Ether 9

But the Lord was merciful to the king. He warned king Omer in a dream to leave the land. Omer took his family and traveled many days. They lived by the seashore.

The secret group of Akish and his friends took control of Omer’s kingdom. Jared became king and gave his daughter to Akish. But Akish was not content, he went and cut off Jared’s head as he sat on his throne.

Akish became king. There was much sin in the land; even his sons tried to kill him. They battled for many years. Nearly all the people of the kingdom killed each other. Only the thirty people in the family of Omer who lived by the seashore were left alive.

In this strange way, Omer came back to an empty throne in an empty kingdom. Omer began to be old; he chose Emer to be king.

The Lord began to take the curse off the land. The kingdom of Emer was blessed for sixty-two years. The people became strong and rich. They had all kinds of fruit, grains, silks and fine cloth. They had gold and silver. They had cattle, oxen, cows, sheep, pigs, goats and many other kinds of animals. They had horses, donkeys and elephants all useful, especially the elephants.

The Lord poured His blessings on this land— a land better than all others. He said all people who live in the land must serve the Lord, or they would be destroyed.

With good rulers, the people were blessed for many, many years. The people were spread over all the land.

Secret gangs began again. Heth, one of the king’s sons, killed his father and took the kingdom. Prophets taught repentance, but the people would not believe their words. Heth let the prophets die in prison without food or water.

The Lord stopped the rain. Many died from hunger and thirst. Heth starved to death. When the people became humble, the Lord sent rain and there was fruit to eat.