# Alma 39

*Simple English*

### Alma Corrects His Son Corianton

My son, I have more to say to you than what I said to your brother. Have you noticed how steady your brother is? He is faithful and works hard to keep God’s commandments. He has set a good example for you. You did not listen to my words as well as your brother did when we were with the Zoramites. This is what I have against you: You went around bragging about your strength and your wisdom. That is not all, my son. You did something that made me very sad. You left your ministry work. You went to the land of Siron near the Lamanite border to see a prostitute named Isabel. She stole away the hearts of many people. But that is no excuse for you, my son. You should have taken care of the ministry work that was given to you.

### The Seriousness of Sexual Sin

Don’t you know, my son, that these things are terrible to the Lord? They are the worst sins of all except for killing innocent people or rejecting the Holy Spirit. If you reject the Holy Spirit after it has been with you, and you know that you are rejecting it, this is a sin that cannot be forgiven. And whoever kills when they know God’s truth will have a hard time getting forgiveness. I say to you, my son, that it is not easy to get forgiveness for that.

My son, I wish you had not done such a terrible thing. I would not talk about your mistakes to hurt your feelings if it were not for your own good. But you cannot hide your mistakes from God. Unless you change, your mistakes will be brought up against you on the last day.

### A Call to Change

My son, I want you to change and stop doing these sins. Don’t follow the bad desires you see. You must control yourself in all these things. If you don’t do this, you cannot go to God’s Kingdom. Remember this and control yourself in these things. I tell you to ask your older brothers for advice about what you should do. You are young. You need your brothers to help you. Listen to their advice. Don’t let yourself be fooled by anything silly or useless. Don’t let the Devil lead your heart back to those bad prostitutes. My son, you hurt the Zoramites badly. When they saw how you acted, they would not believe my words.

The Spirit of the Lord tells me to command my children to do good. Otherwise they will lead many people to destruction. So I command you, my son, with respect for God, to stop doing these bad things. Turn to the Lord with all your heart and strength. Don’t lead any more people to do wrong things. Instead, go back to them. Tell them what you did wrong. Make up for the wrongs you have done. Don’t look for riches or the useless things of this world. You cannot take them with you when you die.

### Christ’s Coming and Your Mission

My son, I want to tell you something about Christ’s coming. He will come to take away the sins of the world. He will come to tell his people the good news of salvation. This was the ministry work you were called to do. You were supposed to tell this good news to these people. You were supposed to prepare their minds. When you do this, salvation can come to them. Then they can prepare their children’s minds to hear the word when Christ comes. I will help you understand something about this. You wonder why these things should be known so long before they happen. Isn’t a person’s soul just as important to God right now as it will be when Christ comes? Don’t these people need to know about God’s plan to save them just as much as their children will? Is it not just as easy for the Lord to send his angel to tell us this good news as it will be to tell our children? Is it not just as easy now as it will be after Christ comes?

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/simple/alma/39)*
