Page:A dictionary of the Book of Mormon.pdf/46

Alma, the younger. under the generous hospitality which his home afforded. But his rest was not to be a lengthened one; the people waxed stronger in sin; the cup of their iniquity was nearly full. “Go,” came the word of the Lord, “Go forth, and take with thee my servant Amulek, and prophesy unto this people, saying, Repent ye, for thus saith the Lord, except ye repent, I will visit this people in mine anger; yea, I will not turn my fierce anger away.” Filled with the Holy Ghost, these servants of Israel's God went forth and valiantly delivered their terrible message. From place to place they went, raising their Jonah-like cry. The heathen Ninevehites hearkened and repented; the sin-stained Israelites of Ammoniah laughed, scorned, mocked and turned contemptuously away. A few indeed received the word, but that only increased the angler of the majority, who, led and egged on by their still more depraved rulers and teachers, persecuted the prophets and martyred the believers.

The account given of the teachings of Alma and Amulek, their disputations with Zeezrom and other lawyers and rulers in Ammoniah, is given at length in the Book of Mormon, and, in consequence thereof, we have handed down to us some of the plainest, yet profoundest teachings on the atonement, the resurrection, the powers of the priesthood, etc., that are to be had among mankind. We cannot follow them here through all the varied incidents that led to the final catastrophe. Faithfully the prophets warned Ammoniah of its approaching desolation; scornfully and incredulously the hardened people hurled back their words of warning with defiance. The few that believed, of which the crafty, hair-splitting Zeezrom was the most notable example, were cast out of the city, while Alma and Amulek were bound with strong cords, and, under false accusations of having reviled the laws, they were cast into prison. Having consigned Alma and his companion to a prison