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Annotations |
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Chapter 54
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1 And now it came to pass in the commencement of the
twenty and ninth year of the judges, that Ammoron sent unto Moroni desiring
that he would exchange prisoners.
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2 And it came to pass that Moroni felt to rejoice exceedingly
at this request, for he desired the provisions which were imparted for the
support of the Lamanite prisoners for the support of his own people; and he
also desired his own people for the strengthening of his army.
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3 Now the Lamanites had taken many women and children, and
there was not a woman nor a child among all the prisoners of Moroni, or the
prisoners whom Moroni had taken; therefore Moroni resolved upon a stratagem
to obtain as many prisoners of the Nephites from the Lamanites as it were
possible.
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4 Therefore he wrote an epistle, and sent it by the
servant of Ammoron, the same who had brought an epistle to Moroni. Now these
are the words which he wrote unto Ammoron, saying:
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5 Behold, Ammoron, I have written unto you somewhat
concerning this war which ye have waged against my people, or rather which
thy brother hath waged against them, and which ye are still determined to
carry on after his death.
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6 Behold, I would tell you somewhat concerning the justice
of God, and the sword of his almighty wrath, which doth hang over you
except ye repent and withdraw your armies into your own lands, or the land of
your possessions, which is the land of Nephi.
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The only pre-Columbian weapon I can find that was similar
to a sword was the macuahuitl which was made with a plank of wood similar in
shape to a cricket bat with obsidian blades mounted on the edges. It is
similar enough to a sword that it is often referred to as the Aztec sword.
However, the macuahuitl does not seem to fit the Book of
Mormon time frame. “Some groups of Central Mexico, principally in the
transition between the Early and the Late Post-Classic, probably
developed this weapon” (emphasis added, Dr. Marco Antonio Cervera Obregón, “The
macuahuitl: an innovative weapon of the Late Post-Classic in Mesoamerica”,
Arms & Armour, Vol.3, Nov. 2, 2006, p. 146, article from a research journal).
The Post-Classic period is between 900 CE and the Spanish conquest.
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7 Yea, I would tell you these things if ye were capable of
hearkening unto them; yea, I would tell you concerning that awful hell that
awaits to receive such murderers as thou and thy brother have been, except ye
repent and withdraw your murderous purposes, and return with your armies to
your own lands.
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8 But as ye have once rejected these things, and have
fought against the people of the Lord, even so I may expect you will do it
again.
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9 And now behold, we are prepared to receive you; yea, and
except you withdraw your purposes, behold, ye will pull down the wrath of
that God whom you have rejected upon you, even to your utter destruction.
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10 But, as the Lord liveth, our armies shall come upon you
except ye withdraw, and ye shall soon be visited with death, for we will
retain our cities and our lands; yea, and we will maintain our religion and
the cause of our God.
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11 But behold, it supposeth me that I talk to you
concerning these things in vain; or it supposeth me that thou art a child
of hell; therefore I will close my epistle by telling you that I will not
exchange prisoners, save it be on conditions that ye will deliver up a man
and his wife and his children, for one prisoner; if this be the case that ye
will do it, I will exchange.
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Why even attempt diplomacy with rhetoric like this?
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12 And behold, if ye do not this, I will come against you
with my armies; yea, even I will arm my women and my children, and I will
come against you, and I will follow you even into your own land, which is the
land of our first inheritance; yea, and it shall be blood for blood, yea,
life for life; and I will give you battle even until you are destroyed from
off the face of the earth.
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13 Behold, I am in my anger, and also my people; ye have
sought to murder us, and we have only sought to defend ourselves. But behold,
if ye seek to destroy us more we will seek to destroy you; yea, and we will
seek our land, the land of our first inheritance.
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14 Now I close my epistle. I am Moroni; I am a leader of
the people of the Nephites.
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15 Now it came to pass that Ammoron, when he had received
this epistle, was angry; and he wrote another epistle unto Moroni, and these
are the words which he wrote, saying:
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16 I am Ammoron, the king of the Lamanites; I am the
brother of Amalickiah whom ye have murdered. Behold, I will avenge his blood
upon you, yea, and I will come upon you with my armies for I fear not your
threatenings.
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17 For behold, your fathers did wrong their brethren,
insomuch that they did rob them of their right to the government when it rightly
belonged unto them.
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18 And now behold, if ye will lay down your arms, and
subject yourselves to be governed by those to whom the government doth
rightly belong, then will I cause that my people shall lay down their weapons
and shall be at war no more.
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19 Behold, ye have breathed out many threatenings against
me and my people; but behold, we fear not your threatenings.
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20 Nevertheless, I will grant to exchange prisoners
according to your request, gladly, that I may preserve my food for my men of
war; and we will wage a war which shall be eternal, either to the subjecting
the Nephites to our authority or to their eternal extinction.
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21 And as concerning that God whom ye say we have
rejected, behold, we know not such a being; neither do ye; but if it so be
that there is such a being, we know not but that he hath made us as well as
you.
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22 And if it so be that there is a devil and a hell,
behold will he not send you there to dwell with my brother whom ye have
murdered, whom ye have hinted that he hath gone to such a place? But behold
these things matter not.
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23 I am Ammoron, and a descendant of Zoram, whom your
fathers pressed and brought out of Jerusalem.
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About 537 years after Lehi leaves Jerusalem, Ammoron
claimed to be an actual descendant of Zoram.
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24 And behold now, I am a bold Lamanite; behold, this war
hath been waged to avenge their wrongs, and to maintain and to obtain their
rights to the government; and I close my epistle to Moroni.
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