Unit 58

they

126 occurrences in 57 verses

Alma 23:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,

Alma 24:2, 5, 6, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30,

Alma 25:1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,

Alma 26:5, 6, 7, 9, 13, 15, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 34, 37

Alma 23:1

Behold, now it came to pass that

the king of the Lamanites sent a proclamation among all his people,

that they should not lay their hands on Ammon, or Aaron, or Omner, or Himni,

nor either of their brethren who should go forth preaching the word of God,

in whatsoever place they should be, in any part of their land.

Alma 23:2

Yea, he sent a decree among them,

that they should not lay their hands on them

to bind them, or to cast them into prison;

neither should they spit upon them, nor smite them,

nor cast them out of their synagogues, nor scourge them;

neither should they cast stones at them,

but that they should have free access to their houses,

and also their temples, and their sanctuaries.

Alma 23:3

And thus they might go forth and preach the word according to their desires,

for the king had been converted unto the Lord, and all his household;

therefore he sent his proclamation throughout the land unto his people,

that the word of God might have no obstruction,

but that it might go forth throughout all the land,

that his people might be convinced

concerning the wicked traditions of their fathers,

and that they might be convinced that they were all brethren,

and that they ought not to murder, nor to plunder, nor to steal,

nor to commit adultery, nor to commit any manner of wickedness.

Alma 23:4

And now it came to pass that when the king had sent forth this proclamation,

that Aaron and his brethren went forth from city to city,

and from one house of worship to another,

establishing churches, and consecrating priests and teachers

throughout the land among the Lamanites,

to preach and to teach the word of God among them;

and thus they began to have great success.

Alma 23:5

And thousands were brought to the knowledge of the Lord,

yea, thousands were brought to believe in the traditions of the Nephites;

and they were taught the records and prophecies

which were handed down even to the present time.

Alma 23:7

For they became a righteous people;

they did lay down the weapons of their rebellion,

that they did not fight against God any more,

neither against any of their brethren.

Alma 23:8

Now, these are they who were converted unto the Lord:

Alma 23:13

And these are the names of the cities of the Lamanites

which were converted unto the Lord;

and these are they that laid down the weapons of their rebellion,

yea, all their weapons of war;

and they were all Lamanites.

Alma 23:14

And the Amalekites were not converted, save only one;

neither were any of the Amulonites;

but they did harden their hearts,

and also the hearts of the Lamanites in that part of the land

wheresoever they dwelt,

yea, and all their villages and all their cities.

Alma 23:15

Therefore, we have named all the cities of the Lamanites

in which they did repent

and come to the knowledge of the truth,

and were converted.

Alma 23:16

And now it came to pass that

the king and those who were converted were desirous

that they might have a name,

that thereby they might be distinguished from their brethren;

therefore the king consulted with Aaron and many of their priests,

concerning the name that they should take upon them,

that they might be distinguished.

Alma 23:17

And it came to pass that they called their names Anti-Nephi-Lehies;

and they were called by this name and were no more called Lamanites.

Alma 23:18

And they began to be a very industrious people;

yea, and they were friendly with the Nephites;

therefore, they did open a correspondence with them,

and the curse of God did no more follow them.

Alma 24:2

And their hatred became exceedingly sore against them,

even insomuch that they began to rebel against their king,

insomuch that they would not that he should be their king;

therefore, they took up arms against the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

Alma 24:5

Now when Ammon and his brethren and all those who had come up with him

saw the preparations of the Lamanites to destroy their brethren,

they came forth to the land of Midian,

and there Ammon met all his brethren;

and from thence they came to the land of Ishmael

that they might hold a council with Lamoni

and also with his brother Anti-Nephi-Lehi,

what they should do to defend themselves against the Lamanites.

Alma 24:6

Now there was not one soul among all the people

who had been converted unto the Lord

that would take up arms against their brethren;

nay, they would not even make any preparations for war;

yea, and also their king commanded them that they should not.

Alma 24:13

Behold, I say unto you,

Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren;

for perhaps, if we should stain our swords again

they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God,

which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins.

Alma 24:15

Oh, how merciful is our God!

And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do

to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright,

let us hide them away that they may be kept bright,

as a testimony to our God at the last day,

or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged,

that we have not stained our swords in the blood of our brethren

since he imparted his word unto us and has made us clean thereby.

Alma 24:16

And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us,

behold, we will hide away our swords,

yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth,

that they may be kept bright,

as a testimony that we have never used them,

at the last day;

and if our brethren destroy us,

behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved.

Alma 24:17

And now it came to pass that

when the king had made an end of these sayings,

and all the people were assembled together,

they took their swords, and all the weapons

which were used for the shedding of man's blood,

and they did bury them up deep in the earth.

Alma 24:18

And this they did,

it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men,

that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man's blood;

and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that

rather than shed the blood of their brethren

they would give up their own lives;

and rather than take away from a brother

they would give unto him;

and rather than spend their days in idleness

they would labor abundantly with their hands.

Alma 24:19

And thus we see that,

when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth,

they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin;

and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace,

or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.

Alma 24:21

Now when the people saw that they were coming against them

they went out to meet them, and prostrated themselves before them to the earth,

and began to call on the name of the Lord;

and thus they were in this attitude

when the Lamanites began to fall upon them,

and began to slay them with the sword.

Alma 24:22

And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay a thousand and five of them;

and we know that they are blessed,

for they have gone to dwell with their God.

Alma 24:23

Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword,

neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left,

but that they would lie down and perish,

and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword —

Alma 24:24

Now when the Lamanites saw this

they did forbear from slaying them;

and there were many whose hearts had swollen in them

for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword,

for they repented of the things which they had done.

Alma 24:25

And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war,

and they would not take them again,

for they were stung for the murders which they had committed;

and they came down even as their brethren,

relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.

Alma 24:26

And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day

by more than the number who had been slain;

and those who had been slain were righteous people,

therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved.

Alma 24:29

Now, among those who joined the people of the Lord,

there were none who were Amalekites or Amulonites,

or who were of the order of Nehor,

but they were actual descendants of Laman and Lemuel.

Alma 24:30

And thus we can plainly discern, that

after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God,

and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness,

and then have fallen away into sin and transgression,

they become more hardened,

and thus their state becomes worse

than though they had never known these things.

Alma 25:1

And behold, now it came to pass that

those Lamanites were more angry because they had slain their brethren;

therefore they swore vengeance upon the Nephites;

and they did no more attempt to slay the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi at that time.

Alma 25:2

But they took their armies and went over into the borders of the land of Zarahemla,

and fell upon the people who were in the land of Ammonihah

and destroyed them.

Alma 25:3

And after that, they had many battles with the Nephites,

in the which they were driven and slain.

Alma 25:4

And among the Lamanites who were slain

were almost all the seed of Amulon and his brethren,

who were the priests of Noah,

and they were slain by the hands of the Nephites;

Alma 25:6

For many of them, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions,

began to be stirred up in remembrance of the words

which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land;

therefore they began to disbelieve the traditions of their fathers,

and to believe in the Lord,

and that he gave great power unto the Nephites;

and thus there were many of them converted in the wilderness.

Alma 25:7

And it came to pass that those rulers

who were the remnant of the children of Amulon

caused that they should be put to death,

yea, all those that believed in these things.

Alma 25:8

Now this martyrdom caused

that many of their brethren should be stirred up to anger;

and there began to be contention in the wilderness;

and the Lamanites began to hunt the seed of Amulon and his brethren

and began to slay them;

and they fled into the east wilderness.

Alma 25:9

And behold they are hunted at this day by the Lamanites.

Thus the words of Abinadi were brought to pass,

which he said concerning the seed of the priests

who caused that he should suffer death by fire.

Alma 25:12

And he said unto the priests of Noah

that their seed should cause many to be put to death, in the like manner as he was,

and that they should be scattered abroad and slain,

even as a sheep having no shepherd is driven and slain by wild beasts;

and now behold, these words were verified,

for they were driven by the Lamanites,

and they were hunted, and they were smitten.

Alma 25:13

And it came to pass that

when the Lamanites saw that they could not overpower the Nephites

they returned again to their own land;

and many of them came over to dwell in the land of Ishmael and the land of Nephi,

and did join themselves to the people of God,

who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi.

Alma 25:14

And they did also bury their weapons of war, according as their brethren had,

and they began to be a righteous people;

and they did walk in the ways of the Lord,

and did observe to keep his commandments and his statutes.

Alma 25:15

Yea, and they did keep the law of Moses;

for it was expedient that they should keep the law of Moses as yet,

for it was not all fulfilled.

But notwithstanding the law of Moses,

they did look forward to the coming of Christ,

considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming,

and believing that they must keep those outward performances

until the time that he should be revealed unto them.

Alma 25:16

Now they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses;

but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ;

and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation,

relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come.

Alma 25:17

And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren

did rejoice exceedingly, for the success which they had had among the Lamanites,

seeing that the Lord had granted unto them according to their prayers,

and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular.

Alma 26:5

Behold, the field was ripe,

and blessed are ye,

for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might,

yea, all the day long did ye labor;

and behold the number of your sheaves!

And they shall be gathered into the garners,

that they are not wasted.

Alma 26:6

Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day;

yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds;

but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place,

that the storm cannot penetrate to them;

yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds

whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

Alma 26:7

But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest,

and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day.

Alma 26:9

For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla,

these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us,

would still have been racked with hatred against us,

yea, and they would also have been strangers to God.

Alma 26:13

Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell;

and they are brought to sing redeeming love,

and this because of the power of his word which is in us,

therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

Alma 26:15

Yea, they were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction;

but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light,

yea, into everlasting salvation;

and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love;

yea, and we have been instruments in his hands

of doing this great and marvelous work.

Alma 26:23

Now do ye remember, my brethren,

that we said unto our brethren in the land of Zarahemla,

we go up to the land of Nephi, to preach unto our brethren, the Lamanites,

and they laughed us to scorn?

Alma 26:24

For they said unto us:

Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth?

Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites

of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers,

as stiffnecked a people as they are;

whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood;

whose days have been spent in the grossest iniquity;

whose ways have been the ways of a transgressor from the beginning?

Now my brethren, ye remember that this was their language.

Alma 26:25

And moreover they did say:

Let us take up arms against them,

that we destroy them and their iniquity out of the land,

lest they overrun us and destroy us.

Alma 26:31

Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors;

and are they few?

I say unto you,

Nay, they are many;

yea, and we can witness of their sincerity,

because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us.

Alma 26:32

For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives

than even to take the life of their enemy;

and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth,

because of their love towards their brethren.

Alma 26:34

For behold, they would take up arms against their brethren;

they would not suffer themselves to be slain.

But behold how many of these have laid down their lives;

and we know that they have gone to their God,

because of their love and of their hatred to sin.

Alma 26:37

Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people,

whatsoever land they may be in;

yea, he numbereth his people,

and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth.

Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving;

yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever.

Amen.