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 64

Segment 6 of 6 [#412]

The Offer Rejected and Then Accepted

Alma 44:8 - Alma 44:24

Duration: 4:13

contextual study / concordance



Alma 44:8

And now it came to pass that when Zerahemnah had heard these sayings

he came forth and delivered up his sword and his cimeter, and his bow

into the hands of Moroni,

and said unto him:

Behold, here are our weapons of war;

we will deliver them up unto you,

but we will not suffer ourselves to take an oath unto you,

which we know that we shall break, and also our children;

but take our weapons of war,

and suffer that we may depart into the wilderness;

otherwise we will retain our swords,

and we will perish or conquer.


Alma 44:9

Behold, we are not of your faith;

we do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands;

but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords.

Behold, it is your breastplates and your shields that have preserved you.


Alma 44:10

And now when Zerahemnah had made an end of speaking these words,

Moroni returned the sword and the weapons of war, which he had received,

unto Zerahemnah, saying:

Behold, we will end the conflict.


Alma 44:11

Now I cannot recall the words which I have spoken,

therefore as the Lord liveth, ye shall not depart

except ye depart with an oath

that ye will not return again against us to war.

Now as ye are in our hands

we will spill your blood upon the ground,

or ye shall submit to the conditions which I have proposed.


Alma 44:12

And now when Moroni had said these words,

Zerahemnah retained his sword,

and he was angry with Moroni,

and he rushed forward that he might slay Moroni;

but as he raised his sword,

behold, one of Moroni's soldiers smote it even to the earth,

and it broke by the hilt;

and he also smote Zerahemnah

that he took off his scalp and it fell to the earth.

And Zerahemnah withdrew from before them into the midst of his soldiers.


Alma 44:13

And it came to pass that the soldier who stood by,

who smote off the scalp of Zerahemnah,

took up the scalp from off the ground by the hair,

and laid it upon the point of his sword, and stretched it forth unto them,

saying unto them with a loud voice:


Alma 44:14

Even as this scalp has fallen to the earth,

which is the scalp of your chief,

so shall ye fall to the earth

except ye will deliver up your weapons of war

and depart with a covenant of peace.


Alma 44:15

Now there were many, when they heard these words

and saw the scalp which was upon the sword,

that were struck with fear;

and many came forth and threw down their weapons of war at the feet of Moroni,

and entered into a covenant of peace.

And as many as entered into a covenant

they suffered to depart into the wilderness.


Alma 44:16

Now it came to pass that Zerahemnah was exceedingly wroth,

and he did stir up the remainder of his soldiers to anger,

to contend more powerfully against the Nephites.


Alma 44:17

And now Moroni was angry, because of the stubbornness of the Lamanites;

therefore he commanded his people

that they should fall upon them and slay them.

And it came to pass that they began to slay them;

yea, and the Lamanites did contend with their swords and their might.


Alma 44:18

But behold, their naked skins and their bare heads were exposed

to the sharp swords of the Nephites;

yea, behold they were pierced and smitten,

yea, and did fall exceedingly fast before the swords of the Nephites;

and they began to be swept down,

even as the soldier of Moroni had prophesied.


Alma 44:19

Now Zerahemnah, when he saw that they were all about to be destroyed,

cried mightily unto Moroni,

promising that he would covenant and also his people with them,

if they would spare the remainder of their lives,

that they never would come to war again against them.


Alma 44:20

And it came to pass that Moroni caused

that the work of death should cease again among the people.

And he took the weapons of war from the Lamanites;

and after they had entered into a covenant with him of peace

they were suffered to depart into the wilderness.


Alma 44:21

Now the number of their dead was not numbered

because of the greatness of the number;

yea, the number of their dead was exceedingly great,

both on the Nephites and on the Lamanites.


Alma 44:22

And it came to pass that they did cast their dead into the waters of Sidon,

and they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the sea.


Alma 44:23

And the armies of the Nephites, or of Moroni, returned

and came to their houses and their lands.


Alma 44:24

And thus ended the eighteenth year

of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi.

And thus ended the record of Alma,

which was written upon the plates of Nephi.



The End of Unit 64 - Segment 6