# Alma 24

*Paraphrase*

### The Threat of War

The Amalekites and Amulonites stirred up trouble among the Lamanites who hadn’t converted—those living in Amulon, Helam, Jerusalem, and all the surrounding lands. They worked them into a fury against the converts who had taken the name Anti-Nephi-Lehi. Their hatred grew so intense that they rebelled against their own king. They refused to accept his rule anymore and took up arms against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

The king handed the throne to his son, naming him Anti-Nephi-Lehi. That same year the old king died, just as the Lamanites began preparing for war against God’s people.

When Ammon and his missionary brothers saw the Lamanites getting ready to attack, they traveled to Midian where they gathered together. From there they went to Ishmael’s land to meet with King Lamoni and his brother Anti-Nephi-Lehi, hoping to figure out how to defend themselves. But not a single converted soul would take up weapons against their own people. They refused to make any war preparations at all. Their king commanded them not to.

### A Covenant of Peace

This is what the king said to his people: “I thank God, my dear people, that in his goodness he sent our Nephite brothers to preach to us and open our eyes to the lies our fathers taught us.

I thank God that he gave us his Spirit to soften our hearts, so we could connect with these Nephite brothers. And through that connection, we finally saw our sins clearly—all the murders we committed. I thank God that he let us turn from all of this, and that he forgave our many sins and murders. Through his Son, he lifted the guilt that crushed our hearts.

Brothers, we were the most lost people alive. It took everything we had just to repent of our sins and all those murders—to get God to wash them away. Repenting deeply enough for God to remove our stain was the hardest thing we ever did. My dear brothers, God has washed away our stains. Our swords have become clean and bright. So let’s never stain them again with our brothers’ blood. No, let’s keep our swords clean. If we stain them with blood again, maybe they can never be washed clean through the blood of God’s Son—the blood he’ll shed to pay for our sins.

God had mercy on us and showed us these truths so we wouldn’t be lost forever. He revealed them to us ahead of time because he loves us as much as he loves our children. In his mercy, he sent angels to make his plan of salvation known to us and to future generations. How merciful our God is! It took everything we had to get our stains removed and our swords made bright. So let’s hide them away and keep them bright as proof to God on judgment day—proof that we never stained our swords with our brothers’ blood after he gave us his word and made us clean. Brothers, if our own people come to destroy us, we’ll hide our swords. We’ll bury them deep in the earth so they stay bright—proof on the last day that we never used them. And if they kill us, we’ll go to God and be saved.“

When the king finished speaking, the whole community gathered. They collected their swords and every weapon made for killing, and they buried them deep in the earth. This was their testimony to God and to everyone that they would never again use weapons to take human life. They made a sacred promise to God: they would rather die than kill their brothers. They would rather give to someone than take from them. They would rather work hard than waste their days in laziness.

When these Lamanites came to know the truth, they became unshakable. They would suffer death itself rather than sin. They buried their weapons of war to make peace.

### The Attack

Meanwhile, the unconverted Lamanites prepared for war and marched up to Nephi’s land. Their plan was to kill the king, put someone else on the throne, and wipe out all the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.

When the people saw the army coming, they went out to meet them. They lay down on the ground before their attackers and began calling on God’s name. They were still in this position when the Lamanites fell on them and started cutting them down with swords. Without any resistance at all, the attackers killed 1,005 people. We know they’re blessed now—they’ve gone to live with God.

### Hearts Changed

The Lamanites watched as their brothers refused to run from the sword. They wouldn’t dodge or fight back. They just lay there and died, praising God even as the blade fell.

Seeing this, the Lamanites stopped killing. Many of their hearts broke for the brothers who had fallen under their swords. They were horrified by what they had done. They threw down their weapons and refused to pick them up again. The guilt of murder stung them. They came down just like their brothers had, throwing themselves on the mercy of the very people whose arms were raised to kill them.

That day, more people joined God’s cause than had been killed. And those who died were righteous, so we have every reason to believe they’re saved. Not one wicked person died that day. But more than a thousand people came to know the truth. God works in many ways to save his people.

Most of the Lamanites who did the killing were Amalekites and Amulonites—followers of Nehor’s teachings. But none of the people who joined God’s cause were Amalekites, Amulonites, or followers of Nehor. They were all actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel.

This shows us clearly: once people have been enlightened by God’s Spirit and gained deep knowledge of what’s right, if they fall away into sin, they become harder than ever. They end up worse off than if they’d never known these things at all.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/alma/24)*
