Ether 14
1 And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the
iniquity of the people, in which, if a man should lay his tool or his sword
upon his shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, behold, upon the
morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land.
2 Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was his own, with his
hands, and would not borrow neither would he lend; and every man kept the
hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the defence of his property and his own
life and of his wives and children.
3 And now, after the space of two years, and after the death of Shared,
behold, there arose the brother of Shared and he gave battle unto
Coriantumr, in which Coriantumr did beat him and did pursue him to the
wilderness of Akish.
4 And it came to pass that the brother of Shared did give battle unto him in
the wilderness of Akish; and the battle became exceedingly sore, and many
thousands fell by the sword.
5 And it came to pass that Coriantumr did lay siege to the wilderness; and
the brother of Shared did march forth out of the wilderness by night, and
slew a part of the army of Coriantumr, as they were drunken.
6 And he came forth to the land of Moron, and placed himself upon the
throne of Coriantumr.
7 And it came to pass that Coriantumr dwelt with his army in the wilderness
for the space of two years, in which he did receive great strength to his army.
8 Now the brother of Shared, whose name was Gilead, also received great
strength to his army, because of secret combinations.
9 And it came to pass that his high priest murdered him as he sat upon his
throne.
10 And it came to pass that one of the secret combinations murdered him in
a secret pass, and obtained unto himself the kingdom; and his name was Lib;
and Lib was a man of great stature, more than any other man among all the
people.
11 And it came to pass that in the first year of Lib, Coriantumr came up unto
the land of Moron, and gave battle unto Lib.
12 And it came to pass that he fought with Lib, in which Lib did smite upon
his arm that he was wounded; nevertheless, the army of Coriantumr did press
forward upon Lib, that he fled to the borders upon the seashore.
13 And it came to pass that Coriantumr pursued him; and Lib gave battle
unto him upon the seashore.
14 And it came to pass that Lib did smite the army of Coriantumr, that they
fled again to the wilderness of Akish.
15 And it came to pass that Lib did pursue him until he came to the plains of
Agosh. And Coriantumr had taken all the people with him as he fled before
Lib in that quarter of the land whither he fled.
16 And when he had come to the plains of Agosh he gave battle unto Lib,
and he smote upon him until he died; nevertheless, the brother of Lib did
come against Coriantumr in the stead thereof, and the battle became
exceedingly sore, in the which Coriantumr fled again before the army of the
brother of Lib.
17 Now the name of the brother of Lib was called Shiz. And it came to pass
that Shiz pursued after Coriantumr, and he did overthrow many cities, and he
did slay both women and children, and he did burn the cities.
18 And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went
forth throughout the land — Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold,
he sweepeth the earth before him!
19 And it came to pass that the people began to flock together in armies,
throughout all the face of the land.
20 And they were divided; and a part of them fled to the army of Shiz, and a
part of them fled to the army of Coriantumr.
21 And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the
scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was covered
with the bodies of the dead.
22 And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the
dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of
blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon
the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh.
23 And the scent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all
the face of the land; wherefore the people became troubled by day and by
night, because of the scent thereof.
24 Nevertheless, Shiz did not cease to pursue Coriantumr; for he had sworn
to avenge himself upon Coriantumr of the blood of his brother, who had been
slain, and the word of the Lord which came to Ether that Coriantumr should
not fall by the sword.
25 And thus we see that the Lord did visit them in the fulness of his wrath,
and their wickedness and abominations had prepared a way for their
everlasting destruction.
26 And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward, even to
the borders by the seashore, and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space
of three days.
27 And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiz that the
people began to be frightened, and began to flee before the armies of
Coriantumr; and they fled to the land of Corihor, and swept off the
inhabitants before them, all them that would not join them.
28 And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor; and Coriantumr
pitched his tents in the valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the
hill Comnor; wherefore, Coriantumr did gather his armies together upon the
hill Comnor, and did sound a trumpet unto the armies of Shiz to invite them
forth to battle.
29 And it came to pass that they came forth, but were driven again; and they
came the second time, and they were driven again the second time. And it
came to pass that they came again the third time, and the battle became
exceedingly sore.
30 And it came to pass that Shiz smote upon Coriantumr that he gave him
many deep wounds; and Coriantumr, having lost his blood, fainted, and was
carried away as though he were dead.
31 Now the loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great
that Shiz commanded his people that they should not pursue the armies of
Coriantumr; wherefore, they returned to their camp.
