Mosiah 2 - Simple English | The Book of Mormon

The People Gather to Hear King Benjamin

After Mosiah did what his father told him to do, he made an announcement throughout all the land. The people gathered together from everywhere so they could go to the temple. They wanted to hear the words that King Benjamin would speak to them. There were so many people that no one could count them. They had grown very much in number and become great in the land. They also brought the first animals born from their flocks. They wanted to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings just like the law of Moses said to do. They also wanted to give thanks to the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Jerusalem. He had saved them from their enemies. He had chosen good men to be their teachers and a good man to be their king. The king had made peace in the land of Zarahemla. He had taught them to obey God’s commandments so they could be happy and filled with love toward God and all people.

When they came to the temple, they set up their tents all around it. Every man camped with his family - his wife, his sons and daughters, and their children, from the oldest to the youngest. Each family stayed separate from the others. They set up their tents around the temple. Each person put their tent door facing toward the temple. That way they could stay in their tents and still hear the words that King Benjamin would speak to them. The crowd was so big that King Benjamin could not teach them all inside the temple walls. So he had a tower built so his people could hear the words he would speak to them. He began to speak to his people from the tower. But not everyone could hear his words because there were so many people. So he had the words he spoke written down and sent out to those who could not hear his voice. That way they could also get his words.

King Benjamin Begins to Speak

These are the words he spoke and had written down: 'My brothers, all of you who have come together here, you who can hear my words that I will speak to you today - I have not told you to come here to waste time with the words I will speak. Instead, you should listen to me. Open your ears so you can hear. Open your hearts so you can understand. Open your minds so God’s secrets can be shown to you.'

'I have not told you to come here so you would be scared of me or think that I am more than just a regular person.' 'I am just like you. My body and mind can get sick and weak just like yours. But this people chose me, and my father set me apart. The Lord allowed me to be a ruler and king over this people. His great power has kept me safe so I could serve you with all the strength and mind and power the Lord has given me.' 'I tell you that I have spent my whole life serving you, even up to now. I have not asked you for gold or silver or any kind of riches.' 'I have not let you be put in prison. I have not let you make slaves of each other. I have not let you murder or steal or commit adultery. I have not let you do any kind of bad things. I have taught you to obey the Lord’s commandments in everything he has told you to do.' 'I have even worked with my own hands to serve you. I did not make you pay taxes. I made sure nothing hard or painful would come upon you. You are witnesses of all these things I have said.'

'But my brothers, I have not done these things so I could brag. I do not tell you these things to blame you. I tell you these things so you will know that I can stand before God today with a clear heart.' 'I tell you that when I said I spent my life serving you, I do not want to brag. I have only been serving God.'

Serving Others is Serving God

'I tell you these things so you can learn wisdom. You can learn that when you serve other people, you are really serving God.'

'You have called me your king. If I, your king, work hard to serve you, then shouldn’t you work hard to serve each other?' 'And if I, your king, who has spent his life serving you and serving God, deserve thanks from you, then how much more should you thank your heavenly King!'

We Owe Everything to God

'I tell you, my brothers, that even if you gave all the thanks and praise your whole soul has power to give to God - the God who created you, has kept you safe, has made you happy, and has let you live in peace with each other -' 'I tell you that even if you served him who created you from the beginning with your whole soul - him who keeps you alive from day to day by giving you breath so you can live and move and do what you want, and who supports you every moment - even if you served him with all your heart, you would still not be good enough servants.' 'All he asks of you is to obey his commandments. He has promised you that if you obey his commandments, you will do well in the land. He never changes what he has said. So if you do obey his commandments, he blesses you and helps you do well.'

'First, he created you and gave you your lives. You owe him for this.' 'Second, he asks you to do what he has told you to do. When you do this, he blesses you right away. So he has paid you back. But you still owe him. You always will owe him, forever and ever. So what do you have to brag about?' 'Can you say anything good about yourselves? No, you cannot. You cannot say that you are even as good as the dust of the earth. But you were made from the dust of the earth. It belongs to the one who created you.'

'Even I, your king, am no better than you are. I am also made of dust. You can see that I am old and about to give up this body to the earth.'

King Benjamin Prepares to Step Down

'So as I told you that I have served you with a clear heart before God, I have called you together now so I will not be blamed. I do not want your blood to be on me when I stand before God to be judged for the things he told me to do for you.' 'I tell you that I have called you together so I can clean my clothes of your blood. I am about to die soon. I want to die in peace so my spirit can join the angels in heaven in singing praises to God.'

'Also, I tell you that I have called you together so I can tell you that I can no longer be your teacher or your king.' 'Even right now, my whole body shakes as I try to speak to you. But the Lord God holds me up and has let me speak to you. He has told me to tell you today that my son Mosiah is now king and ruler over you.' 'My brothers, I want you to do as you have always done. You have obeyed my commandments and my father’s commandments. You have done well and have been kept safe from your enemies. If you obey the commandments of my son - or the commandments of God that he will give you - you will do well in the land. Your enemies will have no power over you.'

A Warning About the Evil Spirit

'But my people, be careful that there are no fights among you. Do not choose to obey the evil spirit that my father Mosiah talked about.'

'There is trouble coming to anyone who chooses to obey that spirit. If he chooses to obey him and stays in his sins until he dies, he brings punishment on his own soul. He gets eternal punishment as his pay because he broke God’s law even though he knew better.' 'I tell you that all of you, except your little children, have been taught about these things. You know that you owe everything to your Heavenly Father. You must give him everything you have and are. You have also been taught about the records that have the prophecies spoken by the holy prophets from the time our father Lehi left Jerusalem.' 'You have also been taught everything our fathers have spoken until now. They spoke what the Lord told them to speak. So their words are right and true.'

'I tell you, my brothers, that after you have known and been taught all these things, if you sin and go against what has been spoken, you push away the Spirit of the Lord. Then it cannot help guide you in wise ways so you can be blessed, helped to do well, and kept safe.' 'I tell you that the person who does this fights openly against God. So he chooses to obey the evil spirit and becomes an enemy to all that is right. The Lord has no place in him because God does not live in unholy temples.' 'So if that person does not change his heart and stays an enemy to God until he dies, God’s justice will wake up his spirit to feel his own guilt. This will make him want to hide from the Lord. It will fill his heart with guilt and pain and suffering that is like a fire that never goes out. Its flames go up forever and ever.'

'I tell you that God’s mercy cannot help that person. So his end is to suffer punishment that never ends.'

Remember God’s Justice and Mercy

'All you old men and young men and little children who can understand my words (I have spoken clearly so you can understand), I pray that you will remember the terrible situation of those who have sinned.' 'Also, I want you to think about the blessed and happy life of those who obey God’s commandments. They are blessed in all things, both in this life and in spiritual things. If they stay faithful to the end, they go to heaven where they can live with God in happiness that never ends. Remember, remember that these things are true, because the Lord God has said it.'

2:4 — 1 Corinthians 7:19 (KJV)
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
2:8 — Acts 20:38 (KJV)
Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
2:9 — 1 Corinthians 4:1 (KJV)
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
2:10 — John 8:42 (KJV)
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
2:14 — Luke 11:46 (KJV)
And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.
2:15 — Acts 23:1 (KJV)
And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
2:18 — Galatians 5:13 (KJV)
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
2:20 — Mark 9:50 (KJV)
Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
2:21 — Acts 17:28 (KJV)
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
2:21 — Luke 17:10 (KJV)
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
2:27 — 1 Timothy 3:10 (KJV)
And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
2:27 — Acts 17:31 (KJV)
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
2:31 — 1 Corinthians 11:23 (KJV)
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
2:32 — 1 Corinthians 1:11 (KJV)
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
2:33 — 1 Corinthians 11:29 (KJV)
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
2:33 — Matthew 25:46 (KJV)
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
2:33 — Acts 18:13 (KJV)
Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
2:34 — Matthew 6:32 (KJV)
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
2:34 — 2 Peter 3:2 (KJV)
That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
2:35 — Hebrews 12:20 (KJV)
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
2:36 — 2 Thessalonians 3:6 (KJV)
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
2:36 — John 8:37 (KJV)
I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
2:37 — Acts 13:10 (KJV)
And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
2:37 — Acts 7:48 (KJV)
Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
2:38 — Matthew 3:12 (KJV)
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
2:38 — Revelation 14:11 (KJV)
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

2:1-5
King Benjamin's speech, given in approximately 124 B.C., has much similarities to nineteenth century revival meetings that Joseph Smith attended. -Vogel, Making of a Prophet, pp. 147-162.

Captain Frederick Marryat wrote, as cited in Uncommon Americans, "The camp was raised upon...a piece of tableland...at one end... was a raises tand, which served as a pulpit for the preachers...Outside of the area, which may be designated as the church, were hundreds of tents pitched...In front of the pulpit was a space railed off...which I was told was the anxious seat... girl after girl dropped down upon the straw on one side, and men on the other... Every minute the excitement increased; some wrung their hands and called for mercy..."

Famous nineteenth century revival preacher, Charles G. Finney, described the response from attenders in the following way: "I had not spoken to them... more than a quarter of an hour when all at once an awful solemnity seemed to settle down upon them; the congregation began to fall from their seats in every direction, and cried for mercy... nearly the whole congregation were either on their knees or prostrate..." -Charles G. Finney, Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney, p. 103.

LDS historian B. H. Roberts noted, "It will not be necessary to further repeat the scenes, nor describe again the manner of these 'religious' manifestations. It is clearly established now that these scenes of religious frenzy were common in the vicinage where Joseph Smith resided in his youth and early manhood... The question is, did his knowledge of these things lead to their introduction into the Book of Mormon narrative? I think it cannot be questioned but where there is sufficient resemblance between the Book of Mormon instances of religious emotionalism and those cited in the foregoing quotations from the works of Edwards et al. to justify the thought that the latter might well have suggested and indeed become the source of the former." -B. H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, ed. Brigham D. Madsen (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1992), p. 308.
2:3
"According to the law of Moses, the firstlings of their flocks were never offered as burnt offerings or sacrifices. All firstlings belonged to the Lord, de jure, and could not be counted as a man's personal property—whereas, all burnt offerings, or sacrifices for sin of every kind, must be selected from the man's own personal property, or be purchased with his own money for that purpose, while all firstlings of the flock, as the Lord's property, came into the hands of the high priest, and by him could be offered up as a peace offering, not as a burnt offering or a sin offering, himself and family eating the flesh. (See Ex. 13:2, 12 and 22:29, 30; Numb. 3:13; 2 Sam. 24:24; Numb. 18:15-18..)." —M. T. Lamb, The Golden Bible; or The Book of Mormon, Is It From God? (New York: Ward and Drummand, 1887), 109–110.

Lamb and other critics cite Mosiah 2:3 as evidence that the author misunderstood Israelite sacrificial law. On this reading, the passage reflects confusion regarding Jewish ceremonial practice and thus suggests a non-Jewish origin for the text.

LDS scholar Matthew Roper, a research associate with the Maxwell Institute and author of "A Black Hole That's Not So Black," disputes this interpretation. He argues: "First, while firstlings, as we currently understand their use in ancient Israel, were probably not offered as the olah or burnt offering in ancient Israel, as Anderson notes, 'It would not be accurate to say that the requirements for the burnt offering, peace offering, and reparation offering were rigidly fixed; there was room for variability...' While apparently not used for the burnt offering, firstlings could and frequently were used along with other animals in the sacrificial peace offering. The Book of Mormon correctly states that the Nephites brought their firstlings to the temple to be sacrificed, for firstlings clearly were sacrificed at the temple." —Matthew Roper, "A Black Hole That's Not So Black," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 6, no. 1 (1994).

Roper is correct that firstlings could be used in the peace offering. Nevertheless, a straightforward reading of the passage appears to suggest that the firstlings themselves were being used for "sacrifice and burnt offerings." Because the verse lacks clear detail and contextual clarification, its precise meaning remains uncertain.

For this reason, the passage may be too ambiguous to serve as decisive evidence either for or against the Book of Mormon’s familiarity with Jewish sacrificial law. Both critics and defenders may therefore wish to exercise caution in relying heavily on this verse when assessing the book’s authenticity in relation to ancient Israelite practice.
2:36-39
The Book of Mormon teaches that death seals man's fate (see also Alma 34:32-35). Contrast with Doctrines and Covenants 88:99 which seems to hold out the hope that one's place in heaven can be changed after being in spirit prison.
2:38
"immortal soul(s)" is found in Mosiah 2:38 and Helaman 3:30. Smith used this same phrase in his 1832 account of his life as recorded in An American Prophet's Record, p. 4.

For addiontal examples of Smith's common phrases, see: 1 Nephi 19:2; 2 Nephi 28:22; 2 Nephi 26:15; and 2 Nephi 28:16.

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