Fighting and Division
In the fifty-fourth year, there were many disagreements in the church. There was also fighting among the people. Many people were killed. The rebels were killed and driven out of the land. They went to the king of the Lamanites. They tried to make the Lamanites go to war against the Nephites. But the Lamanites were very afraid. They would not listen to these people who had left.
The Lamanites Attack
But in the fifty-sixth year of the judges’ rule, more people left the Nephites and went to the Lamanites. They helped make the Lamanites angry at the Nephites. They spent all that year getting ready for war. In the fifty-seventh year, they came down to fight the Nephites. They started the work of death. In the fifty-eighth year of the judges’ rule, they took over Zarahemla. They also took all the lands up to the land near Bountiful. The Nephites and Moronihah’s armies were pushed all the way to Bountiful. There they built defenses against the Lamanites. They built from the west sea to the east. It was a day’s walk for a Nephite. They put their armies on this line to protect their northern country. So the Nephites who left, with help from a huge Lamanite army, had taken all the Nephite lands in the south. All this happened in the fifty-eighth and fifty-ninth years of the judges’ rule.
Moronihah Wins Some Land Back
In the sixtieth year of the judges’ rule, Moronihah and his armies won back many parts of the land. They got back many cities that the Lamanites had taken. In the sixty-first year of the judges’ rule, they got back half of all their lands.
Why the Nephites Lost
This great loss of the Nephites would not have happened if they had not been wicked. The killing would not have happened if they had not done evil things. This was true even for those who said they belonged to God’s church. It happened because of the pride in their hearts. It happened because they had too much money. They hurt the poor. They kept food from hungry people. They kept clothes from people who had none. They hit their humble brothers on the face. They made fun of holy things. They said there were no messages from God. They murdered, robbed, lied, and stole. They broke marriage promises. They caused great fights. They ran away to the land of Nephi to join the Lamanites. Because of their great evil and bragging about their own strength, they were left to their own strength. So they did not do well. They suffered, were beaten, and were pushed back by the Lamanites. They lost almost all their lands.
The People Stop Sinning
But Moronihah preached many things to the people about their sins. Nephi and Lehi, the sons of Helaman, also preached many things to the people. They told them about their sins. They told them what would happen if they did not stop sinning. Then they did stop sinning. Because they stopped sinning, they began to do well. When Moronihah saw that they had stopped sinning, he dared to lead them from place to place. He led them from city to city. They got back half of their things and half of all their lands. This was the end of the sixty-first year of the judges’ rule.
No More Land Can Be Won Back
In the sixty-second year of the judges’ rule, Moronihah could not get any more land back from the Lamanites. So they gave up trying to get the rest of their lands back. The Lamanites had so many people that the Nephites could not beat them. So Moronihah used all his armies to keep the lands he had taken back.
The Nephites Remember Their Sins
Because the Lamanites had so many people, the Nephites were very afraid. They were afraid they would be beaten, stepped on, killed, and destroyed. They began to remember what Alma had said. They also remembered Mosiah’s words. They saw that they had been stubborn people. They had ignored God’s rules. They had changed and stepped on Mosiah’s laws. These were the laws the Lord told him to give the people. They saw that their laws had gone bad. They had become evil people. They were as evil as the Lamanites.
Because of their sins, the church had started to shrink. They began not to believe in messages from God. God’s punishments were right in front of them. They saw that they had become weak, like the Lamanites. The Lord’s Spirit did not protect them anymore. It had left them. The Lord’s Spirit does not live in unholy places. So the Lord stopped protecting them with his amazing power. They had stopped believing and become very evil. They saw that the Lamanites had many more people than they did. Unless they stayed close to the Lord their God, they would die. They saw that the Lamanites were as strong as they were, man for man. This is how they had fallen into great sin. They had become weak because of their sins. This happened in just a few years.