Mosiah 2:1
And it came to pa** that after Mosiah had done as his father
had commanded him, and had made a proclamation throughout all the
land, that the people gathered themselves together throughout all
the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words
which king Benjamin should speak unto them.
Mosiah 2:2
And there were a great number, even so many that they did not
number them; for they had multiplied exceedingly and waxed great
in the land.
Mosiah 2:3
And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that
they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the
law of Moses;
Mosiah 2:4
And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God,
who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had
delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had
appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to
be their king, who had established peace in the land of
Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of
God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God
and all men.
Mosiah 2:5
And it came to pa** that when they came up to the temple, they
pitched their tents round about, every man according to his
family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters,
and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the
youngest, every family being separate one from another.
Mosiah 2:6
And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man
having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that
thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which
king Benjamin should speak unto them;
Mosiah 2:7
For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not
teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he
caused a tower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear
the words which he should speak unto them.
Mosiah 2:8
And it came to pa** that he began to speak to his people from
the tower; and they could not all hear his words because of the
greatness of the multitude; therefore he caused that the words
which he spake should be written and sent forth among those that
were not under the sound of his voice, that they might also
receive his words.
Mosiah 2:9
And these are the words which he spake and caused to be
written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have a**embled
yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall
speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up
hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you
should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and
your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the
mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.
Mosiah 2:10
I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should
fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a
mortal man.
Mosiah 2:11
But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of
infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this
people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the
hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this
people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power,
to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord
hath granted unto me.
Mosiah 2:12
I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days
in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold
nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;
Mosiah 2:13
Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in
dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that
ye should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor
even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of
wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the
commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded
you—
Mosiah 2:14
And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I
might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and
that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be
borne—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves
are witnesses this day.
Mosiah 2:15
Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might
boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse
you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can
answer a clear conscience before God this day.
Mosiah 2:16
Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I
had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for
I have only been in the service of God.
Mosiah 2:17
And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom;
that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow
beings ye are only in the service of your God.
Mosiah 2:18
Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call
your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to
serve one another?
Mosiah 2:19
And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent
his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God,
do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to thank your
heavenly King!
Mosiah 2:20
I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all
the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess,
to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you,
and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye
should live in peace one with another—
Mosiah 2:21
I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created
you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by
lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to
your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to
another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls
yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
Mosiah 2:22
And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his
commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his
commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth
vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his
commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.
Mosiah 2:23
And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted
unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.
Mosiah 2:24
And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath
commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you;
and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto
him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what
have ye to boast?
Mosiah 2:25
And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you,
Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the
earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold,
it belongeth to him who created you.
Mosiah 2:26
And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye
yourselves are; for I am also of the dust. And ye behold that I
am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother
earth.
Mosiah 2:27
Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking
with a clear conscience before God, even so I at this time have
caused that ye should a**emble yourselves together, that I might
be found blameless, and that your blood should not come upon me,
when I shall stand to be judged of God of the things whereof he
hath commanded me concerning you.
Mosiah 2:28
I say unto you that I have caused that ye should a**emble
yourselves together that I might rid my garments of your blood,
at this period of time when I am about to go down to my grave,
that I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit may join
the choirs above in singing the praises of a just God.
Mosiah 2:29
And moreover, I say unto you that I have caused that ye
should a**emble yourselves together, that I might declare unto
you that I can no longer be your teacher, nor your king;
Mosiah 2:30
For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble
exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God
doth support me, and hath suffered me that I should speak unto
you, and hath commanded me that I should declare unto you this
day, that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you.
Mosiah 2:31
And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have
hitherto done. As ye have kept my commandments, and also the
commandments of my father, and have prospered, and have been kept
from falling into the hands of your enemies, even so if ye shall
keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which
shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land,
and your enemies shall have no power over you.
Mosiah 2:32
But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions
among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken
of by my father Mosiah.
Mosiah 2:33
For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to
obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth
and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own
soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment,
having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge.
Mosiah 2:34
I say unto you, that there are not any among you, except it
be your little children that have not been taught concerning
these things, but what knoweth that ye are eternally indebted to
your heavenly Father, to render to him all that you have and are;
and also have been taught concerning the records which contain
the prophecies which have been spoken by the holy prophets, even
down to the time our father, Lehi, left Jerusalem;
Mosiah 2:35
And also, all that has been spoken by our fathers until now.
And behold, also, they spake that which was commanded them of the
Lord; therefore, they are just and true.
Mosiah 2:36
And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have
known and have been taught all these things, if ye should
transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye
do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may
have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths that ye may
be blessed, prospered, and preserved—
Mosiah 2:37
I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh
out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey
the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness;
therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in
unholy temples.
Mosiah 2:38
Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth
an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his
immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth
cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill
his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an
unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.
Mosiah 2:39
And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man;
therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment.
Mosiah 2:40
O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little
children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly
unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to
a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen
into transgression.
Mosiah 2:41
And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the
blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of
God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal
and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are
received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a
state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these
things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.