All segment titles and their associated verse designations are derived from the section headings that appear in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Maxwell Institute Study Edition - edited by Grant Hardy and published by the BYU Maxwell Institute. Verses are organized into sense lines that are parallel to the verse texts in The Book of Mormon: the Earliest Text - as edited by Royal Skousen and published by Yale. Audio clips are derived from Book of Mormon chapter mp3 audio recordings provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the official Church website.
Unit 60
Segment 8 of 20 [#378]
The Zoramite Manner of Worship
Alma 31:12 - Alma 31:23
Duration: 2:36
Alma 31:12
Now, when they had come into the land,
behold, to their astonishment they found that the Zoramites had built synagogues,
and that they did gather themselves together on one day of the week,
which day they did call the day of the Lord;
and they did worship after a manner
which Alma and his brethren had never beheld;
Alma 31:13
For they had a place built up in the center of their synagogue,
a place for standing, which was high above the head;
and the top thereof would only admit one person.
Alma 31:14
Therefore, whosoever desired to worship
must go forth and stand upon the top thereof,
and stretch forth his hands towards heaven,
and cry with a loud voice, saying:
Alma 31:15
Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God,
and we believe that thou art holy,
and that thou wast a spirit,
and that thou art a spirit,
and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.
Alma 31:16
Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren;
and we do not believe in the tradition of our brethren,
which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers;
but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children;
and also thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ.
Alma 31:17
But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever;
and thou hast elected us that we shall be saved,
whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell;
for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee;
and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us,
that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren,
which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ,
which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.
Alma 31:18
And again we thank thee, O God,
that we are a chosen and a holy people.
Amen.
Alma 31:19
Now it came to pass that
after Alma and his brethren and his sons had heard these prayers,
they were astonished beyond all measure.
Alma 31:20
For behold, every man did go forth and offer up these same prayers.
Alma 31:21
Now the place was called by them Rameumptom,
which, being interpreted, is the holy stand.
Alma 31:22
Now, from this stand they did offer up, every man, the selfsame prayer unto God,
thanking their God that they were chosen of him,
and that he did not lead them away after the tradition of their brethren,
and that their hearts were not stolen away
to believe in things to come, which they knew nothing about.
Alma 31:23
Now, after the people had all offered up thanks after this manner,
they returned to their homes, never speaking of their God again
until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy stand,
to offer up thanks after their manner.
The End of Unit 60 - Segment 8