Alma 2 (4 LE) - Covenant of Christ

Book of Mormon

Covenant of Christ

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4 Now it came to pass in the sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were no contentions nor wars in the land of Zarahemla. ² But the people were afflicted, yea, greatly afflicted, for the loss of their brethren, and also for the loss of their flocks and herds, and also for the loss of their fields of grain, which were trodden underfoot and destroyed by the Lamanites. And ³ so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn. And they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them because of their wickedness and their abominations; therefore, they were awakened to a remembrance of their duty, and ⁴ they began to establish the church more fully. Yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon and were joined to the church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the high priest over the people of the church by the hand of his father, Alma.

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4 In the sixth year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites, there were no conflicts or wars in Zarahemla. ²But the people mourned terribly over the loss of their relatives and fellow Nephites, over their flocks and herds being killed, and over damage to their farms from being trampled and destroyed by the Lamanites. ³The disruption was so widespread that every one of them was directly impacted, and they believed God had sent His judgments against them because of their wickedness and abominations. So they were reminded to remember their duty ⁴and renewed their commitment to the congregation. Then many were baptized in the Sidon River and joined God’s congregation. Alma, who had been ordained by his father Alma as the high priest over the congregation, baptized them.

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⁵ And it came to pass in the seventh year of the reign of the judges, there were about three thousand five hundred souls that united themselves to the church of God and were baptized. And thus ended the seventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; and there was continual peace in all that time.

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⁵And in the seventh year of the judges’ rule, about 3,500 souls joined God’s congregation and were baptized. And the seventh year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites ended, and there was continuous peace that year.

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⁶ And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges that the people of the church began to wax proud because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold, and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry. And in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. ⁷ Now this was the cause of much affliction to Alma, yea, and to many of the people whom Alma had consecrated to be teachers, and priests, and elders, over the church. Yea, many of them were sorely grieved for the wickedness which they saw had begun to be among their people. ⁸ For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their hearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful one towards another. And they began to persecute those that did not believe according to their own wills and pleasure. ⁹ And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envyings, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God. ¹⁰ And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges. And the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress.

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⁶In the eighth year of the judges’ rule, members of the congregation began to get proud because of their prosperity: wealth, fine clothing, woven linen, increasing flocks and herds, gold, silver, and all kinds of valuable property, which they gained through hard work. They thought of themselves as superior to others because of these things, and they showed off their wealth to be noticed, hoping to be envied. ⁷Now this disappointed Alma immensely, as well as others Alma had ordained to be teachers, priests, and elders over the congregation. Many of them shared the disappointment and concern over the wickedness they could see growing among their people. ⁸They regretted seeing congregation members devoted to getting rich and acting prideful — people who valued property over their fellow man, and gave more attention to what they owned than helping others in need. And as entertainment they randomly began to abuse those who didn’t share their views. ⁹So in this eighth year of the judges’ rule, significant tensions developed among the congregation members; there was jealousy, arguments, malicious and abusive conduct, and pride, even worse than the pride of those who didn’t belong to God’s congregation. ¹⁰So ended the eighth year of the judges’ rule. The congregation’s awful example was a big obstacle for those who didn’t belong to the congregation; so the congregation began to decline.

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¹¹ And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he also saw that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people; ¹² yea, he saw great unequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy, and the naked, and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted — ¹³ now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people — while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions for Christ’s sake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy, ¹⁴ looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins, being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will, and power, and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.

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¹¹At the start of the ninth year, Alma could see the congregation’s bad behavior. Their terrible example led unbelievers to go from one bad act to the next. That would ultimately result in destroying the people. ¹²He also saw great inequality among the people: some proudly exalting themselves, despising others, turning their backs on the needy, the naked, and the hungry, thirsty, sick, and distressed. ¹³This discouraged others. But he saw others were humbling themselves, assisting those needing help, sharing their possessions with the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all kinds of troubles and difficulties to obey Christ. They relied on the spirit of prophecy, trusted He would come, ¹⁴and looked forward to the time of His arrival. As a result, their sins remained forgiven. They rejoiced over the resurrection of the dead, accomplished through the will, power, and deliverance from the chains of death by Jesus Christ.

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¹⁵ And now it came to pass that Alma having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their unequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless, the spirit of the Lord did not fail him. ¹⁶ And he selected a wise man, who was among the elders of the church, and gave him power according to the voice of the people, that he might have power to enact laws, according to the laws which had been given, and to put them in force according to the wickedness and the crimes of the people. ¹⁷ Now this man’s name was Nephihah, and he was appointed chief judge; and he sat in the judgment seat to judge and to govern the people. ¹⁸ Now Alma did not grant unto him the office of being high priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself, but he delivered the judgment seat unto Nephihah. ¹⁹ And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness, and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them. ²⁰ And thus, in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the High Priesthood of the Holy Order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy.

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¹⁵Now Alma was very discouraged seeing the pains and troubles of God’s humble followers, the abuse piled on them by others, and the growing inequality. Despite his discouragement, the Spirit of the Lord inspired him. ¹⁶He appointed a wise man from the congregation’s elders and the people voted to authorize him to adopt new laws, consistent with their existing law, to limit sinful, criminal behavior. ¹⁷The man’s name was Nephihah, and he was elected chief judge; he accepted the judgment seat to judge and govern the people. ¹⁸Alma didn’t authorize him to be the high priest over the congregation — he kept that office himself. Only the judgment seat was handed over to Nephihah. ¹⁹He did this to free himself to go preach God’s word to the Nephites, and urge them to remember their duty. He wanted to use God’s word to confront all the pride, clever lies, and resulting conflicts among his people. He could see no way he could bring them back to the right way except by directly confronting them with pure testimony of the truth. ²⁰So at the start of the ninth year of the judges’ rule over the Nephites, Alma handed over the judgment seat to Nephihah and devoted himself completely to the High Priesthood of the Holy Order of God, to teaching God’s word according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy.