Alma 44:1

And it came to pass that they did stop and withdrew a pace from them.

And Moroni said unto Zerahemnah:

Behold, Zerahemnah, that we do not desire to be men of blood.

Ye know that ye are in our hands,

yet we do not desire to slay you.

Alma 44:2

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 yoke of bondage.

But this is the very cause for which ye have come against us;

yea, and ye are angry with us because of our religion.

Alma 44:3

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 because of our religion and our faith in Christ.

And now ye see that ye cannot destroy this our faith.

Alma 44:4

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 faithful 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.

Alma 44:5

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, by our faith,

by our religion, and by our rites of worship, and by our church,

and by the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children,

by that liberty 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 —

Alma 44:6

Yea, and this is not all;

I command you by all the desires which ye have for life,

that ye deliver up your weapons of war unto us,

and we will seek not your blood,

but we will spare your lives, if ye will go your way

and come not again to war against us.

Alma 44:7

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 inflict 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.