# Alma 16

*Paraphrase*

### The Destruction of Ammonihah

In the eleventh year of the judges’ reign over the Nephites, on the fifth day of the second month, the land of Zarahemla had been at peace. No wars, no fighting for several years. But on that fifth day of the second month, war cries echoed across the land. Lamanite armies had crossed through the wilderness into Nephite territory, straight into the city of Ammonihah. They began slaughtering the people and destroying the city. Before the Nephites could gather an army large enough to push them back, the Lamanites had wiped out everyone in Ammonihah and some people near the borders of Noah. They dragged other captives off into the wilderness.

The Nephites were desperate to rescue those who’d been taken.

### Alma Gives Direction

So Zoram, who had been appointed chief captain over the Nephite armies—a man with two sons named Lehi and Aha—went to see Alma. They knew Alma was the high priest over the church and that he had the Spirit of prophecy. They asked him whether the Lord wanted them to go into the wilderness and search for their captured brothers and sisters. Alma asked the Lord about it. When he came back, he told them: “The Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, far beyond the borders of Manti. You’ll meet them on the east side of the river Sidon. There the Lord will help you rescue your people who were taken captive.” Zoram and his sons crossed the river Sidon with their armies and marched beyond Manti’s borders into the south wilderness on the east side of the river. They came upon the Lamanite armies. The Lamanites scattered and fled into the wilderness. Zoram’s forces rescued their captured brothers and sisters—not a single person who’d been taken was lost. They brought them all home to their own lands.

### A City Left Empty

That’s how the eleventh year of the judges ended—with the Lamanites driven out of the land and the people of Ammonihah destroyed. Every living soul in Ammonihah was gone, along with their great city—the one they’d said God couldn’t destroy because it was too strong. But in one day it was left empty. Their corpses were torn apart by dogs and wild beasts. Days later, the dead bodies were piled up on the ground and covered with a thin layer of dirt. The stench was so terrible that no one would settle in Ammonihah for many years. The place was called “Desolation of Nehors,” because those who died there had followed Nehor’s teachings. Their lands stayed empty.

The Lamanites didn’t attack the Nephites again until the fourteenth year of the judges. For three years, the Nephites lived in complete peace.

### Years of Peace and Growth

During that time, Alma and Amulek traveled everywhere, preaching repentance to the people in their temples, sanctuaries, and synagogues—which were built in the Jewish style. They shared God’s word with everyone who would listen, showing no favoritism. Alma and Amulek went out preaching, along with many others who’d been chosen for the work. They taught God’s word all across the land. The church grew everywhere—in every region, among all the Nephites.

There was no inequality among them. The Lord poured out his Spirit across the whole land, preparing people’s hearts and minds to receive the word that would be taught when he came. He didn’t want them to become hardened against the truth or fall into unbelief and destruction. He wanted them to receive the word with joy, to be grafted like a branch into the true vine, so they could enter into the Lord their God’s rest.

The priests who went out among the people preached against lying, deceiving, envying, fighting, malice, slander, stealing, robbing, plundering, murdering, adultery—all kinds of wickedness. They shouted that these things should never be. They proclaimed what would soon happen—the coming of the Son of God, his suffering and death, and the resurrection of the dead. Many people asked where the Son of God would appear. They were taught that he would come to them after his resurrection. When the people heard this, they were filled with joy. After the church had been established throughout the land, after they’d overcome the adversary, after God’s word had been preached in its purity everywhere, and after the Lord poured out his blessings on the people—that’s how the fourteenth year of the judges ended.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/alma/16)*
