Moroni commands the Lamanites to make a covenant of peace or be destroyed—Zerahemnah rejects the offer, and the battle resumes—Moroni’s armies defeat the Lamanites. [About 74—73 B.C.]

 AND it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them. And Moroni said unto ^aZerahemnah^•: Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do ^bnot^• desire to be men of blood. Ye know that ye are in our hands, yet we do not desire to slay you.

 Behold, we have not come out to battle against you that we might shed your blood for power; neither do we desire to bring any one to the ^ayoke of bondage. But this is the ^bvery^• cause for which ye have come against us; yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.

 But now, ye behold that the Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us ^abecause^• of our religion and our faith in Christ. And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

 Now ye see that this is the true faith of God; yea, ye see that God will support, and keep, and preserve us, so long as we are ^afaithful^• unto him, and unto our faith, and our religion; and never will the Lord suffer that we shall be destroyed except we should fall into transgression and deny our faith.

 And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God, who has strengthened our arms that we have gained power over you, ^aby^• our faith, by our religion, and by our ^brites of worship, and by our church, and by the sacred support which we owe to our ^cwives^• and our children, by that ^dliberty which binds us to our lands and our country; yea, and also by the maintenance of the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness; and by all that is most dear unto us—

 Yea, and this is not all; I command you by all the desires which ye have for life, that ye ^adeliver^• up your weapons of war unto us, and we will seek not your blood, but we will ^bspare your lives, if ye will go your way and come not again to war against us.

 And now, if ye do not this, behold, ye are in our hands, and I will command my men that they shall fall upon you, and ^ainflict^• the wounds of death in your bodies, that ye may become extinct; and then we will see who shall have power over this people; yea, we will see who shall be brought into bondage.

 And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings he came forth and delivered up his ^asword^• and his cimeter, and his bow into the hands of Moroni, and said unto him: Behold, here are our weapons of war; we will deliver them up unto you, but we will not suffer ourselves to take an ^boath unto you, which we know that we shall break, and also our children; but take our weapons of war, and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness; otherwise we will retain our swords, and we will perish or conquer.

 Behold, we are ^anot of your faith; we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your ^bbreastplates^• and your shields that have preserved you.

 And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words, Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received, unto Zerahemnah, saying: Behold, we will end the conflict.

 Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken, therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart except ye depart with an oath that ye will not return again against us to war. Now as ye are in our hands we will spill your blood upon the ground, or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.

 And now when Moroni had said these words, Zerahemnah retained his sword, and he was angry with Moroni, and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni; but as he raised his sword, behold, one of Moroni’s soldiers smote it even to the earth, and it broke by the hilt; and he also smote Zerahemnah that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth. And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers.

 And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by, who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah, took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair, and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them, saying unto them with a loud voice:

 Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth, which is the scalp of your chief, so shall ye fall to the earth except ye will deliver up your weapons of war and depart with a covenant of peace.

 Now there were many, when they heard these words and saw the scalp which was upon the sword, that were struck with fear; and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni, and entered into a ^acovenant^• of peace. And as many as entered into a covenant they suffered to ^bdepart^• into the wilderness.

 Now it came to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth, and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger, to contend more powerfully against the Nephites.

 And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites; therefore he commanded his people that they should fall upon them and slay them. And it came to pass that they began to slay them; yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might.

 But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed to the sharp swords of the Nephites; yea, behold they were pierced and smitten, yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites; and they began to be swept down, even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied.

 Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed, cried mightily unto Moroni, promising that he would covenant and also his people with them, if they would spare the remainder of their lives, that they ^anever^• would come to war again against them.

 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that the work of death should ^acease^• again among the people. And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites; and after they had entered into a ^bcovenant^• with him of peace they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.

 Now the number of their dead was not numbered because of the greatness of the number; yea, the number of their dead was exceedingly great, both on the Nephites and on the Lamanites.

 And it came to pass that they did cast their dead into the waters of Sidon, and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the ^asea^•.

 And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned and came to their houses and their lands.

 And thus *ended the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the record of Alma, which was written upon the plates of Nephi.

* Verse 24  [73 B.C.].