The Book Of Alma (Chap. 44)

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.

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
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.