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CHAPTER 14The iniquity of the people brings a curse upon the land—Coriantumr engages in warfare against Gilead, then Lib, and then Shiz—Blood and carnage cover the land. |
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Great Curse Upon the Land |
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1 AND now there began to be a
great acurse upon all the land because of the iniquity of
the peoplea, in which, if a man should lay
his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep
it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse
upon the land.
2 Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was his own, with his hands, and would not borrow neither would he lend; and every man kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the adefence of his property and his own life and of his wives and children.
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1a there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people Wickedness brings upon men of this promised land a cursing even if they do ripen in their sins they shall be destroyed from off of the face of this land. But what is of importance to understand that the Lord does not just curse a people unto destruction but that it is men who do bring it because of their lack of righteousness. For in that day of his Second Coming, no unclean thing may stand in his presence. |
1a
Hel. 12:18;
Hel. 13:18 (17-23) Morm. 1:18 (17-19); Morm. 2:10 (10-14) 2a Morm. 2:23
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Wilderness of Akish |
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3 And now, after the space of two years, and after the death of
Shared, behold, there arose the brother of Shared and he gave
battle unto Coriantumr, in which Coriantumr did beat him and did
pursue him to the wilderness of Akish.
4 And it came to pass that the brother of Shared did give battle unto him in the wilderness of Akish; and the battle became exceedingly sore, and many thousands fell by the sword. 5 And it came to pass that Coriantumr did lay siege to the wilderness; and the brother of Shared did march forth out of the wilderness by night, and slew a part of the army of Coriantumr, as they were drunken.
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Land of Moron |
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6 And he came forth to the land of aMoron, and
placed himself upon the throne of Coriantumr.
7 And it came to pass that Coriantumr dwelt with his army in the wilderness for the space of two years, in which he did receive great strength to his army. 8 Now the brother of Shared, whose name was Gilead, also received great strength to his army, because of secret combinations.
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6a
Ether 7:5
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Lib of the Secret Combinations |
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9 And it came to pass that his high priest murdered him as he
sat upon his throne.
10 And it came to pass that one of the secret combinations murdered him in a secret pass, and obtained unto himself the kingdom; and his name was Lib; and Lib was a man of great stature, more than any other man among all the people.
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From Land of Moron to the Seashore |
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11 And it came to pass that in the first year of Lib, Coriantumr
came up unto the land of Moron, and gave battle unto Lib.
12 And it came to pass that he fought with Lib, in which Lib did smite upon his arm that he was wounded; nevertheless, the army of Coriantumr did press forward upon Lib, that he fled to the borders upon the seashore. 13 And it came to pass that Coriantumr pursued him; and Lib gave battle unto him upon the seashore.
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From Seashore to Wilderness of Akish to Plains of Agosh |
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14 And it came to pass that Lib did smite the army of
Coriantumr, that they fled again to the wilderness of Akish.
15 And it came to pass that Lib did pursue him until he came to the plains of Agosh. And Coriantumr had taken all the people with him as he fled before Lib in that quarter of the land whither he fled. 16 And when he had come to the plains of Agosh he gave battle unto Lib, and he smote upon him until he died; nevertheless, the brother of Lib did come against Coriantumr in the stead thereof, and the battle became exceedingly sore, in the which Coriantumr fled again before the army of the brother of Lib.
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Shiz Destorys Many Cities and Sweepeth the Land Before Him |
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17 Now the name of the brother of Lib was called Shiz. And it
came to pass that Shiz pursued after Coriantumr, and he did
overthrow many cities, and he did slay both women and children,
and he did burn the cities.
18 And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land—Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him!
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People Flee to Coriantumr or Shiz |
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19 And it came to pass that the people began to flock together
in armies, throughout all the face of the land.
20 And they were divided; and a part of them fled to the army of Shiz, and a part of them fled to the army of Coriantumr.
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Bodies Cover Whole Face of the Land |
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21 And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been
the scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was
covered with the abodies of the bdead.
22 And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of ablood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the bworms of the flesh. 23 And the ascent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all the face of the land; wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof.
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21a
Ether 11:6 b Ezek. 35:8 22a Hosea 4:2 (1-3) b Isa. 14:11 (9-11) 23a Alma 16:11 (9-11)
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Shiz Pursues Coriantumr to Eastern Seaboard |
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24 Nevertheless, Shiz did anot cease to pursue
Coriantumr; for he had sworn to avenge himself upon Coriantumr of the blood
of his brother, who had been slain, and the word of the Lord which came
to Ether that Coriantumr should not fall by the
sworda.
25 And thus we see that the Lord did visit them in the fulness of his awrath, and their wickedness and abominations had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction. 26 And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward, even to the borders by the seashore, and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space of three days.
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24a word of the Lord which came to Ether that Coriantumr should not fall by the sword Moroni's abridgement of Ether's record ends with both Corinatumr and Shiz falling to the earth. Coriantumr regains so strength and smites Shiz's head off and then Coriantumr falls to the earth as though he were dead. If that is where Ether's record ended, one must credit Ether with telling what he saw in his night vision without adding any presumptions. Yes the Lord had told him that Coriantumr would not die by the sword. But the last thing Ether sees is Coriantumr falling to the earth as though he were dead from his multiple wounds by the sword. Ether neither comments or questions or attempts to clarify the apparent discripancy between what he was and what he told. Truthful in both senses, he merely leaves it with the Lord. Often we receive what might seem to us to be conflicting signals of what we may seem to see and what the Lord has told us. Have we the faith to leave it as is and just place our trust in the Lord? |
24a
Ether 13:21 25a TG God, Indignation of
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Land and Valley of Corihor, Valley of Shurr and Hill Comnor |
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27 And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiz
that the people began to be frightened, and began to flee before
the armies of Coriantumr; and they fled to the land of Corihor,
and swept off the inhabitants before them, all them that would
not join them.
28 And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor; and Coriantumr pitched his tents in the valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comnor; wherefore, Coriantumr did gather his armies together upon the hill Comnor, and did sound a trumpet unto the armies of Shiz to invite them forth to battle. 29 And it came to pass that they came forth, but were driven again; and they came the second time, and they were driven again the second time. And it came to pass that they came again the third time, and the battle became exceedingly sore.
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30 And it came to pass that Shiz smote upon Coriantumr that he
gave him many deep wounds; and Coriantumr, having lost his blood,
fainted, and was carried away as though he were dead.
31 Now the loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great that Shiz commanded his people that they should not pursue the armies of Coriantumr; wherefore, they returned to their camp.
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