Moroni Demands an Oath

Then Moroni said to Zerahemnah, “You know that you are in our hands, but we do not want to kill you and become men of bloodshed. We have not come to battle to kill you, or to make you our slaves, but this is exactly why you have come against us. You are angry with us because of our religion.

“But now you see that the Lord is with us and has delivered you into our hands. I want you to understand that this is done because of our religion and our faith in Christ, which you now realize you cannot destroy.

“You must now realize that this is the true faith of God, and that He will support and preserve us as long as we are faithful to Him. The Lord will never allow us to be destroyed unless we fall into transgression and deny our faith.

“And now, Zerahemnah, I command you, in the name of that all-powerful God who has strengthened our arms so that we have gained power over you—by our faith, religion, rites of worship, church, and sacred support, which we owe to our wives and children—by that liberty which binds us to our lands and our country—by the maintenance of God’s sacred word, to which we owe all our happiness, and by all that is most dear to us—

“I command you, by all the desires that you have for life, to give up your weapons! If you do this, and go your way, and do not come to war against us again, then we will spare your lives. Otherwise, I will command my men to kill you. Then we will see who will have power over this people, and who will be brought into bondage.”

When Zerahemnah heard this, he came forward and delivered up his sword, scimitar, and bow to Moroni, and said, “These are our weapons of war. We will deliver them up to you, but we will not make such an oath to you—an oath that we know we and our children will break. Take our weapons and allow us to depart into the wilderness. Otherwise we will keep our swords, and perish or conquer.

“We are not of your faith, and we do not believe that a God delivered us into your hands. We believe that your cunning, your breastplates, and shields have preserved you from our swords.”

When Zerahemnah finished speaking, Moroni gave him back his sword and other weapons, and said, “We will end the conflict, for I cannot recall my words. As the Lord lives, you will not leave here without making an oath that you will not return to war. Now as you are in our hands, we will spill your blood upon the ground, or you will submit to the conditions that I have made.”

Upon hearing this, Zerahemnah was so angry with Moroni that he rushed forward to kill him. But as he raised his sword, one of Moroni’s soldiers struck it, breaking it off near the handle. Then the soldier struck Zerahemnah, cutting off his scalp, which fell to the ground. And Zerahemnah withdrew into the midst of his soldiers.

Then Moroni’s soldier put Zerahemnah’s scalp on the point of his sword, held it up high, and shouted, “Even as your chief’s scalp has fallen to the earth, so will all of you fall, unless you give up your weapons and depart with a covenant of peace.”

Many who heard this and saw the scalp on the sword were struck with fear. They came forward, threw down their weapons at Moroni’s feet, and entered into a covenant of peace. Those who entered into a covenant were allowed to depart into the wilderness. Now in great pain, Zerahemnah was very angry. He stirred up the rest of his soldiers to fight even more powerfully against the Nephites.

Seeing this stubbornness, Moroni became angry and commanded his people to kill those who had kept their swords. The Lamanites’ bare skin and heads were exposed to the Nephites’ sharp swords. They were pierced and stricken, and quickly fell before the Nephites, being swept down as Moroni’s soldier had foretold.

When Zerahemnah finally realized that they were all about to be destroyed, he cried out loudly to Moroni, promising that if they were spared, he and his people would covenant never again to come to war against them. Moroni commanded his men to stop the killing and to take away the remaining Lamanites’ weapons. After they had all entered into a covenant of peace, they were allowed to depart into the wilderness.

So many of the Lamanites had died that they were not counted, and the losses of both Nephites and Lamanites were very great. The dead were thrown into the Sidon River, which carried the bodies out to the depths of the sea.

Then Moroni’s army returned to their houses and lands. This is how 74 BC, the eighteenth year of the judges’ reign over the Nephites, ended. This is the end of what Alma wrote on Nephi’s large plates.