# Mormon 3

*Paraphrase*

### A Brief Peace

Ten years passed before the Lamanites attacked again. During that time, I kept my people busy preparing our lands and weapons for the next battle.

The Lord spoke to me: “Tell the people to turn back to me. Tell them: ‘Repent. Come to me and be baptized. Rebuild my church. If you do, you’ll be spared.’” I told them what the Lord said, but they didn’t listen. They refused to see that the Lord had saved them and given them this chance to change. Instead, they hardened their hearts against him.

### War Returns

After that tenth year—three hundred sixty years since Christ came—the Lamanite king sent me a letter. He was preparing to attack us again. I gathered my people at the land of Desolation, in a city near the narrow pass that led south. We positioned our armies there to block the Lamanites from taking any of our territory. We fortified our defenses with everything we had.

In year 361, the Lamanites came down to the city of Desolation to fight. We beat them so badly that they retreated back home. The next year they came back. Again we beat them, killing many of them. We threw their dead into the sea.

### Pride and Revenge

Because of these victories, my people started boasting about their own strength. They swore by heaven that they’d get revenge for every Nephite the Lamanites had killed. They swore by heaven and by God’s throne that they’d attack their enemies and wipe them off the face of the earth.

### Mormon Steps Down

Right then I refused to lead them anymore. Their wickedness was too much. I had led them into battle many times despite their evil ways. I had loved them with all my heart—the kind of love God put in me. I spent entire days praying for them. But my prayers lacked faith, because their hearts were so hard. Three times I’d rescued them from their enemies. Three times they still refused to turn from their sins.

When they swore—by everything Jesus Christ had forbidden them to swear by—that they’d attack their enemies and avenge their dead, the Lord spoke to me: “Vengeance belongs to me. I’ll repay. Because this people refused to repent after I delivered them, they’ll be cut off from the earth.” So I refused to fight. I did what the Lord told me: I became a quiet witness, recording what I saw and heard as the Spirit revealed what was coming.

### Writing to Future Generations

That’s why I’m writing to you—to the Gentiles, and to the house of Israel—for when you’re about to return to your homeland. I’m writing to the whole world—to you, the twelve tribes of Israel, who will be judged by the twelve disciples Jesus chose in Jerusalem. I’m also writing to the remnant of my people, who will be judged by the twelve disciples Jesus chose here, and by the twelve he chose in Jerusalem. The Spirit has shown me these things. So I write to all of you. I write so you’ll know this: every soul—every descendant of Adam—must stand before Christ’s judgment seat. You’ll be judged by your works, whether good or evil. I write so you’ll believe the gospel of Jesus Christ that will come to you. I write so the Jews—the Lord’s covenant people—will have proof beyond what they saw and heard, that Jesus, whom they killed, was the Christ, the very God. I wish I could convince every person on earth to repent and prepare to stand before Christ’s judgment seat.

---

*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/mormon/3)*
