| Book of Mormon |
Annotations |
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The prophecy of Samuel, the Lamanite, to the Nephites.
Comprising chapters 13 through 15.
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Chapter 13
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1 And now it came to pass in the eighty and sixth year,
the Nephites did still remain in wickedness, yea, in great wickedness, while
the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God, according
to the law of Moses.
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2 And it came to pass that in this year there was one Samuel,
a Lamanite, came into the land of Zarahemla, and began to preach unto the
people. And it came to pass that he did preach, many days, repentance unto
the people, and they did cast him out, and he was about to return to his own
land.
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3 But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he
should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should
come into his heart.
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4 And it came to pass that they would not suffer that he
should enter into the city; therefore he went and got upon the wall thereof,
and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto
the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart.
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5 And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do
speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he
hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of
justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save
the sword of justice falleth upon this people.
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Helaman 13:5, 9
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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6 Yea, heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it
surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be
repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the
world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people.
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7 And behold, an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto
me, and he did bring glad tidings to my soul. And behold, I was sent unto you
to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye
would not receive me.
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8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Because of the hardness
of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take
away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them, and I will
suffer them no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethren against
them.
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9 And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will
cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword
and with famine and with pestilence.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:5, 9 above
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10 Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there
shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to
behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent,
saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your
destruction.
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11 But if ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God
I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord,
blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that
repenteth not.
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12 Yea, wo unto this great city of Zarahemla; for behold,
it is because of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo unto this
great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many, yea, even
the more part of this great city, that will harden their hearts against me,
saith the Lord.
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13 But blessed are they who will repent, for them will I
spare. But behold, if it were not for the righteous who are in this great
city, behold, I would cause that fire should come down out of heaven and
destroy it.
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14 But behold, it is for the righteous’ sake that it is
spared. But behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord, that when ye shall cast
out the righteous from among you, then shall ye be ripe for destruction; yea,
wo be unto this great city, because of the wickedness and abominations which
are in her.
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15 Yea, and wo be unto the city of Gideon, for the
wickedness and abominations which are in her.
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16 Yea, and wo be unto all the cities which are in the
land round about, which are possessed by the Nephites, because of the
wickedness and abominations which are in them.
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17 And behold, a curse shall come upon the land, saith the
Lord of Hosts, because of the people’s sake who are upon the land, yea,
because of their wickedness and their abominations.
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18 And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts,
yea, our great and true God, that whoso shall hide up treasures in the
earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land,
save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord.
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Helaman 13:18-20
According to documents apparently from a court hearing
about Joseph Smith’s treasure seeking with a seer stone, Jonathan Thompson
testified that in one treasure digging led by Joseph, “on account of an
enchantment, the trunk kept settling away from under them while digging;
that, notwithstanding they continued constantly removing the dirt, yet the
trunk kept about the same distance from them” (The 1826 Trial of Joseph Smith).
There seems to be some controversy regarding the
authenticity of this documented testimony, but it is uncontested that Joseph was
hired on more than one occasion to seek treasure with his seer stone, and it
was common folk lore of the time that buried treasure could slip away through
the earth. “Getting the treasure was always difficult and harrowing. If not
recovered quickly the trove sank into the earth’s depths” (Ronald W. Walker,
The Persisting Idea of American Treasure Hunting, BYU Studies Quarterly, Volume 24 | Issue 4 Article 4, 1 Oct 1984, p. 432).
Which is more likely—that there were ancient Native
Americans that were descendants of Hebrews that really experienced such a
curse, or that this reflects a 19th century superstition of the author of the
book?
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19 For I will, saith the Lord, that they shall hide up
their treasures unto me; and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures
unto me; for none hideth up their treasures unto me save it be the righteous;
and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he, and also
the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of the curse of the land.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:18-20 above
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20 And the day shall come that they shall hide up their
treasures, because they have set their hearts upon riches; and because they
have set their hearts upon their riches, and will hide up their treasures
when they shall flee before their enemies; because they will not hide them up
unto me, cursed be they and also their treasures; and in that day
shall they be smitten, saith the Lord.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:18-20 above
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21 Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken
unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; for behold,
he saith that ye are cursed because of your riches, and also are your riches
cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them, and have not hearkened unto
the words of him who gave them unto you.
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22 Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with
which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to
thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the
Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto boasting, and unto great
swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all
manner of iniquities.
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23 For this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse
should come upon the land, and also upon your riches, and this because of
your iniquities.
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24 Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which
has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast
stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them,
even as they did of old time.
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25 And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in
the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we
would not have stoned them, and cast them out.
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26 Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth,
if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord,
which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast
him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he
is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he
testifieth that your deeds are evil.
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27 But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall
say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea,
he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the
pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall
come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a
prophet.
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28 Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of
your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and
ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering
words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault
with him.
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29 O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and
ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer
you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind
guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?
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30 Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled
against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.
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31 And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your
riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the
days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.
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Helaman 13:31-36
According to documents apparently from a court hearing
about Joseph Smith’s treasure seeking with a seer stone, Jonathan Thompson
testified that in one treasure digging led by Joseph, “on account of an
enchantment, the trunk kept settling away from under them while digging;
that, notwithstanding they continued constantly removing the dirt, yet the
trunk kept about the same distance from them” (The 1826 Trial of Joseph Smith).
There seems to be some controversy regarding the
authenticity of this documented testimony, but it is uncontested that Joseph
was hired on more than one occasion to seek treasure with his seer stone, and
it was common folk lore of the time that buried treasure could slip away
through the earth. “Getting the treasure was always difficult and harrowing.
If not recovered quickly the trove sank into the earth’s depths” (Ronald W. Walker,
The Persisting Idea of American Treasure Hunting, BYU Studies Quarterly, Volume 24 | Issue 4 Article 4, 1 Oct 1984, p. 432).
Which is more likely—that there were ancient Native
Americans that were descendants of Hebrews that really experienced such a
curse, or that this reflects a 19th century superstition of the author of the
book?
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32 And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the
Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you,
and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that
day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say:
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Annotation for Helaman 13:31-36 above
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33 O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets,
and stoned them, and cast them out. Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that
we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and
then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for
behold, our riches are gone from us.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:31-36 above
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34 Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is
gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we
have sought them for battle.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:31-36 above
Also, regarding the mention of swords in this verse, 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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35 Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have
slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:31-36 above
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36 O that we had repented in the day that the word of the
Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are
become slippery, and we cannot hold them.
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Annotation for Helaman 13:31-36 above
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37 Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are
encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls.
Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine
anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.
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38 But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have
procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late,
and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of
your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for
happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that
righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.
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39 O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words!
And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye
would repent and be saved.
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