# Helaman 12

*Paraphrase*

### The Fickleness of Human Hearts

Look at how fickle and unstable people are. God blesses and prospers those who trust him—his goodness is endless. When he blesses his people—when their fields thrive, their flocks multiply, their wealth grows in gold and silver and precious things of every kind; when he saves their lives and delivers them from enemies; when he softens the hearts of those who would fight them—when he does everything for their welfare and happiness, that’s exactly when they harden their hearts. They forget the Lord their God. They trample the Holy One. Why? Because life is easy and they’re incredibly prosperous.

So we see it clearly: unless the Lord corrects his people with hardships—unless he allows death, terror, famine, and all kinds of plagues—they won’t remember him.

### Quick to Evil, Slow to Good

How foolish, how empty, how evil and devilish people are. Quick to do wrong, slow to do good. Quick to listen to the devil’s lies and chase after worthless things. Quick to become proud. Quick to brag and do all kinds of evil. But how slow to remember the Lord their God, how slow to listen to his guidance, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths.

They don’t want the Lord their God—the one who created them—to rule and reign over them, despite all his goodness and mercy. They ignore his guidance. They refuse to let him lead.

### The Power of God’s Voice

How insignificant people are. They’re worth less than the dust of the earth.

Even dust moves and divides at the command of our great and everlasting God. At his voice, hills and mountains tremble and quake. By the power of his voice, they’re broken up and become smooth as a valley. By the power of his voice, the whole earth shakes. By the power of his voice, the foundations rock to the very center.

If he says to the earth, “Move,” it moves. If he says to the earth, “Go back and stretch out the day for many hours,” it happens. According to his word, the earth moves backward, and it looks to us like the sun stands still. And that’s exactly what happens—because it’s the earth that moves, not the sun.

If he says to the waters of the great deep, “Dry up,” it happens. If he says to a mountain, “Rise up, move over there, and fall on that city and bury it,” it happens.

### When God Speaks a Curse

If someone hides treasure in the earth, and the Lord says, “Let it be cursed because of the wickedness of the one who hid it,” then it’s cursed. And if the Lord says, “Be cursed so that no one will ever find you again,” then no one will ever find it.

If the Lord says to someone, “Because of your wickedness, you’re cursed forever,” it happens. If the Lord says, “Because of your wickedness, you’re cut off from my presence,” he makes it happen.

### The Gift of Repentance

Terrible news for anyone who hears those words. It comes to those who choose wickedness, and they can’t be saved. That’s why repentance has been declared—so people might be saved.

Those who repent and listen to the voice of the Lord their God are blessed. These are the ones who will be saved. May God, in his great generosity, bring people to repentance and good works, so they might be restored to grace—grace that matches their works.

I want everyone to be saved. But we read that on that great and final day, some will be cast out—cast off from the presence of the Lord. They’ll be sent to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words: “Those who have done good will have everlasting life, and those who have done evil will have everlasting damnation.” And so it is. Amen.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/helaman/12)*
