Mosiah 11:1

And now it came to pass that

Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons;

therefore Noah began to reign in his stead;

and he did not walk in the ways of his father.

Mosiah 11:2

For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God,

but he did walk after the desires of his own heart.

And he had many wives and concubines.

And he did cause his people to commit sin,

and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord.

Yea, and they did commit whoredoms and all manner of wickedness.

Mosiah 11:3

And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed,

a fifth part of their gold and of their silver,

and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron;

and a fifth part of their fatlings;

and also a fifth part of all their grain.

Mosiah 11:4

And all this did he take to support himself, and his wives and his concubines;

and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines;

thus he had changed the affairs of the kingdom.

Mosiah 11:5

For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father,

and consecrated new ones in their stead,

such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.

Mosiah 11:6

Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness,

and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms,

by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people;

thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.

Mosiah 11:7

Yea, and they also became idolatrous,

because they were deceived

by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests;

for they did speak flattering things unto them.

Mosiah 11:8

And it came to pass that

king Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings;

and he ornamented them with fine work of wood,

and of all manner of precious things,

of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff, and of copper;

Mosiah 11:9

And he also built him a spacious palace, and a throne in the midst thereof,

all of which was of fine wood

and was ornamented with gold and silver and with precious things.

Mosiah 11:10

And he also caused that his workmen should work

all manner of fine work within the walls of the temple,

of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass.

Mosiah 11:11

And the seats which were set apart for the high priests,

which were above all the other seats,

he did ornament with pure gold;

and he caused a breastwork to be built before them,

that they might rest their bodies and their arms upon

while they should speak lying and vain words to his people.

Mosiah 11:12

And it came to pass that he built a tower near the temple;

yea, a very high tower,

even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof

and overlook the land of Shilom,

and also the land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites;

and he could even look over all the land round about.

Mosiah 11:13

And it came to pass that he caused many buildings to be built in the land Shilom;

and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom,

which had been a resort for the children of Nephi

at the time they fled out of the land;

and thus he did do with the riches which he obtained by the taxation of his people.

Mosiah 11:14

And it came to pass that he placed his heart upon his riches,

and he spent his time in riotous living with his wives and his concubines;

and so did also his priests spend their time with harlots.

Mosiah 11:15

And it came to pass that he planted vineyards round about in the land;

and he built wine–presses, and made wine in abundance;

and therefore he became a wine–bibber, and also his people.