4:1 And it came to pass that in the latter end of
the eighteenth year those armies of robbers had prepared
for battle, and began to come down and to sally forth
from the hills, and out of the mountains, and the
wilderness, and their strongholds, and their secret
places, and began to take possession of the lands, both
which were in the land south and which were in the land
north, and began to take possession of all the lands
which had been deserted by the Nephites, and the cities
which had been left desolate. |
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4:2 But behold, there were no wild beasts nor game
in those lands which had been deserted by the Nephites,
and there was no game for the robbers save it were in the
wilderness. |
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4:3 And the robbers could not exist save it were in
the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites
had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their
flocks and their herds and all their substance, and they
were in one body. |
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4:4 Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers
to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in
open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being
in one body, and having so great a number, and having
reserved for themselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of
every kind, that they might subsist for the space of
seven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy
the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the
eighteenth year did pass away. |
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4:5 And it came to pass that in the nineteenth year
Giddianhi found that it was expedient that he should go
up to battle against the Nephites, for there was no way
that they could subsist save it were to plunder and rob
and murder. |
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4:6 And they durst not spread themselves upon the
face of the land insomuch that they could raise grain,
lest the Nephites should come upon them and slay them;
therefore Giddianhi gave commandment unto his armies that
in this year they should go up to battle against the
Nephites. |
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4:7 And it came to pass that they did come up to
battle; and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great
and terrible was the day that they did come up to battle;
and they were girded about after the manner of robbers;
and they had a lamb-skin about their loins, and they were
dyed in blood, and their heads were shorn, and they had
headplates upon them; and great and terrible was the
appearance of the armies of Giddianhi, because of their
armor, and because of their being dyed in blood. |
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4:8 And it came to pass that the armies of the
Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of
Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift
their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare
them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. |
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4:9 And it came to pass that when the armies of
Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice,
because of their joy, for they had supposed that the
Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of
their armies. |
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4:10 But in this thing they were disappointed, for
the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their
God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore,
when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were
prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord
they did receive them. |
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4:11 And the battle commenced in this the sixth
month; and great and terrible was the battle thereof,
yea, great and terrible was the slaughter thereof,
insomuch that there never was known so great a slaughter
among all the people of Lehi since he left Jerusalem. |
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4:12 And notwithstanding the threatenings and the
oaths which Giddianhi had made, behold, the Nephites did
beat them, insomuch that they did fall back from before
them. |
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4:13 And it came to pass that Gidgiddoni commanded
that his armies should pursue them as far as the borders
of the wilderness, and that they should not spare any
that should fall into their hands by the way; and thus
they did pursue them and did slay them, to the borders of
the wilderness, even until they had fulfilled the
commandment of Gidgiddoni. |
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4:14 And it came to pass that Giddianhi, who had
stood and fought with boldness, was pursued as he fled;
and being weary because of his much fighting he was
overtaken and slain. And thus was the end of Giddianhi
the robber. |
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4:15 And it came to pass that the armies of the
Nephites did return again to their place of security. And
it came to pass that this nineteenth year did pass away,
and the robbers did not come again to battle; neither did
they come again in the twentieth year. |
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4:16 And in the twenty and first year they did not
come up to battle, but they came up on all sides to lay
siege round about the people of Nephi; for they did
suppose that if they should cut off the people of Nephi
from their lands, and should hem them in on every side,
and if they should cut them off from all their outward
privileges, that they could cause them to yield
themselves up according to their wishes. |
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4:17 Now they had appointed unto themselves another
leader, whose name was Zemnarihah; therefore it was
Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take
place. |
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4:18 But behold, this was an advantage to the
Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay
siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the
Nephites, because of their much provision which they had
laid up in store, |
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4:19 And because of the scantiness of provisions
among the robbers; for behold, they had nothing save it
were meat for their subsistence, which meat they did
obtain in the wilderness; |
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4:20 And it came to pass that the wild game became
scarce in the wilderness insomuch that the robbers were
about to perish with hunger. |
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4:21 And the Nephites were continually marching out
by day and by night, and falling upon their armies, and
cutting them off by thousands and by tens of thousands. |
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4:22 And thus it became the desire of the people of
Zemnarihah to withdraw from their design, because of the
great destruction which came upon them by night and by
day. |
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4:23 And it came to pass that Zemnarihah did give
command unto his people that they should withdraw
themselves from the siege, and march into the furthermost
parts of the land northward. |
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4:24 And now, Gidgiddoni being aware of their
design, and knowing of their weakness because of the want
of food, and the great slaughter which had been made
among them, therefore he did send out his armies in the
night-time, and did cut off the way of their retreat, and
did place his armies in the way of their retreat. |
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4:25 And this did they do in the night-time, and got
on their march beyond the robbers, so that on the morrow,
when the robbers began their march, they were met by the
armies of the Nephites both in their front and in their
rear. |
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4:26 And the robbers who were on the south were also
cut off in their places of retreat. And all these things
were done by command of Gidgiddoni. |
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4:27 And there were many thousands who did yield
themselves up prisoners unto the Nephites, and the
remainder of them were slain. |
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4:28 And their leader, Zemnarihah, was taken and
hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof until
he was dead. And when they had hanged him until he was
dead they did fell the tree to the earth, and did cry
with a loud voice, saying: |
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4:29 May the Lord preserve his people in
righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may
cause to be felled to the earth all who shall seek to
slay them because of power and secret combinations, even
as this man hath been felled to the earth. |
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4:30 And they did rejoice and cry again with one
voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in
righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of
their God for protection. |
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4:31 And it came to pass that they did break forth,
all as one, in singing, and praising their God for the
great thing which he had done for them, in preserving
them from falling into the hands of their enemies. |
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4:32 Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High
God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord
God Almighty, the Most High God. |
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4:33 And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto
the gushing out of many tears, because of the great
goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of
their enemies; and they knew it was because of their
repentance and their humility that they had been
delivered from an everlasting destruction. |
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