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THE SON OF ALMA The words of Alma, and also the words of Amulek, which were declared unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah. And also they are cast into prison, and delivered by the miraculous power of God which was in them, according to the record of Alma. [Comprising chapters 9 to 14 inclusive.] |
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CHAPTER 9Alma commands the people of Ammonihah to repent—The Lord will be merciful to the Lamanites in the last days—If the Nephites forsake the light, they shall be destroyed by the Lamanites—The Son of God soon cometh—He shall redeem those who rpent and are baptized and have faith in his name. [About 82 B.C.] |
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1 AND again, I, Alma, having been commanded
of God that I should take Amulek and go forth and preach again unto this
people, or the people who were in the city of aAmmonihah,
it came to pass as I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with
me, saying:
2 Who art thou? Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of aone man, although he should preach unto us that the earth should pass away? 3 Now they understood not the words which they spake; for they knew not that the earth should pass awaya.
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3a the earth should pass away Now the earth has a spirit about it. And as it stands it is in a telestial or fallen state and in a temporay of mortal state. Thus just as a man or any beast of the field must die and pass away from this mortality into immortality, to be raised unto a kingdom of glory, then also is it that the earth must pass from this state to its state of renewal and glorification. Yea, the earth must pass in order to obtain its paradisical glory. And thus the earth will surely pass away just as sure as a man dieth in order that he may be raised again in the ressurrection. |
1 2a Deut. 17:6
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4 And they said also: We will not believe thy words if thou shouldst
prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in aone
day.
5 Now they knew not that God could do such marvelous aworks, for they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people. 6 And they said: aWho is God, that sendeth bno more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?
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4a
Alma 16:10 (9-10) 5a TG God, Works of 6a Ex. 5:2; Mosiah 11:27; Moses 5:16 b Alma 10:12
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7 And they stood forth to lay their hands on me; but behold,
they did not. And I stood with boldness to declare unto them,
yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:
8 Behold, O ye wicked and perverse ageneration, how have ye forgotten the btradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have forgotten the commandments of God.
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8a
Matt. 3:7;
Alma 10:17-25 b TG Birthright
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9 Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of
Jerusalem by the ahand of God? Do ye not remember that
they were all led by him through the wilderness?
10 And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he adelivered our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren? 11 Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his mercy, and his along-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of bendless misery and woe.
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9a
1 Ne. 2:2 (1-7) 10a TG Deliver, Deliverance 11a TG Long-suffering b Mosiah 16:11
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12 Behold, now I say unto you that he commandeth you to repent; and
except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. But behold,
this is not all—he has commanded you to repent, or he will utterly
adestroy you from off the face of the earth; yea, he will
visit you in his banger, and in his
cfierce anger he will not turn away.
13 Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto Lehi, saying that: aInasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.
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12a
Alma 8:16;
Alma 10:27 (19, 23, 27) b Jer. 18:10 (6-10) c Alma 8:29 13a 2 Ne. 1:20; Mosiah 1:7; Alma 37:13
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14 Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the
Lamanites have not kept the commandments of God, they have been
acut off from the presence of the Lord. Now we see that
the word of the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites have
been cut off from his presence, from the beginning of their transgressions in
the land.
15 Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more atolerable for them in the day of judgment than for you, if ye remain in your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them in this life than for you, except ye repent.
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14a
2 Ne. 5:20-24;
Alma 38:1 15a Matt. 11:22, 24
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16 For there are many promises which are aextended
to the Lamanites; for it is because of the btraditions of
their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of
cignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them
and dprolong their existence in the land.
17 And at some period of time they will be abrought to believe in his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will be merciful unto all who bcall on his name.
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16a
Alma 17:15 b Alma 3:8; Alma 17:15 c 2 Ne. 9:26 (25-26); Mosiah 3:11; Alma 42:21 d Deut. 11:9 (8-9); Deut. 32:47; Hel. 15:11 (10-11); D&C 5:33 17a Enos 1:13 b Ps. 81:7; Alma 38:5; D&C 3:8
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18 But behold, I say unto you that if ye persist in your wickedness
that your days shall not be aprolonged in the land, for the
bLamanites shall be sent upon you; and if ye repent not
they shall come in a time when you know not, and ye shall be visited with
cutter destruction; and it shall be according to the fierce
danger of the Lord.
19 For he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your iniquities, to adestroy his people. I say unto you, Nay; he would rather suffer that the Lamanites might destroy all his people who are called the people of Nephi, if it were possible that they could bfall into sins and transgressions, after having had so much light and so much knowledge given unto them of the Lord their God;
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18a
Deut. 6:2 b Alma 16:3 c Alma 16:9 d Alma 8:29 19a 1_Ne. 12:19 (15, 19-20); Alma 45:11 (10-14) b Alma 24:30
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20 Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the Lord;
yea, after having been favored above every other anation,
kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things
bmade known unto them, according to their desires, and
their faith, and prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is
to come;
21 Having been avisited by the Spirit of God; having conversed with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of btranslation; 22 Yea, and after having been adelivered of God out of the land of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been bsaved from famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not be destroyed; having been brought out of cbondage time after time, and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been prospered until they are rich in all manner of things—
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20a
2 Sam. 7:23;
Abr. 2:9 b TG Prophets, Mission of 21a Ex. 3:16; 2 Ne. 4:26; Morm. 1:15 b Omni 1:20; Mosiah 8:13-19; Mosiah 28:17 (11-17) 22a 2 Ne. 1:4 b TG Protection, Divine c Mosiah 27:16
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23 And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have
received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should transgress
acontrary to the light and knowledge which they do have, I
say unto you that if this be the case, that if they should fall into
transgression, it would be far more btolerable for the
Lamanites than for them.
24 For behold, the apromises of the Lord are extended to the Lamanites, but they are not unto you if ye transgress; for has not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed, that if ye will rebel against him that ye shall butterly be destroyed from off the face of the eartha? 25 And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: aRepent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand; 26 And anot many days hence the Son of God shall come in his bglory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of cgrace, equity, and truth, full of patience, dmercy, and long-suffering, quick to ehear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.
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24a if ye will rebel against him that ye shall untterly be destroyed from off the face of the earth Now all those who do rebel against Christ who is the same as Jehovah and the God of this Second Estate, the surely they shall be destoryed from off of the face of the earth and they shall come to exist in some other kingdom of a lesser glory. For this earth is the Lord's and it will be renewed to a celestial glory, and the wicked and they who do rebel against the Lord of this earth will be destoryed from off of the face of this earth forever, never to come upon it again. |
23a
TG
Disobedience b Matt. 11:22-24 24a 2 Ne. 30:6 (4-7); D&C 3:20 b Alma 16:9 (2-9); Morm. 6:15-22 25a Matt. 3:2-3; Alma 7:9; Hel. 5:32 26a Alma 7:7 b TG Jesus Christ, Glory of c TG Grace d TG God, Mercy of e Deut. 26:7; Isa. 65:24
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27 And behold, he cometh to aredeem those who will
be bbaptized unto repentance, through faith on his name.
28 Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a areward of their bworks, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall creap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the ddamnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil. 29 Now behold, this is the voice of the angela, crying unto the people.
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29a this is the voice of the angel Here Alma delivers the message of the angel (Alma 8:14-18 & Alma 9:19-30). At another place he will wish that he were an angel (Alma 29:1) and able to declare the word of God to all men. But it is but by the power of the Holy Ghost that is the voice of an angel, and men speak as by the tongue or voice of angels by the power of the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi 31:13-14). That is angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi 32:3) and so do men, and when they do they do speak as by the voice of an angel (D&C 42:6). And it is by the mouth of angels that the Lord declares repentance unto all nations (Alma 13:29) and angels are sent to teach men of Christ's coming (Moroni 7:22-25). |
27a
TG
Redemption b TG Baptism, Essential 28a TG Reward b Job 34:11; D&C 1:10; D&C 6:33 c Ps. 7:16 d TG Damnation
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30 And now, my abeloved brethren, for ye are my
brethren, and ye ought to be beloved, and ye ought to bring forth works which
are meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have been grossly hardened
against the word of God, and seeing that ye are a blost and
a fallen people.
31 Now it came to pass that when I, Alma, had spoken these words, behold, the people were wroth with me because I said unto them that they were a hard-hearted and a astiffnecked people. 32 And also because I said unto them that they were a lost and a fallen people they were angry with me, and sought to lay their hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison.
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30a
1 John 4:11 b Alma 12:22 31a 2 Ne. 25:28; Mosiah 3:14
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33 But it came to pass that the Lord did not suffer them that they
should take me aat that time and cast me into prison.
34 And it came to pass that Amulek went and stood forth, and began to preach unto them also. And now the awords of Amulek are not all written, nevertheless a part of his words are written in this book.
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33a
Alma 14:17-18 34a Alma 10:1-11
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