching out day and night, attacking the robber camps and cutting them down by the thousands—by the tens of thousands. Zemnarihah’s people began to want out. The destruction coming at them day and night was overwhelming.

### The Robbers Are Trapped

So Zemnarihah ordered his people to break the siege and retreat north to the farthest regions of the land. But Gidgiddoni knew what they were planning. He understood how weak they’d become from starvation and massive losses. So he sent his armies out at night and blocked their escape route. They did this under cover of darkness, moving ahead of the robbers. So when the robbers began their march the next morning, they ran straight into Nephite armies—both in front and behind. The robbers retreating to the south were also cut off. All of this happened by Gidgiddoni’s command.

Thousands of robbers surrendered to the Nephites. The rest were killed.

### Victory and Praise

Their leader, Zemnarihah, was captured and hanged from a tree—high up at the top—until he died. After he was dead, they cut the tree down, and the people shouted: “May the Lord keep his people righteous and pure in heart, so they can cut down anyone who tries to destroy them through power and secret plots—just like this man has been cut down.” They celebrated and shouted together: “May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob protect this people in righteousness, as long as they call on him for help.”

Then they all burst into song, praising God for the great thing he’d done—for keeping them from falling into their enemies’ hands. They cried out: “Hosanna to the Most High God! Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God!” Their hearts were so full of joy that many wept, overwhelmed by God’s goodness in rescuing them. They knew it was because of their repentance and humility that they’d been saved from total destruction.

---

*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/3-nephi/4)*
