# Alma 44

*Simple English*

### Moroni Speaks to Zerahemnah

They stopped and moved back from them. Moroni said to Zerahemnah: We don’t want to kill people. You know we have control over you, but we don’t want to kill you. We didn’t come to fight you to kill you or to have power. We don’t want to force anyone to be slaves. But that’s the reason you came against us. You are angry with us because of our religion. But you can see that the Lord is with us. He has put you in our control. This happened because of our religion and our faith in Christ. You can see that you can’t destroy our faith. You see that this is the true faith of God. You see that God will help us and keep us safe as long as we are faithful to him and to our religion. The Lord will never let us be destroyed unless we do wrong and turn away from our faith. Zerahemnah, I tell you in the name of the all-powerful God who has made us strong: We have power over you because of our faith, our religion, our worship, and our church. We have this power because of our duty to our wives and children. We have this power because of the freedom that ties us to our lands and our country. We have this power because of the sacred word of God, which gives us all our happiness. We have this power because of everything that is important to us. And that’s not all. I tell you because of your desire to live: Give us your weapons. We won’t kill you. We will let you live if you go away and don’t come back to fight us again. If you don’t do this, you are in our control. I will tell my men to attack you and kill you. Then we will see who has power over this people. We will see who will become slaves.

### Zerahemnah Refuses to Make a Promise

When Zerahemnah heard this, he came forward and gave his sword, his cimeter, and his bow to Moroni. He said to him: Here are our weapons. We will give them to you. We won’t make a promise that we know we will break. Our children would break it too. Take our weapons and let us go into the wilderness. If not, we will keep our swords and we will die or win. We don’t have your faith. We don’t believe that God put us in your control. We believe that you were clever and that saved you from our swords. Your breastplates and your shields saved you.

When Zerahemnah finished speaking, Moroni gave back the sword and the weapons he had received to Zerahemnah. He said: We will end the fight. I can’t take back what I said. So as the Lord lives, you won’t leave unless you promise that you won’t come back to fight us again. You are in our control. We will kill you, or you will agree to what I said.

### Zerahemnah Loses His Scalp

When Moroni said this, Zerahemnah kept his sword. He was angry with Moroni and rushed forward to kill Moroni. But as he raised his sword, one of Moroni’s soldiers hit it to the ground. It broke at the handle. He also hit Zerahemnah and cut off his scalp. It fell to the ground. Zerahemnah moved back into the middle of his soldiers. The soldier who cut off Zerahemnah’s scalp picked it up from the ground by the hair. He put it on the point of his sword and held it up to them. He said in a loud voice: This scalp fell to the earth. It’s the scalp of your chief. You will fall to the earth the same way unless you give us your weapons and leave with a promise of peace. Many people heard these words and saw the scalp on the sword. They were scared. Many came forward and threw down their weapons at Moroni’s feet. They made a promise of peace. All who made this promise were allowed to leave into the wilderness.

### The Battle Continues

Zerahemnah was very angry. He made the rest of his soldiers angry too. They fought harder against the Nephites.

Moroni was angry because the Lamanites were stubborn. So he told his people to attack them and kill them. They started to kill them. The Lamanites fought with their swords and their strength. But their skin and their heads had no protection from the sharp swords of the Nephites. They were cut and hurt. They fell very fast before the swords of the Nephites. They began to be cut down, just as Moroni’s soldier had said.

### Zerahemnah Gives Up

When Zerahemnah saw that they were all about to be destroyed, he cried out to Moroni. He promised that he and his people would make a promise with them if they would spare the rest of their lives. They would never come to fight them again. Moroni made the killing stop again among the people. He took the weapons from the Lamanites. After they made a promise of peace with him, they were allowed to leave into the wilderness.

The number of their dead was not counted because there were so many. There were very many dead, both Nephites and Lamanites. They threw their dead into the waters of Sidon. They have gone out and are buried in the deep sea.

The armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, went back and came to their homes and their lands. This ended the eighteenth year of the rule of the judges over the people of Nephi. This ended the record of Alma, which was written on the plates of Nephi.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/simple/alma/44)*
