Alma 2

Amlici Tries to Become King

In the fifth year, trouble started among the people. A man named Amlici was very smart and tricky. He followed the same ideas as the man who killed Gideon with a sword. That killer had been punished by the law. Amlici used his tricks to get many people to follow him. He became so powerful that he tried to make himself king over the people.

This worried the people in the Church. It also worried those who had not followed Amlici. They knew their law said the people had to vote on things like this. If Amlici won the vote, he would take away the Church’s rights. He was a bad man who wanted to destroy God’s Church.

The people came together all across the land. Each person decided if they were for or against Amlici. They met in separate groups and argued a lot. They met to vote. The votes were given to the judges.

The people voted against Amlici. He did not become king. This made the people who were against him very happy. But Amlici made his followers angry at those who voted against him.

The Amlicites Rebel

They came together and made Amlici their king anyway. After Amlici became their king, he told them to fight against their brothers. He did this because he wanted to control them.

Amlici’s people were called Amlicites. Everyone else was called Nephites or God’s people. The Nephites knew what the Amlicites planned to do. So they got ready to fight. They got their weapons. They had swords and curved swords and bows and arrows and stones and slings. They had all kinds of weapons. They were ready when the Amlicites came. They picked captains and higher captains and chief captains based on how many people they had.

Amlici gave his men all kinds of weapons too. He also picked rulers and leaders to lead his people to fight their brothers.

The First Battle

The Amlicites came to the hill Amnihu. This was east of the river Sidon. The river ran by the land of Zarahemla. They started to fight the Nephites there.

Alma was the chief judge and governor of the Nephites. He went with his people to fight the Amlicites. He went with his captains and chief captains at the front of his armies. They started killing the Amlicites on the hill east of Sidon. The Amlicites fought hard. Many Nephites were killed. But the Lord made the Nephites strong. They killed many Amlicites. The Amlicites started to run away.

The Nephites chased the Amlicites all day. They killed many of them. 12,532 Amlicites died. 6,562 Nephites died. When Alma could not chase them anymore, he had his people set up their tents in the valley of Gideon. The valley was named after Gideon, who was killed by Nehor with a sword. The Nephites camped there for the night.

The Lamanites Join the Fight

Alma sent spies to follow the rest of the Amlicites. He wanted to know their plans so he could protect his people. The spies he sent were named Zeram, Amnor, Manti, and Limher. They went with their men to watch the Amlicites.

The next day they came back to the Nephite camp in a hurry. They were shocked and very scared. They said, 'We followed the Amlicites. We were shocked to see a huge army of Lamanites in the land of Minon. This is above the land of Zarahemla toward the land of Nephi. The Amlicites have joined them.' 'They are attacking our brothers in that land. Our brothers are running away with their animals and wives and children toward our city. If we don’t hurry, the enemies will take our city. Our fathers and wives and children will be killed.'

The Nephites took down their tents and left the valley of Gideon. They headed toward their city, Zarahemla.

Battle at the River

As they crossed the river Sidon, the Lamanites and Amlicites came to kill them. There were almost as many enemies as the sand on the beach. But the Lord made the Nephites strong. They had prayed hard for him to save them from their enemies. The Lord heard them and made them strong. The Lamanites and Amlicites lost the battle.

Alma fought Amlici with his sword face to face. They fought hard. Alma was a man of God with strong faith. He prayed: 'Lord, please have mercy and save my life. I want to be a tool in your hands to save these people.' After Alma said this, he fought Amlici again. He became so strong that he killed Amlici with his sword.

He also fought the king of the Lamanites. But the king ran away from Alma. He sent his guards to fight Alma instead. Alma and his guards fought the king’s guards. He killed them and pushed them back. He cleared the ground on the west side of the river Sidon. He threw the dead Lamanites into the river. This made room for his people to cross and fight the Lamanites and Amlicites on the west side.

The Enemy Runs Away

After everyone crossed the river Sidon, the Lamanites and Amlicites started to run away. There were so many enemies they could not be counted. They ran from the Nephites toward the wilderness in the west and north. This was beyond the borders of the land. The Nephites chased them hard and killed them. They were attacked on all sides and killed and pushed back. They were scattered to the west and north until they got to the wilderness called Hermounts. This part of the wilderness had many wild and dangerous animals.

Many died in the wilderness from their wounds. They were eaten by the wild animals and by vultures. Their bones were found and piled up on the ground.