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 81

Segment 5 of 9 [#531]

The Nephites Win a War of Attrition

3 Nephi 4:15 - 3 Nephi 4:30

Duration: 3:14

contextual study / concordance



3 Nephi 4:15

And it came to pass that

the armies of the Nephites did return again to their place of security.

And it came to pass that this nineteenth year did pass away,

and the robbers did not come again to battle;

neither did they come again in the twentieth year.


3 Nephi 4:16

And in the twenty and first year they did not come up to battle,

but they came up on all sides to lay siege round about the people of Nephi;

for they did suppose that

if they should cut off the people of Nephi from their lands,

and should hem them in on every side,

and if they should cut them off from all their outward privileges,

that they could cause them to yield themselves up according to their wishes.


3 Nephi 4:17

Now they had appointed unto themselves another leader,

whose name was Zemnarihah;

therefore it was Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place.


3 Nephi 4:18

But behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites;

for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long

to have any effect upon the Nephites,

because of their much provision which they had laid up in store,


3 Nephi 4:19

And because of the scantiness of provisions among the robbers;

for behold, they had nothing save it were meat for their subsistence,

which meat they did obtain in the wilderness;


3 Nephi 4:20

And it came to pass that the wild game became scarce in the wilderness

insomuch that the robbers were about to perish with hunger.


3 Nephi 4:21

And the Nephites were continually marching out by day and by night,

and falling upon their armies,

and cutting them off by thousands and by tens of thousands.


3 Nephi 4:22

And thus it became the desire of the people of Zemnarihah

to withdraw from their design,

because of the great destruction which came upon them by night and by day.


3 Nephi 4:23

And it came to pass that Zemnarihah did give command unto his people

that they should withdraw themselves from the siege,

and march into the furthermost parts of the land northward.


3 Nephi 4:24

And now, Gidgiddoni being aware of their design,

and knowing of their weakness because of the want of food,

and the great slaughter which had been made among them,

therefore he did send out his armies in the night-time,

and did cut off the way of their retreat,

and did place his armies in the way of their retreat.


3 Nephi 4:25

And this did they do in the night-time,

and got on their march beyond the robbers,

so that on the morrow, when the robbers began their march,

they were met by the armies of the Nephites

both in their front and in their rear.


3 Nephi 4:26

And the robbers who were on the south

were also cut off in their places of retreat.

And all these things were done by command of Gidgiddoni.


3 Nephi 4:27

And there were many thousands

who did yield themselves up prisoners unto the Nephites,

and the remainder of them were slain.


3 Nephi 4:28

And their leader, Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree,

yea, even upon the top thereof until he was dead.

And when they had hanged him until he was dead

they did fell the tree to the earth,

and did cry with a loud voice, saying:


3 Nephi 4:29

May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart,

that they may cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to slay them

because of power and secret combinations,

even as this man hath been felled to the earth.


3 Nephi 4:30

And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying:

May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,

protect this people in righteousness,

so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection.



The End of Unit 81 - Segment 5