1 AND now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon southward, away to the land of Manti, behold, to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah journeying towards the land of Zarahemla.

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.

4 And they had been teaching the word of God *for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the altar of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before him.

5 Now these are the circumstances which attended them in their journeyings, for they had many afflictions; they did suffer much, both in body and in mind, such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and also much labor in the spirit.

6 Now these were their journeyings: Having taken leave of their father, Mosiah, in the first year of the judges; having refused the kingdom which their father was desirous to confer upon them, and also this was the minds of the people;

7 Nevertheless they departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and took their swords, and their spears, and their bows, and their arrows, and their slings; and this they did that they might provide food for themselves while in the wilderness.

8 And thus they departed into the wilderness with their numbers which they had selected, to go up to the land of Nephi, to preach the word of God unto the Lamanites.

9 And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth, to the knowledge of the baseness of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct.

10 And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted.

11 And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.

12 And it came to pass that the hearts of the sons of Mosiah, and also those who were with them, took courage to go forth unto the Lamanites to declare unto them the word of God.

13 And it came to pass when they had arrived in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, that they separated themselves and departed one from another, trusting in the Lord that they should meet again at the close of their harvest; for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.

14 And assuredly it was great, for they had undertaken to preach the word of God to a wild and a hardened and a ferocious people; a people who delighted in murdering the Nephites, and robbing and plundering them; and their hearts were set upon riches, or upon gold and silver, and precious stones; yet they sought to obtain these things by murdering and plundering, that they might not labor for them with their own hands.

15 Thus they were a very indolent people, many of whom did worship idols, and the curse of God had fallen upon them because of the traditions of their fathers; notwithstanding the promises of the Lord were extended unto them on the conditions of repentance.

16 Therefore, this was the cause for which the sons of Mosiah had undertaken the work, that perhaps they might bring them unto repentance; that perhaps they might bring them to know of the plan of redemption.

17 Therefore they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every man alone, according to the word and power of God which was given unto him.

18 Now Ammon being the chief among them, or rather he did administer unto them, and he departed from them, after having blessed them according to their several stations, having imparted the word of God unto them, or administered unto them before his departure; and thus they took their several journeys throughout the land.

19 And Ammon went to the land of Ishmael, the land being called after the sons of Ishmael, who also became Lamanites.

20 And as Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites took him and bound him, as was their custom to bind all the Nephites who fell into their hands, and carry them before the king; and thus it was left to the pleasure of the king to slay them, or to retain them in captivity, or to cast them into prison, or to cast them out of his land, according to his will and pleasure.

21 And thus Ammon was carried before the king who was over the land of Ishmael; and his name was Lamoni; and he was a descendant of Ishmael.

22 And the king inquired of Ammon if it were his desire to dwell in the land among the Lamanites, or among his people.

23 And Ammon said unto him: Yea, I desire to dwell among this people for a time; yea, and perhaps until the day I die.

24 And it came to pass that king Lamoni was much pleased with Ammon, and caused that his bands should be loosed; and he would that Ammon should take one of his daughters to wife.

25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to the custom of the Lamanites.

26 And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water-

27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.

28 Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already.

29 Now they wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words.

30 And now, these were the thoughts of Ammon, when he saw the afflictions of those whom he termed to be his brethren.

31 And it came to pass that he flattered them by his words, saying: My brethren, be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water; and thus we will preserve the flocks unto the king and he will not slay us.

32 And it came to pass that they went in search of the flocks, and they did follow Ammon, and they rushed forth with much swiftness and did head the flocks of the king, and did gather them together again to the place of water.

33 And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren: Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not; and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks.

34 Therefore, they did as Ammon commanded them, and he went forth and stood to contend with those who stood by the waters of Sebus; and they were in number not a few.

35 Therefore they did not fear Ammon, for they supposed that one of their men could slay him according to their pleasure, for they knew not that the Lord had promised Mosiah that he would deliver his sons out of their hands; neither did they know anything concerning the Lord; therefore they delighted in the destruction of their brethren; and for this cause they stood to scatter the flocks of the king.

36 But Ammon stood forth and began to cast stones at them with his sling; yea, with mighty power he did sling stones amongst them; and thus he slew a certain number of them insomuch that they began to be astonished at his power; nevertheless they were angry because of the slain of their brethren, and they were determined that he should fall; therefore, seeing that they could not hit him with their stones, they came forth with clubs to slay him.

37 But behold, every man that lifted his club to smite Ammon, he smote off their arms with his sword; for he did withstand their blows by smiting their arms with the edge of his sword, insomuch that they began to be astonished, and began to flee before him; yea, and they were not few in number; and he caused them to flee by the strength of his arm.

38 Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few.

39 And when he had driven them afar off, he returned and they watered their flocks and returned them to the pasture of the king, and then went in unto the king, bearing the arms which had been smitten off by the sword of Ammon, of those who sought to slay him; and they were carried in unto the king for a testimony of the things which they had done.

1 Os filisteus reuniram as suas tropas para a guerra em Socó, que fica em Judá. Eles acamparam entre Socó e Azeca, em Efes-Damim. 2 Saul e os homens de Israel se reuniram e acamparam no vale de Elá, e ali ordenaram a batalha contra os filisteus. 3 Os filisteus estavam num monte e os israelitas estavam no outro monte, ficando o vale no meio deles.

4 Então do arraial dos filisteus saiu um guerreiro chamado Golias. Ele era da cidade de Gate e tinha quase três metros de altura. 5 Trazia na cabeça um capacete de bronze e vestia uma couraça de escamas de bronze, que pesava uns sessenta quilos. 6 Trazia caneleiras de bronze nas pernas e um dardo de bronze sobre os ombros. 7 A haste da sua lança era como o eixo do tecelão, e a ponta da sua lança era de ferro e pesava mais de sete quilos. E diante dele ia o escudeiro. 8 Golias parou e gritou para as tropas de Israel:

— Para que vocês saíram para formar a linha de batalha? Não sou eu filisteu, e vocês, servos de Saul? Escolham entre vocês um homem que venha lutar comigo. 9 Se ele puder lutar comigo e me matar, seremos servos de vocês. Mas, se eu o vencer e o matar, vocês serão nossos servos e nos servirão.

10 E o filisteu continuou:

— Hoje eu desafio as tropas de Israel. Deem-me um homem, para que lute comigo.

11 Quando Saul e todo o Israel ouviram estas palavras do filisteu, ficaram assustados e com muito medo.

12 Davi era filho daquele efrateu de Belém de Judá cujo nome era Jessé e que tinha oito filhos. Nos dias de Saul, Jessé já era bastante idoso entre os homens. 13 Os três filhos mais velhos de Jessé tinham ido com Saul para a guerra. Esses três, que tinham ido para a guerra, se chamavam Eliabe, que era o primogênito; Abinadabe, que era o segundo; e Samá, que era o terceiro. 14 Davi era o mais moço; só os três mais velhos seguiram Saul. 15 Davi, porém, ia a Saul e voltava, para apascentar as ovelhas de seu pai, em Belém.

16 O filisteu vinha de manhã e de tarde, apresentando-se durante quarenta dias.

17 Jessé disse a Davi, seu filho:

— Peço que você leve para os seus irmãos uma medida deste trigo tostado e estes dez pães. Corra e leve isso para os seus irmãos, no acampamento. 18 Porém estes dez queijos, leve-os para o comandante de mil. Veja como os seus irmãos estão passando e traga uma prova de que estão bem. 19 Saul, eles e todos os homens de Israel estão no vale de Elá, lutando contra os filisteus.

20 No dia seguinte, Davi se levantou de madrugada, deixou as ovelhas com um guarda, carregou o que havia sido preparado e partiu, como Jessé lhe havia ordenado. Chegou ao acampamento quando as tropas estavam saindo para colocar-se em ordem de combate e, aos gritos, chamavam para a batalha. 21 Os israelitas e filisteus se puseram em ordem, fileira contra fileira.

22 Davi deixou o que havia trazido aos cuidados do guarda da bagagem e correu para a batalha. Quando chegou lá, perguntou a seus irmãos se estavam bem. 23 Enquanto Davi ainda falava com eles, eis que vinha subindo do exército dos filisteus o guerreiro, cujo nome era Golias, o filisteu de Gate. E falou as mesmas coisas que havia falado anteriormente. E Davi escutou.

24 Todos os israelitas, vendo aquele homem, fugiam dele, com muito medo. 25 E diziam uns aos outros:

— Vocês viram aquele homem? Ele veio para afrontar Israel. O rei dará muitas riquezas para quem matar aquele homem. Também lhe dará a filha em casamento, e à casa de seu pai isentará de impostos em Israel.

26 Então Davi perguntou aos homens que estavam perto dele:

— O que será dado ao homem que matar esse filisteu e livrar Israel de tal afronta? Quem é esse filisteu incircunciso para afrontar os exércitos do Deus vivo?

27 E o povo lhe repetiu as mesmas palavras, dizendo:

— É isso que será dado ao homem que o matar.

28 Eliabe, o irmão mais velho, ouviu Davi falando com aqueles homens. Ele ficou irado com Davi e disse:

— Por que você veio para cá? E com quem você deixou aquelas poucas ovelhas no deserto? Sei que você é presunçoso e mau. Você veio aqui só para ver a batalha.

29 Davi respondeu:

— O que foi que eu fiz agora? Apenas fiz uma pergunta.

30 Então Davi se desviou dele na direção de outro e fez a mesma pergunta. E o povo lhe deu a mesma resposta de antes.

31 Alguns homens que tinham ouvido as palavras de Davi foram anunciá-las a Saul, que mandou chamar Davi. 32 Davi disse a Saul:

— Que ninguém desanime por causa dele. Este seu servo irá e lutará contra esse filisteu.

33 Porém Saul disse a Davi:

— Você não poderá ir contra esse filisteu para lutar contra ele. Você ainda é jovem, e ele é guerreiro desde a sua mocidade.

34 Davi respondeu:

— Este seu servo apascentava as ovelhas do pai. Quando vinha um leão ou um urso e levava um cordeiro do rebanho, 35 eu saía atrás dele, batia nele e livrava o cordeiro da sua boca. Se ele se levantava contra mim, eu o agarrava pela barba e o golpeava até matá-lo. 36 Este seu servo matou tanto o leão como o urso. Este filisteu incircunciso será como um deles, porque afrontou os exércitos do Deus vivo.

37 E Davi continuou:

— O Senhor me livrou das garras do leão e das garras do urso; ele me livrará das mãos desse filisteu.

Então Saul disse a Davi:

— Vá, e que o Senhor esteja com você.

38 Saul vestiu Davi com a sua própria armadura, pôs um capacete de bronze na cabeça dele, e o vestiu com uma couraça. 39 Davi cingiu a espada sobre a armadura e tentou andar, pois jamais a havia usado. Então Davi disse a Saul:

— Não posso andar com isto, porque nunca o usei.

E Davi tirou aquilo de sobre si. 40 Pegou o seu cajado na mão, escolheu cinco pedras lisas do ribeiro, e as pôs no alforje de pastor, que trazia consigo. E, com a sua funda na mão, foi na direção do filisteu.

41 O filisteu também vinha caminhando e se aproximava de Davi, tendo à frente dele o seu escudeiro. 42 O filisteu olhou e, vendo Davi, o desprezou, porque era apenas um moço ruivo e de boa aparência. 43 O filisteu disse a Davi:

— Será que eu sou um cachorro, para que você venha contra mim com pedaços de pau?

E, pelos seus deuses, o filisteu amaldiçoou Davi. 44 E disse mais a Davi:

— Venha aqui, que eu darei a sua carne às aves dos céus e aos animais do campo.

45 Davi, porém, disse ao filisteu:

— Você vem contra mim com espada, com lança e com escudo. Eu, porém, vou contra você em nome do Senhor dos Exércitos, o Deus dos exércitos de Israel, a quem você afrontou. 46 Hoje mesmo o Senhor entregará você nas minhas mãos. Eu o matarei, cortarei a sua cabeça e hoje mesmo darei os cadáveres do arraial dos filisteus às aves dos céus e às feras da terra. E toda a terra saberá que há Deus em Israel. 47 Toda esta multidão saberá que o Senhor salva, não com espada, nem com lança. Porque do Senhor é a guerra, e ele entregará todos vocês nas nossas mãos.

48 E aconteceu que, quando o filisteu se levantou e começou a se aproximar de Davi, este se apressou e, deixando as suas fileiras, correu de encontro ao filisteu. 49 Davi meteu a mão no alforje, tirou dali uma pedra e, com a sua funda, a atirou contra o filisteu, atingindo-o na testa. A pedra se encravou na testa, e ele caiu com o rosto no chão. 50 Assim Davi derrotou o filisteu, com uma funda e com uma pedra. Ele o derrubou e o matou. Não havia nenhuma espada na mão de Davi. 51 Por isso, Davi correu e, lançando-se sobre o filisteu, pegou a espada dele, tirou-a da bainha e o matou, cortando com ela a cabeça dele.

Quando os filisteus viram que o seu herói estava morto, fugiram. 52 Então os homens de Israel e Judá se levantaram, deram um grito e perseguiram os filisteus até Gate e até os portões de Ecrom. E os filisteus caíram feridos pelo caminho, de Saaraim até Gate e até Ecrom. 53 Então os filhos de Israel voltaram da perseguição aos filisteus e saquearam os acampamentos deles. 54 Davi pegou a cabeça do filisteu e a levou para Jerusalém. Porém as armas dele Davi colocou em sua própria tenda.

55 Quando Saul viu Davi saindo para encontrar-se com o filisteu, perguntou a Abner, o comandante do exército:

— Abner, aquele jovem é filho de quem?

Abner respondeu:

— Juro pela sua vida, ó rei, que não sei.

56 E o rei disse:

— Então pergunte de quem esse jovem é filho.

57 Quando Davi voltou, depois de matar o filisteu, Abner o tomou e o levou à presença de Saul. Davi ainda trazia na mão a cabeça do filisteu. 58 Então Saul lhe perguntou:

— Meu jovem, de quem você é filho?

Davi respondeu:

— Sou filho de seu servo Jessé, o belemita.