Mosiah 19

King Limhi’s army could not find them. And there began to be a division among Limhi’s people. One group began to say threats against the king. There was a man among them whose name was Gideon. He was a strong man and an enemy to the king.

Gideon drew his sword and promised in his anger that he would kill the king. Gideon and the king began to fight each other. When the king saw that he was about to be killed, he ran and climbed up on his tower.

Gideon chased him and was about to get on the tower to kill the king. But the king noticed that the army of the Lamanites was coming. The king cried out in fear, saying: Gideon, spare me, the Lamanites are on us and will destroy us all. The king was not worried about his people; he was thinking about saving his own life. Gideon let him live.

The king told the people to run away from the Lamanites. They all took their women and children and ran away into the wilderness. The Lamanites chased them and began to kill them.

The king told his men to leave their wives and children behind. Many of the men would not leave them, but chose to stay. The rest of the men left their wives and children and ran away.

The men who stayed asked their daughters to beg the Lamanites not to kill them. The Lamanites had mercy on them, because of the charm of the women. So the Lamanites took them prisoner and carried them back to the land of Nephi.

The Lamanites gave them land, with two conditions. First, they must give King Noah to them. Second, they must agree to pay half of all they had, half of their gold and silver as a tax to the king of the Lamanites every year.

Limhi, one of the king’s sons, was taken prisoner. He was a good man. When Limhi promised his people would pay taxes, the Lamanite King promised not to kill them. The Lamanites put guards around the land to keep the people of Limhi from leaving.

Gideon sent men into the wilderness to search for the king and those that were with him. The men they found were mad at King Noah for making them leave their wives and children behind. They had killed Noah with fire. The men were going to kill the priests, too, but the priests ran away into the wilderness. So the words of Abinadi were already coming true.