Mosiah 2
1 And it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had
commanded him, and had made a proclamation throughout all the land, that
the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they
might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should
speak unto them.
2 And there were a great number, even so many that they did not number
them; for they had multiplied exceedingly and waxed great in the land.
3 And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer
sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses;
4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had
brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out
of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their
teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in
the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments
of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all
men.
5 And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched
their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his
wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters,
from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from
another.
6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his
tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain
in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto
them;
7 For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them
all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected,
that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto
them.
8 And it came to pass that he began to speak to his people from the tower;
and they could not all hear his words because of the greatness of the
multitude; therefore he caused that the words which he spake should be
written and sent forth among those that were not under the sound of his
voice, that they might also receive his words.
9 And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying:
My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can
hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not
commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall
speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may
hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the
mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.
10 I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or
that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.
11 But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body
and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my
father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and
a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless
power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord
hath granted unto me.
12 I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your
service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any
manner of riches of you;
13 Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that
ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder,
or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit
any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the
commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you —
14 And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve
you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should
nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne — and of all these
things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day.
15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither
do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these
things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this
day.
16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my
days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the
service of God.
17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may
learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the
service of your God.
18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do
labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?
19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in
your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks
from you, O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and
praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has
created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should
rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another —
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the
beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that
ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even
supporting you from one moment to another — I say, if ye should serve him
with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and
he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should
prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said;
therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper
you.
23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you
your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded
you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath
paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever
and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?
25 And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye
cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were
created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created
you.
26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves
are; for I am also of the dust. And ye behold that I am old, and am about to
yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.
27 Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with a clear
conscience before God, even so I at this time have caused that ye should
assemble yourselves together, that I might be found blameless, and that your
blood should not come upon me, when I shall stand to be judged of God of
the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you.
28 I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves
together that I might rid my garments of your blood, at this period of time
when I am about to go down to my grave, that I might go down in peace,
and my immortal spirit may join the choirs above in singing the praises of a
just God.
29 And moreover, I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble
yourselves together, that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be
your teacher, nor your king;
30 For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while
attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God doth support me, and hath
suffered me that I should speak unto you, and hath commanded me that I
should declare unto you this day, that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler
over you.
31 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have hitherto
done. As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of
my father, and have prospered, and have been kept from falling into the
hands of your enemies, even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my
son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him,
ye shall prosper in the land, and your enemies shall have no power over you.
32 But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you,
and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my father Mosiah.
33 For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to obey that
spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the
same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an
everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his
own knowledge.
34 I say unto you, that there are not any among you, except it be your little
children that have not been taught concerning these things, but what knoweth
that ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all
that you have and are; and also have been taught concerning the records
which contain the prophecies which have been spoken by the holy prophets,
even down to the time our father, Lehi, left Jerusalem;
35 And also, all that has been spoken by our fathers until now. $ And
behold, also, they spake that which was commanded them of the Lord;
therefore, they are just and true.
36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and
have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to
that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit
of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths
that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved —
37 I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open
rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and
becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in
him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples.
38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to
God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively
sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of
the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is
like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.
39 And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore
his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment.
40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can
understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might
understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful
situation of those that have fallen into transgression.
41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and
happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they
are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out
faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell
with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that
these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.