Alma 11

How the Nephites Used Money

The law of Mosiah said that every judge should get paid for the time they worked judging people. If someone owed money and would not pay it back, they were taken to the judge. The judge sent officers to bring the person to him. Then the judge decided what to do based on the law and the facts. The person had to pay what they owed or be whipped or kicked out of the group like a thief. The judge got paid for his time. He got one senine of gold for a day or one senum of silver. A senum of silver was worth the same as a senine of gold. This is what the law said.

These are the names of their different pieces of gold and silver and what they were worth. The Nephites gave them these names. They did not count money the way the Jews in Jerusalem did. They did not measure things like the Jews did. They changed their counting and measuring based on what the people needed in each time period. They did this until the judges started ruling. King Mosiah had set this up.

They counted this way: A senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold, and a limnah of gold. A senum of silver, an amnor of silver, an ezrom of silver, and an onti of silver. A senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold. Either one could buy a measure of barley or a measure of any kind of grain. A seon of gold was worth twice as much as a senine. A shum of gold was worth twice as much as a seon. A limnah of gold was worth all of them added together. An amnor of silver was worth two senums. An ezrom of silver was worth four senums. An onti was worth all of them added together.

This is what the smaller numbers were worth: A shiblon is half of a senum. So a shiblon could buy half a measure of barley. A shiblum is half of a shiblon. A leah is half of a shiblum.

This is how they counted. An antion of gold is equal to three shiblons.

Zeezrom Tries to Trick Amulek

The judges wanted to make more money. They got paid for the work they did. So they stirred up the people to fight and cause trouble and do bad things. That way they would have more work. They would get money from the cases brought to them. So they stirred up the people against Alma and Amulek.

Zeezrom started to question Amulek. He said: 'Will you answer a few questions I ask you?' Zeezrom was good at the Devil’s tricks. He wanted to destroy what was good. So he said to Amulek: 'Will you answer the questions I ask you?' Amulek said to him: 'Yes, if it is what the Spirit of the Lord wants me to do. I will not say anything against the Spirit of the Lord.' Zeezrom said to him: 'Look, here are six onties of silver. I will give you all of these if you say God does not exist.'

Amulek said: 'You are a child of hell. Why are you trying to trick me? Do you not know that good people do not give in to tricks like that?' 'Do you think there is no God? I tell you, no. You know there is a God. But you love money more than him.' 'You just lied to God and to me. You said you would give me these six onties. They are worth a lot. But you planned to keep them from me. You just wanted me to say the true and living God does not exist. Then you would have a reason to destroy me. Because of this great evil, you will get what you deserve.'

Questions About God

Zeezrom said to him: 'You say there is a true and living God?' Amulek said: 'Yes, there is a true and living God.' Zeezrom said: 'Is there more than one God?' He answered: 'No.' Zeezrom asked him again: 'How do you know these things?' He said: 'An angel told me.' Zeezrom asked again: 'Who will come? Is it the Son of God?' He said to him: 'Yes.'

Zeezrom asked again: 'Will he save his people while they are still sinning?' Amulek answered: 'I tell you he will not. It is impossible for him to go back on his word.'

Zeezrom said to the people: 'Remember what he is saying. He says there is only one God. But he says the Son of God will come. But he will not save his people. He talks like he can tell God what to do.'

Amulek said to him again: 'You lied. You say I talked like I can tell God what to do. I said he will not save his people while they are still sinning.' 'I tell you again that he cannot save them while they are still sinning. I cannot go back on his word. He has said that no unclean thing can go into heaven. So how can you be saved if you do not go to heaven? You cannot be saved while you are still sinning.'

Jesus Will Save His People

Zeezrom asked him again: 'Is the Son of God the same as the Eternal Father?' Amulek said to him: 'Yes, he is the Eternal Father of heaven and of earth and all things in them. He is the beginning and the end. He is the first and the last.' 'He will come into the world to save his people. He will take the sins of those who believe in his name. They will have life forever. No one else can be saved.' 'So bad people will stay as if no one saved them. The only thing that will change is that death will be broken. The day will come when all people will rise from the dead and stand before God. They will be judged by what they did.'

Everyone Will Rise from the Dead

There is a death called the death of the body. Christ’s death will break the power of this death. All people will be raised from this death of the body. The spirit and the body will come back together in perfect form. Every arm and leg and joint will be put back the way it should be. It will be just like we are right now. We will stand before God. We will know what we know now. We will remember clearly all the wrong things we did. This will happen to everyone. Old and young, slave and free, male and female, bad and good. Not even one hair from their heads will be lost. Everything will be put back in perfect form. It will be just like it is now in the body. They will stand before Jesus Christ the Son and God the Father and the Holy Spirit. These three are one Eternal God. Everyone will be judged by what they did. Was it good or was it bad? I have talked to you about the death of the body. I have also talked about the body coming back to life. I tell you that this dying body is raised to a body that never dies. It goes from death to life. From the first death to life. They can never die again. Their spirits join with their bodies. They will never be separated. The whole person becomes spiritual and will never die. They will never rot away.

When Amulek finished these words, the people were amazed again. Zeezrom started to shake. This ended the words of Amulek. This is all I have written.