The Book of Omni

Omni 1

My father Jarom instructed to me to preserve and add my record to these sacred plates. Most of my life has been spent wielding a sword against the Lamanites in protection of my people, the Nephites. I want you to know that I am not the righteous man that I am supposed to be, as I have not kept the laws and commandments of God. I have seen seasons of peace and seasons of war. Two-hundred-eighty-two years have now passed since my forefather Lehi gathered up our family and left Jerusalem behind. And now I pass the plates and the continuity of our records onto my son, Amaron. That’s all I have to say. [317 BC]

I, Amaron, now add my words to this record. I’m afraid I don’t have much to say, either. After 323, years most of the wicked Nephites have been killed off by the Lamanites. This fulfills the covenants given to our fathers, that the people who follow God’s laws would be preserved, while those who don’t would be destroyed. Having written this, I pass the plates on to my brother Chemish. [279 BC]

(Chemish adds nothing to the record, and passes the plates on to his son, Abindom. Likewise, Abindom passes the keeping of the records on to his son, Amaleki, adding only his affirmation to the prophecies and revelations that have already been written before him. )

I, Amaleki, will now write about King Mosiah, who governed over the land of Zarahemla during my time. God had warned King Mosiah to flee from the land of Nephi into the wilderness, along with all the people who would listen to his warning. As they left, the people were led by prophecies and revelations that admonished them to follow the word of God. Through God’s power, we were led through the wilderness and into the land of Zarahemla.

When our people arrived, we discovered it was occupied with people led by a man named Zarahemla. He rejoiced at receiving us and the brass plates that our forefathers had brought with us from Jerusalem. As it turned out, the forefathers of Zarahemla had also come out of Jerusalem at the time that King Zedekiah of Judah was captured and carried away to Babylon in bondage. Like us, they were descendants of Jews who had left the Old World under the guidance of God. They had traveled across the ocean and arrived here around the same time that our ancestors, the Lehites, had.

The Mulekites had lived in this same area since their arrival in this new land. When we met them they had been through many wars, but were still very populous. They had brought no records with them, carried no knowledge of God as creator, and their language had been corrupted as well, so that it was impossible for us to understand them. Mosiah therefore decreed that they should be taught our language. Afterwards, Zarahemla was able to give us an oral genealogy of his ancestors, to the best of his memory. The Mulekites then united with us and acknowledged Mosiah as their king.

A large stone with engraved writing, found by the Mulekites, was brought to King Mosiah for interpretation. By the gift and power of God, King Mosiah translated the writing on the stone. It told the story of a man named Coriantumr and the destruction of his people. The stone also told about Coriantumr’s forefathers, who had lived in Babylon at the time of the construction of the great tower. God had confused the languages of the people working on the tower in order to halt its erection, and scattered the people far and wide. Many of Coriantumr’s people had been severely judged by God, the stone said, and their bones could be found lying around on the ground in the north. It also turned out that this man Coriantumr had been discovered by earlier Mulekites, and had lived with them for a period of nine months before he died.

I want to tell you about a group of stubborn Nephites who returned through the wilderness to our original land of Nephi. They hoped to reclaim possession of that land. Because their leader was a contentious man, they fought amongst themselves until there were just fifty of them left alive. When they returned to Zarahemla, they recruited new members for their campaign, including a brother of mine. After they departed, we never heard from them again.

I, Amaleki, was born in the days of King Mosiah, and have lived to see his death. King Mosiah was succeeded by his son, King Benjamin. During King Benjamin’s reign the Lamanites followed us into the land of Zarahemla, and brought more warfare and bloodshed upon us. But we were successful at driving them away. Now, I am old and have no children to pass these records along to, so I give them over to King Benjamin instead, because I know that he is a man of God and will keep them safe. In closing, I want to say that all men should come to God and the Holy One of Israel. I believe in prophesying, revelations, the help of angels, the gift of speaking in tongues, and the gift of translating alien languages. All good things come from God, and all that is evil is the product of the devil. If you come to Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel, and offer your souls in fasting and prayer, and endure to the end, you will be redeemed in his salvation. The plates are full, my writing is done, and now I can prepare to die.