# Alma 57

*Paraphrase*

### Negotiations and the Fall of Antiparah

I received a letter from King Ammoron. He offered a deal: if we’d hand over our prisoners of war, he’d give us the city of Antiparah.

I wrote back: ‘We have enough strength to take Antiparah by force. Trading prisoners for a city we can already capture would be foolish. We’ll only exchange prisoners on even terms.’

Ammoron refused. He wouldn’t agree to an exchange, so we started preparing to attack Antiparah.

But before we could move, the people of Antiparah abandoned the city and fled to their other strongholds. Just like that, Antiparah fell into our hands.

That marked the end of the twenty-eighth year under the judges.

### Siege of Cumeni

At the start of the twenty-ninth year, reinforcements arrived from Zarahemla and the surrounding lands—six thousand men, plus sixty more sons of the Ammonites who came to join their brothers in my little army of two thousand. We were strong now, and well supplied with food.

We set our sights on the army protecting the city of Cumeni.

Let me show you how quickly we made it happen. With part of our force, we surrounded Cumeni under cover of darkness, just before their supply convoy was due to arrive.

We camped around the city for many nights, sleeping with our swords ready, guards posted everywhere. The Lamanites tried repeatedly to sneak in and kill us in the dark, but every time they tried, they left their dead behind.

Finally, their supply train showed up and started entering the city at night. But when they got close, they realized we weren’t Lamanites—we were Nephites. We captured them and took all their supplies.

Even cut off from reinforcements, the Lamanites in Cumeni were determined to hold the city. So we decided to send the captured supplies to Judea and march our prisoners back to Zarahemla.

Within a few days, the Lamanites lost all hope of rescue. They surrendered the city. We’d accomplished what we set out to do—Cumeni was ours.

### The Prisoner Dilemma

But now we had a serious problem. We’d captured so many prisoners that even with our large army, we had to use nearly every soldier just to guard them—or else kill them.

They kept breaking out in large groups, fighting us with stones, clubs, whatever they could grab. We ended up killing more than two thousand of them, even after they’d surrendered.

We had two choices: execute them, or march them to Zarahemla with swords drawn the whole way. And our food supplies were barely enough for our own people, even with what we’d taken from the Lamanites.

In these critical circumstances, we had to make a hard decision about what to do with these prisoners. In the end, we decided to send them to Zarahemla. We picked some of our men and put them in charge of marching the prisoners south.

### Surprise Attack and Miraculous Defense

But the next day, they came back. We didn’t even have time to ask about the prisoners, because the Lamanites were attacking. They returned just in time to save us from being overrun. Ammoron had sent fresh supplies and a massive army.

The men we’d sent with the prisoners arrived just as we were about to be overwhelmed.

My little band of two thousand sixty young warriors fought with fierce determination. They stood firm against the Lamanites and struck down everyone who came against them.

When the rest of our army started to give way before the Lamanite advance, those two thousand sixty held their ground without fear.

They followed every command with precision. Their faith made it happen, just as they’d told me—remembering what their mothers had taught them.

It was these young men—my sons—and the soldiers who’d been escorting the prisoners, who gave us this great victory. They beat back the Lamanites and drove them all the way to the city of Manti.

We held Cumeni. We weren’t wiped out. But we’d taken heavy losses.

### Not One Soul Lost

After the Lamanites retreated, I immediately ordered my men to pull the wounded from among the dead and treat their injuries.

Two hundred of my two thousand sixty had collapsed from blood loss. But to our absolute amazement—and to the shock of the entire army—not a single one of them died. Not one. And there wasn’t one among them who hadn’t taken multiple wounds.

Their survival stunned our whole army. A thousand of our soldiers had been killed, yet these young men were all spared. We knew it was the miraculous power of God at work, because of their extraordinary faith in what they’d been taught—that there is a just God, and anyone who trusts him without doubt will be protected by his marvelous power.

That was the faith of these young warriors. They were young, with resolute minds, and they put their trust in God constantly.

### Gid’s Report

After we’d cared for our wounded and buried our dead—and the many Lamanite dead as well—we asked Gid what had happened with the prisoners they’d started marching to Zarahemla.

Gid was the captain in charge of the unit guarding the prisoners.

Here’s what Gid told me: ‘We started south toward Zarahemla with our prisoners. On the way, we met some of our scouts who’d been watching the Lamanite camps.’

‘They shouted to us: “The Lamanite army is marching on Cumeni! They’re going to attack and destroy our people!”’

‘Our prisoners heard the scouts’ cries. It gave them courage, and they rose up against us.’

‘Because of their rebellion, we had to draw our swords. They charged at us in a mass. Most of them were killed. The survivors broke through and escaped.’

‘When they fled and we couldn’t catch them, we marched at top speed toward Cumeni. We arrived just in time to help defend the city.’

‘Once again, God has rescued us from our enemies. Blessed be his name—he’s done this great thing for us.’

When I heard Gid’s report, I was filled with incredible joy because of God’s goodness in keeping us from total destruction. And I trust that the souls of those who died have entered into God’s rest.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/alma/57)*
