Alma 43:1

And now it came to pass that

the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them.

And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth.

Alma 43:2

Now we shall say no more concerning their preaching,

except that they preached the word, and the truth,

according to the spirit of prophecy and revelation;

and they preached after the holy order of God by which they were called.

Alma 43:3

And now I return to an account of the wars

between the Nephites and the Lamanites,

in the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges.

Alma 43:4

For behold, it came to pass that the Zoramites became Lamanites;

therefore, in the commencement of the eighteenth year

the people of the Nephites saw that the Lamanites were coming upon them;

therefore they made preparations for war;

yea, they gathered together their armies in the land of Jershon.

Alma 43:5

And it came to pass that the Lamanites came with their thousands;

and they came into the land of Antionum,

which is the land of the Zoramites;

and a man by the name of Zerahemnah was their leader.

Alma 43:6

And now, as the Amalekites were of a more wicked and murderous disposition

than the Lamanites were, in and of themselves,

therefore, Zerahemnah appointed chief captains over the Lamanites,

and they were all Amalekites and Zoramites.

Alma 43:7

Now this he did that he might preserve their hatred towards the Nephites,

that he might bring them into subjection to the accomplishment of his designs.

Alma 43:8

For behold, his designs were to stir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites;

this he did that he might usurp great power over them,

and also that he might gain power over the Nephites

by bringing them into bondage.

Alma 43:9

And now the design of the Nephites was to support their lands, and their houses,

and their wives, and their children,

that they might preserve them from the hands of their enemies;

and also that they might preserve their rights and their privileges,

yea, and also their liberty,

that they might worship God according to their desires.

Alma 43:10

For they knew that if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites,

that whosoever should worship God in spirit and in truth,

the true and the living God,

the Lamanites would destroy.

Alma 43:11

Yea, and they also knew the extreme hatred of the Lamanites

towards their brethren, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi,

who were called the people of Ammon —

and they would not take up arms,

yea, they had entered into a covenant and they would not break it —

therefore, if they should fall into the hands of the Lamanites

they would be destroyed.

Alma 43:12

And the Nephites would not suffer that they should be destroyed;

therefore they gave them lands for their inheritance.

Alma 43:13

And the people of Ammon did give unto the Nephites

a large portion of their substance to support their armies;

and thus the Nephites were compelled, alone, to withstand against the Lamanites,

who were a compound of Laman and Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael,

and all those who had dissented from the Nephites,

who were Amalekites and Zoramites, and the descendants of the priests of Noah.

Alma 43:14

Now those descendants were as numerous, nearly, as were the Nephites;

and thus the Nephites were obliged to contend with their brethren,

even unto bloodshed.

Alma 43:15

And it came to pass as the armies of the Lamanites

had gathered together in the land of Antionum,

behold, the armies of the Nephites were prepared

to meet them in the land of Jershon.