The Book Of Alma (Chap. 9)

Alma 9:1
And again, I, Alma, having been commanded of God that I should
take Amulek and go forth and preach again unto this people, or
the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, it came to pass as
I began to preach unto them, they began to contend with me,
saying:

Alma 9:2
Who art thou? Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony
of one man, although he should preach unto us that the earth
should pass away?

Alma 9:3
Now they understood not the words which they spake; for they
knew not that the earth should pass away.

Alma 9:4
And they said also: We will not believe thy words if thou
shouldst prophesy that this great city should be destroyed in one
day.

Alma 9:5
Now they knew not that God could do such marvelous works, for
they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people.

Alma 9:6
And they said: Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than
one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such
great and marvelous things?

Alma 9:7
And they stood forth to lay their hands on me; but behold,
they did not. And I stood with boldness to declare unto them,
yea, I did boldly testify unto them, saying:

Alma 9:8
Behold, O ye wicked and perverse generation, how have ye
forgotten the tradition of your fathers; yea, how soon ye have
forgotten the commandments of God.

Alma 9:9
Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of
Jerusalem by the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were
all led by him through the wilderness?

Alma 9:10
And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered our
fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them
from being destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?

Alma 9:11
Yea, and if it had not been for his matchless power, and his
mercy, and his long-suffering towards us, we should unavoidably
have been cut off from the face of the earth long before this
period of time, and perhaps been consigned to a state of endless
misery and woe.

Alma 9:12
Behold, now I say unto you that he commandeth you to repent;
and except ye repent, ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of
God. But behold, this is not all—he has commanded you to
repent, or he will utterly destroy you from off the face of the
earth; yea, he will visit you in his anger, and in his fierce
anger he will not turn away.

Alma 9:13
Behold, do ye not remember the words which he spake unto
Lehi, saying that: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye
shall prosper in the land? And again it is said that: Inasmuch
as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the
presence of the Lord.

Alma 9:14
Now I would that ye should remember, that inasmuch as the
Lamanites have not kept the commandments of God, they have been
cut off from the presence of the Lord. Now we see that the word
of the Lord has been verified in this thing, and the Lamanites
have been cut off from his presence, from the beginning of their
transgressions in the land.

Alma 9:15
Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable
for them in the day of judgment than for you, if ye remain in
your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them in this life
than for you, except ye repent.

Alma 9:16
For there are many promises which are extended to the
Lamanites; for it is because of the traditions of their fathers
that caused them to remain in their state of ignorance; therefore
the Lord will be merciful unto them and prolong their existence
in the land.

Alma 9:17
And at some period of time they will be brought to believe in
his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of
their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will
be merciful unto all who call on his name.

Alma 9:18
But behold, I say unto you that if ye persist in your
wickedness that your days shall not be prolonged in the land, for
the Lamanites shall be sent upon you; and if ye repent not they
shall come in a time when you know not, and ye shall be visited
with utter destruction; and it shall be according to the fierce
anger of the Lord.

Alma 9:19
For he will not suffer you that ye shall live in your
iniquities, to destroy his people. I say unto you, Nay; he would
rather suffer that the Lamanites might destroy all his people who
are called the people of Nephi, if it were possible that they
could fall into sins and transgressions, after having had so much
light and so much knowledge given unto them of the Lord their
God;

Alma 9:20
Yea, after having been such a highly favored people of the
Lord; yea, after having been favored above every other nation,
kindred, tongue, or people; after having had all things made
known unto them, according to their desires, and their faith, and
prayers, of that which has been, and which is, and which is to
come;

Alma 9:21
Having been visited by the Spirit of God; having conversed
with angels, and having been spoken unto by the voice of the
Lord; and having the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of
revelation, and also many gifts, the gift of speaking with
tongues, and the gift of preaching, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost, and the gift of translation;

Alma 9:22
Yea, and after having been delivered of God out of the land
of Jerusalem, by the hand of the Lord; having been saved from
famine, and from sickness, and all manner of diseases of every
kind; and they having waxed strong in battle, that they might not
be destroyed; having been brought out of bondage time after time,
and having been kept and preserved until now; and they have been
prospered until they are rich in all manner of things—

Alma 9:23
And now behold I say unto you, that if this people, who have
received so many blessings from the hand of the Lord, should
transgress contrary to the light and knowledge which they do
have, I say unto you that if this be the case, that if they
should fall into transgression, it would be far more tolerable
for the Lamanites than for them.

Alma 9:24
For behold, the promises of the Lord are extended to the
Lamanites, but they are not unto you if ye transgress; for has
not the Lord expressly promised and firmly decreed, that if ye
will rebel against him that ye shall utterly be destroyed from
off the face of the earth?

Alma 9:25
And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the
Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring
unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this
people, saying: Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at
hand;

Alma 9:26
And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his
glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of
the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience,
mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people
and to answer their prayers.

Alma 9:27
And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized
unto repentance, through faith on his name.

Alma 9:28
Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at
hand that all men shall reap a reward of their works, according
to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they
shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power
and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they
shall reap the damnation of their souls, according to the power
and captivation of the devil.

Alma 9:29
Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the
people.

Alma 9:30
And now, my beloved brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye
ought to be beloved, and ye ought to bring forth works which are
meet for repentance, seeing that your hearts have been grossly
hardened against the word of God, and seeing that ye are a lost
and a fallen people.

Alma 9:31
Now it came to pass that when I, Alma, had spoken these
words, behold, the people were wroth with me because I said unto
them that they were a hard-hearted and a stiffnecked people.

Alma 9:32
And also because I said unto them that they were a lost and a
fallen people they were angry with me, and sought to lay their
hands upon me, that they might cast me into prison.

Alma 9:33
But it came to pass that the Lord did not suffer them that
they should take me at that time and cast me into prison.

Alma 9:34
And it came to pass that Amulek went and stood forth, and
began to preach unto them also. And now the words of Amulek are
not all written, nevertheless a part of his words are written in
this book.