The Lamanites Prepare for War
The Amalekites and Amulonites and Lamanites in the lands of Amulon, Helam, and Jerusalem had not become believers. They had not taken the name Anti-Nephi-Lehi. The Amalekites and Amulonites made them angry at their brothers. They hated them so much that they turned against their king. They didn’t want him to be their king anymore. So they took up weapons against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.
The king gave the kingdom to his son. He named him Anti-Nephi-Lehi. The king died that same year the Lamanites began getting ready for war against God’s people.
Ammon and his brothers saw the Lamanites getting ready to destroy their brothers. They went to the land of Midian. There Ammon met all his brothers. From there they came to the land of Ishmael. They wanted to meet with Lamoni and his brother Anti-Nephi-Lehi. They needed to decide what to do to defend themselves against the Lamanites.
Not one person who had become a believer in the Lord would take up weapons against their brothers. They wouldn’t even get ready for war. Their king told them not to.
The King’s Speech About Peace
Here are the words he said to the people about this: I thank my God, my dear people, that our great God was good enough to send these brothers, the Nephites, to us. They preached to us and showed us that our fathers’ teachings were wrong. I thank my great God that he gave us some of his Spirit to make our hearts soft. Because of that, we started talking with these brothers, the Nephites. I also thank my God that by talking with them, we learned about our sins and all the murders we did. I also thank my God, yes, my great God, that he let us turn away from these things. He forgave us for all those sins and murders we did. He took away the guilt from our hearts because of what his Son did.
My brothers, we were the most lost of all people. It took everything we had to turn away from all our sins and the many murders we did. It took everything we had to get God to take them away from our hearts. We had to work so hard to turn away from sin before God would take away our stain. My dear brothers, God has taken away our stains. Our swords have become bright. So let’s not stain our swords again with the blood of our brothers. I say to you, no. Let’s keep our swords clean. Let’s not stain them with the blood of our brothers. If we stain our swords again, maybe they can never be washed bright again through the blood of the Son of our great God. His blood will be poured out to pay for our sins.
The great God had mercy on us. He told us these things so we wouldn’t die. He told us these things ahead of time because he loves our souls just as much as he loves our children. Because of his mercy, he sends his angels to visit us. That way God’s plan to save us can be told to us and to future families. Our God is so kind! Since it took everything we had to get our stains taken away, and our swords are made bright, let’s hide them away. Let them stay bright as proof to our God on the last day. When we stand before him to be judged, this will show we haven’t stained our swords in the blood of our brothers since he gave us his word and made us clean. My brothers, if our brothers try to destroy us, we will hide away our swords. We will bury them deep in the earth. They will stay bright as proof that we never used them. If our brothers destroy us, we will go to our God and be saved.
The People Bury Their Weapons
When the king finished saying these things, all the people gathered together. They took their swords and all the weapons used for killing people. They buried them deep in the earth. They did this as proof to God and to people that they would never use weapons again to kill anyone. They did this, making a promise with God. They would rather give up their own lives than kill their brothers. They would rather give to a brother than take from him. They would rather work hard with their hands than spend their days doing nothing.
We see that when these Lamanites came to believe and know the truth, they were strong. They would die rather than sin. We see that they buried their weapons of war for peace.
The Lamanites Attack
Their brothers, the Lamanites, got ready for war. They came up to the land of Nephi. They wanted to destroy the king and put someone else in his place. They also wanted to destroy the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. When the people saw the Lamanites coming against them, they went out to meet them. They laid down on the ground in front of them. They began to call on the name of the Lord. They were lying there when the Lamanites fell upon them and began to kill them with the sword.
Without any fight, the Lamanites killed one thousand and five of them. We know they are blessed because they have gone to live with their God.
Hearts Changed by Faith
The Lamanites saw that their brothers wouldn’t run from the sword. They wouldn’t turn to the right or to the left. They just laid down and died. They praised God even while they were dying under the sword. When the Lamanites saw this, they stopped killing them. Many of their hearts were full of pain for their brothers who had died under the sword. They felt sorry for the things they had done. They threw down their weapons of war. They would not take them again. They felt bad for the murders they had done. They laid down just like their brothers. They trusted in the mercy of those whose arms were lifted to kill them.
That day God’s people were joined by more people than had been killed. Those who had been killed were good people. So we have no reason to think they aren’t saved. Not one bad man was killed among them. But more than a thousand people came to know the truth. We see that the Lord works in many ways to save his people.
Most of the Lamanites who killed so many of their brothers were Amalekites and Amulonites. Most of them followed the order of the Nehors. Among those who joined the Lord’s people, there were no Amalekites or Amulonites or followers of Nehor. They were real children of Laman and Lemuel. We can see that after people have been taught by the Spirit of God and have learned a lot about doing what’s right, if they fall away into sin, they become harder. Their situation becomes worse than if they had never known these things.