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. And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name; 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. Now behold, this is the voice of the angel, crying unto the people. And now my beloved brethren, for ye are my brethren, and ye had ought to be beloved, and ye had 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.

4. 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; 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; 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.

5. 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.

CHAPTER VIII.

1. Now these are the words which Amulek preached unto the people who were in the land of Ammonihah, saying: I am Amulek; I am the son of Giddonah, who was the son of Ishmael, who was a descendant of Aminadi; and it was that same Aminadi who interpreted the writing which was upon the wall of the temple, which was written by the finger of God. And Aminadi was a descendant of Nephi, who was the son of Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, who was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph,

who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren. And behold, I am also a man of no small reputation among all those who know me; yea, and behold, I have many kindreds and friends, and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of my industry; nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvellous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvellous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people; nevertheless I did harden my heart, for I was called many times, and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the Judges. As I was journeying to see a very near kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said, Amulek, return to thine own house, for thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord; yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God; for he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people, and he is an hungered, and thou shalt receive him into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house; and the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house.

2. And it came to pass that I obeyed the voice of the angel, and returned towards my house. And as I was going thither, I found the man whom the angel said unto me, thou shalt receive into thy house; and behold it was this same man who has been speaking unto you concerning the things of God. And the angel said unto me, he is a holy man ; wherefore I know he is a holy man, because it was said by an angel of God. And again, I know that the things whereof he hath testified are true: for behold I say unto you, that as the Lord liveth, even so has he sent his angel to make these things manifest unto me; and this he has done while this Alma hath dwelt at my house for behold, he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolks; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake.

3. And now when Amulek had spoken these words, the people began to be astonished, seeing there was more than one witness who testified of the things whereof they were accused, and also of the things which were to come, according to the Spirit of prophecy which was in them; nevertheless,

there were some among them who thought to question them, that by their cunning devices they might catch them in their words, that they might find witness against them, that they might deliver them to their judges, that they might be judged according to the law, and that they might be slain or cast into prison, according to the crime which they could make appear, or witness against them. Now it was those men who sought to destroy them, who were lawyers, who were hired or appointed by the people to adminster the law at their times of trials, or at the trials of the crimes of the people before the judges. Now these lawyers were learned in all the arts and cunning of the people; and this was to enable them that they might be skilful in their profession. And it came to pass that they began to question Amulek, that thereby they might make him cross his words, or contradict the words which he should speak.

4. Now they knew not that Amulek could know of their designs. But it came to pass as they began to question him, he perceived their thoughts, and he said unto them, O ye wicked and perverse generation; ye lawyers and hypocrites; for ye are laying the foundations of the devil; for ye are laying traps and snares to catch the holy ones of God; ye are laying plans to pervert the ways of the righteous, and to bring down the wrath of God upon your heads, even to the utter destruction of this people; yea, well did Mosiah say, who was our last king, when he was about to deliver up the kingdom, having no one to confer it upon, causing that this people should be governed by their own voices; yea, well did he say, that if the time should come that the voice of this people should choose iniquity; that is, if the time should come that this people should fall into transgression, they would be ripe for destruction. And now I say unto you, that well doth the Lord judge of your iniquities; well doth he cry unto his people, by the voice of his angels, repent ye, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Yea, well doth he cry, by the voice of his angels, that I will come down among my people, with equity and justice in my hands. Yea, and I say unto you, that if it were not for the prayers of the righteous, who are now in the land, that ye would even now be visited with utter destruction; yet it would not be by flood, as were the people in the days of Noah, but it would be by famine, and by pestilence, and the sword. But it is by the prayers of the righteous that ye are spared; now therefore if ye will cast out the righteous from among you, then will not the Lord stay his hand, but in his fierce anger he will come out against you; then ye shall

be smitten by famine, and by pestilence, and by the sword; and the time is soon at hand, except ye repent.

5. And now it came to pass that the people were more angry with Amulek, and they cried out, saying: this man doth revile against our laws which are just, and our wise lawyers whom we have selected. But Amulek stretched forth his hand, and cried the mightier unto them, saying: O ye wicked and perverse generation; why hath satan got such great hold upon your hearts? Why will ye yield yourselves unto him that he may have power over you, to blind your eyes, that ye will not understand the words which are spoken, according to their truth? For behold, have I testified against your law? Ye do not understand; ye say that I have spoken against your law; but I have not, but I have spoken in favour of your law, to your condemnation. And now behold, I say unto you, that the foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges.

6. And now it came to pass, that when Amulek had spoken these words, the people cried out against him, saying, now we know that this man is a child of the devil, for he hath lied unto us; for he hath spoken against our law. And now he says that he has not spoken against it. And again: he has reviled against our lawyers, and our Judges, &c. And it came to pass that the lawyers put it into their hearts, that they should remember these things against him. And there was one among them whose name was Zeezrom. Now he was the foremost to accuse Amulek and Alma, he being one of the most expert among them, having much business to do among the people. Now the object of these lawyers was to get gain and they got gain according to their employ.

7. Now it was in the law of Mosiah that every man who was a Judge of the law, or those who were appointed to be Judges, should receive wages according to the time which they labored to judge those who were brought before them to be judged.

8. Now if a man owed another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the Judge; and the Judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be striped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber. And the Judge received for his wages according to his time: a senine of gold for a day,

or a senum of silver, which is equal to a senine of gold; and this is according to the law which was given. Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to their value. And the names are given by the Nephites: for they did not reckon after the manner of the Jews who were at Jerusalem; neither did they measure after the manner of the Jews, but they altered their reckoning and their measure, according to the minds and the circumstances of the people, in every generation, until the reign of the Judges; they having been established by king Mosiah. Now the reckoning is thus: a senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold, and a limnah of gold. A senum of silver, an amnor of silver, an ezrom of silver, and an onti of silver. A senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold: and either for a measure of barley, and also for a measure of every kind of grain. Now the amount of a seon of gold, was twice the value of a senine; and a shum of gold was twice the value of a seon; and a limnah of gold was the value of them all; and an amnor of silver was as great as two senums; and an ezrom of silver was as great as four senums; and an onti was as great as them all. Now this is the value of the lesser numbers of their reckoning: a shiblon is half of a senum: therefore, a shiblon for half a measure of barley; and a shiblum is a half of a shiblon and a leah is the half a shiblum. Now this is their number, according to their reckoning. Now an antion of gold is equal to three shublons.

9. Now, it was for the sole purpose to get gain, because they received their wages according to their employ; therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, that they might have more employ; that they might get money according to the suits which were brought before them: therefore they did stir up the people against Alma and Amulek. And this Zeezrom began to question Amulek, saying: will ye answer me a few questions which I shall ask you? Now Zeezrom was a man who was expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good; therefore, he said unto Amulek, will ye answer the questions which I shall put unto you? And Amulek said unto him, yea, if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. And Zeezrom said unto him, behold, here is six onties of silver, and all these will I give thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a supreme being. Now Amulek said, O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temp