# Alma 35

*Paraphrase*

### The Zoramites Drive Out Believers

After Amulek finished speaking, they left the crowd and crossed over into the land of Jershon. The rest of the group came too, once they’d finished preaching to the Zoramites.

Meanwhile, the leading Zoramites met to discuss what had been preached to them. They were furious—this message threatened their whole way of life. So they refused to listen. They sent word throughout the land, gathering everyone together to talk about what had been said. The rulers, priests, and teachers kept their own plans hidden. Instead, they quietly went around finding out what everyone thought. Once they knew where people stood, they drove out everyone who agreed with Alma and his companions. There were quite a few—and they all fled to Jershon. Alma and his companions took care of them there.

### The People of Ammon Stand Firm

This made the Zoramites furious with the people of Ammon who lived in Jershon. Their chief ruler, a truly wicked man, sent a message demanding that the people of Ammon throw out all the Zoramite refugees. He made all kinds of threats. But the people of Ammon weren’t afraid. They refused to expel anyone. Instead, they welcomed every poor Zoramite who came to them. They fed them, clothed them, gave them land to call their own, and helped them with whatever they needed.

This only made the Zoramites angrier. They joined forces with the Lamanites and worked to turn them against the people of Ammon too. So the Zoramites and Lamanites began preparing for war—both against the people of Ammon and the Nephites.

That’s how the seventeenth year of the judges ended.

### War Begins

The people of Ammon left Jershon and moved to the land of Melek, making room for the Nephite armies to use Jershon as a base against the Lamanite and Zoramite forces. And so in the eighteenth year of the judges, war broke out between the Lamanites and the Nephites. The story of those battles comes later.

Alma, Ammon, their companions, and Alma’s two sons returned to Zarahemla. God had used them to bring many Zoramites to repentance. But all who did repent were forced out of their homeland. At least they had land in Jershon now, and they’d taken up weapons to defend themselves, their families, and their new home.

### Alma’s Heavy Heart

Alma’s heart was heavy. He grieved over his people’s wickedness—the wars, the bloodshed, the constant fighting. He’d been sent to preach in every city, and he’d seen people’s hearts grow hard. They were offended by the demands of God’s word. It crushed him. So he called his sons together. He wanted to give each one personal counsel about living right. We have a record of what he told them—his own account of those conversations.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/alma/35)*
