Moroni’s Letter to Pahoran
Moroni wrote another letter to Pahoran, the governor of the land. He sent it to the city of Zarahemla. Pahoran was the Chief Judge and the governor over the land. The letter was also for all those who had been chosen by the people to lead and manage this war.
Moroni had some strong words to say to them. He said: You know that you were supposed to gather men together. You were supposed to give them swords and all kinds of weapons. You were supposed to send them to fight the Lamanites wherever they came into our land.
The Army’s Suffering
I and my men have had a very hard time. Helaman and his men have too. We have been hungry and thirsty and tired. We have had all kinds of troubles. If this was all we had to deal with, we would not complain. But many of our people have been killed. Thousands have died by the sword. This did not have to happen. If you had given our armies enough strength and help, they would not have died. You have not helped us. We want to know why you have not helped us so much. We want to know why you are not thinking about us.
Strong Words for the Government
Do you think you can just sit on your chairs doing nothing while your enemies are killing people all around you? They are killing thousands of your people. These people looked up to you for help. They put you in charge so you could help them. You could have sent armies to make them stronger. You could have saved thousands of them from dying by the sword. But that’s not all. You have kept food from them. Many have fought and died because they cared so much about this people. They did this when they were about to die from hunger. This is because you have not helped them.
You should be people we love. You should have worked harder for the good and freedom of this people. But you have not helped them. Now thousands of people have died. God will hold you responsible for this. God knew about all their cries and all their troubles.
God Will Not Save the Lazy
Do you think you can just sit on your chairs and do nothing? Do you think God will save you just because he is good? If you think that, you are wrong. Do you think many of your people have been killed because they did bad things? If you think that, you are wrong. Many good people have died by the sword. This is your fault. The Lord lets good people be killed so his justice can come on the bad people. So don’t think good people are lost because they are killed. They go to rest with the Lord their God.
I am scared that God will judge this people. This is because they are so lazy. Our government is lazy. They have not helped their people who have been killed.
The King-Men Caused Trouble
If bad things had not started with our leaders, we could have stood strong against our enemies. They would not have had power over us. If the war among ourselves had not broken out, things would be better. If the king-men had not caused so much bloodshed among us, we would be stronger. When we were fighting each other, if we had stayed together like we used to, we would have won. If the king-men had not wanted power over us, we would have been fine. If they had been true to freedom and joined us against our enemies instead of fighting us, all that bloodshed would not have happened. If we had gone against our enemies with the Lord’s strength, we would have won. It would have been done according to God’s word. But the Lamanites are coming. They are killing our people with the sword. They are killing our women and our children. They are taking over our lands. They are taking people away. They are making them have all kinds of troubles. This is all because of the bad people who want power. The king-men caused this.
But why should I say more about this? We don’t know if you yourselves want power. We don’t know if you are also working against your country. Or maybe you have not helped us because you are safe in the middle of our country. Maybe because you are surrounded by safety, you don’t send us food. Maybe you don’t send men to make our armies stronger.
Have You Forgotten God?
Have you forgotten what the Lord your God told you to do? Have you forgotten when our fathers were taken away? Have you forgotten the many times we have been saved from our enemies? Do you think the Lord will still save us while we sit on our chairs? Do you think he will save us if we don’t use what the Lord has given us? Will you sit around doing nothing? You are surrounded by thousands and tens of thousands who are also sitting around doing nothing. But there are thousands around the edges of the land who are dying by the sword. They are wounded and bleeding.
Do you think God will say you are not guilty while you sit still and watch these things? I say to you, no. You should remember that God has said: The inside of the cup must be cleaned first. Then the outside of the cup will be cleaned also.
Clean the Inside First
If you don’t turn away from what you have done, and start working, and send food and men to us and to Helaman, then we will do something. Helaman needs help to keep the parts of our country that he has held. We need to get back the rest of what we have lost. But first we need to clean our inside cup. That means the leaders of our government. If you don’t listen to my letter, and come out and show me you care about freedom, and work to make our armies stronger, and give them food to eat, then I will leave some of my free men to keep this part of our land. I will leave God’s strength and blessings with them. No other power will be able to work against them. This is because they have such great faith. They are patient in their hard times.
Moroni’s Warning
And I will come to you. If there is anyone among you who wants freedom, if there is even a spark of freedom left, I will stir up fights among you. I will do this until those who want to take power are gone.
I do not fear your power or your authority. But I do fear my God. I follow his commands when I take my sword to defend my country. It is because of your sins that we have lost so much.
It is time. The time is now. If you don’t get up and defend your country and your little ones, the sword of justice will hang over you. It will fall on you and destroy you. I am waiting for help from you. If you don’t help us, I will come to you in the land of Zarahemla. I will fight you with the sword. Then you will not have power to stop this people from fighting for freedom. The Lord will not let you live and grow strong in your sins while you destroy his good people.
Do you think the Lord will save you and judge the Lamanites? The Lamanites’ fathers taught them wrong things. That is what caused their hate. People who left us made it even worse. But your sins are different. You love glory. You love the things of the world that don’t matter. You know that you break God’s laws. You know that you step all over them. The Lord says to me: If the governors you have chosen do not turn away from their sins, you will go to battle against them.
The End of the Letter
I, Moroni, am told to keep God’s commands. I made a promise to do this. So you should follow the word of God. Send me your food and your men quickly. Send them to Helaman too. If you will not do this, I will come to you quickly. God will not let us die from hunger. So he will give us your food. We will take it by the sword if we have to. Make sure you do what God says.
I am Moroni, your Chief Captain. I don’t want power. I want to pull it down. I don’t want honor from the world. I want glory for my God and freedom and good for my country. This is the end of my letter.