Helaman 13

Samuel the Lamanite Comes to Preach

In the eighty-sixth year, the Nephites kept doing evil. They did great evil. But the Lamanites carefully followed God’s rules. They obeyed the law of Moses.

During this year, a man named Samuel came to Zarahemla. He was a Lamanite. He began preaching to the people. He preached for many days. He told them to change their ways. But they threw him out. He was about to go back to his own land. But the Lord’s voice came to him. The Lord told him to go back. He should tell the people whatever came into his heart. They wouldn’t let him enter the city. So he climbed up on the city wall. He reached out his hand and cried with a loud voice. He told the people whatever the Lord put in his heart.

Samuel’s Warning About Destruction

He said to them: 'I, Samuel, a Lamanite, speak the Lord’s words. He puts these words in my heart. He has told me to say this to you: God’s punishment hangs over these people. Before four hundred years pass, God’s punishment will fall on these people.' 'Great destruction waits for these people. It will come to them. Nothing can save these people except one thing. They must change and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will come into the world. He will suffer many things. He will be killed for his people.' 'An angel of the Lord told me this. He brought good news to my soul. I was sent to tell you too. You could have good news too. But you would not accept me.'

'So the Lord says this: The Nephite people’s hearts are hard. Unless they change, I will take away my word from them. I will take away my Spirit from them. I will not put up with them anymore. I will turn their brothers’ hearts against them.' 'Four hundred years will not pass before I make them get destroyed. I will visit them with the sword, hunger, and sickness.' 'I will visit them in my great anger. People from the fourth generation of your enemies will still be alive. They will see you completely destroyed. This will happen unless you change, says the Lord. The fourth generation will see your destruction.'

Change or Face Terrible Consequences

'But if you will change and return to the Lord your God, I will turn away my anger, says the Lord. The Lord says: Blessed are those who will change and turn to me. But it will be terrible for those who don’t change!' 'It will be terrible for this great city of Zarahemla! The city is only saved because of the good people in it. I see, says the Lord, that there are many people here. Most of this great city will make their hearts hard against me, says the Lord.' 'But blessed are those who will change. I will save them. If it weren’t for the good people in this great city, I would make fire come down from heaven. It would destroy the city.'

'The city is saved because of the good people. But the time is coming, says the Lord, when you will throw out the good people. Then you will be ready for destruction. It will be terrible for this great city! This is because of all the evil and bad things in it.' 'It will be terrible for the city of Gideon! This is because of the evil and bad things in it.' 'It will be terrible for all the cities in the land around here! The Nephites own these cities. This is because of the evil and bad things in them.'

The Curse on the Land and Treasures

'A curse will come on the land, says the Lord of Hosts. This is because of the people on the land. It’s because of their evil and their bad things.' 'It will happen, says the Lord of Hosts, our great and true God: Anyone who buries treasure in the earth won’t find it again. This is because of the great curse on the land. Unless he is a good person. Unless he buries it for the Lord.' 'I want them to bury their treasures for me, says the Lord. Cursed are those who don’t bury their treasures for me. Only good people bury their treasures for me. Anyone who doesn’t bury his treasure for me is cursed. The treasure is cursed too. No one will get it back because of the curse on the land.' 'The day will come when they will bury their treasures. They do this because they love riches. Because they love their riches, I will hide their treasures. This will happen when they run from their enemies. They won’t bury them for me. They are cursed. Their treasures are cursed. On that day they will be destroyed, says the Lord.'

You Love Riches More Than God

'Look at you, people of this great city! Listen to my words! Listen to what the Lord says! He says you are cursed because of your riches. Your riches are cursed too. This is because you love them. You have not listened to the words of the one who gave them to you.' 'You don’t remember the Lord your God for the things he blessed you with. But you always remember your riches. You don’t thank the Lord your God for them. Your heart doesn’t turn to the Lord. Instead, your hearts get full of pride. You brag. You are jealous. You fight. You are mean. You hurt people. You murder. You do all kinds of wrong things.' 'This is why the Lord God has made a curse come on the land. Also on your riches. This is because of your sins.'

You Reject Real Prophets

'It will be terrible for these people! This time has come when you throw out the prophets. You make fun of them. You throw stones at them. You kill them. You do all kinds of bad things to them. Just like people did long ago.' 'When you talk, you say: If we had lived when our ancestors lived, we would not have killed the prophets. We would not have thrown stones at them and thrown them out.'

'You are worse than they were! As the Lord lives, if a prophet comes to you, he tells you the Lord’s word. He tells you about your sins and wrong things. You get angry with him. You throw him out. You try every way to destroy him. You will say he is a false prophet. You say he is a sinner and works for the devil. This is because he says your actions are evil.' 'But if a man comes to you and says this: ‘Do this and there is no sin. Do that and you won’t suffer. Follow your own proud hearts. Follow your proud eyes. Do whatever your heart wants.’ If a man comes and says this, you will accept him. You will say he is a prophet.' 'You will praise him. You will give him your stuff. You will give him your gold and silver. You will dress him in expensive clothes. This is because he says nice things to you. He says everything is fine. So you won’t find anything wrong with him.'

How Long Will You Choose Darkness?

'You evil and twisted people! You hard and stubborn people! How long do you think the Lord will put up with you? How long will you let foolish and blind guides lead you? How long will you choose darkness instead of light?' 'The Lord’s anger is already burning against you. He has cursed the land because of your sins.' 'The time is coming when he will curse your riches. They will become slippery. You can’t hold onto them. When you are poor, you won’t be able to keep them.'

What You Will Say When It’s Too Late

'When you are poor, you will cry out to the Lord. But you will cry for no reason. Your destruction has already come to you. Your ruin is certain. Then you will cry and scream on that day, says the Lord of Hosts. Then you will say:' '’I wish I had changed! I wish I had not killed the prophets. I wish I had not thrown stones at them and thrown them out.’ On that day you will say: ‘I wish we had remembered the Lord our God when he gave us our riches. Then they would not have become slippery. We would not have lost them. Our riches are gone from us.’' '’We put down a tool here. The next day it is gone. Our swords are taken from us on the day we need them for battle.’' '’We have buried our treasures. They have slipped away from us. This is because of the curse on the land.’' '’I wish we had changed on the day the Lord’s word came to us! The land is cursed. All things have become slippery. We can’t hold onto them.’' '’We are surrounded by demons. We are circled by the angels of the one who wants to destroy our souls. Our sins are great. O Lord, can’t you turn away your anger from us?’ This is what you will say in those days.'

'But your time to prove yourselves is over. You have put off being saved for too long. Now it’s too late forever. Your destruction is certain. You have spent all your life looking for what you could not get. You looked for happiness by doing evil. But that goes against what is right. God is good and lives forever.'

'O people of the land, please hear my words! I pray that the Lord’s anger will turn away from you. Please change and be saved.'