Helaman 1
In the fortieth
year, there was a contention
Concerning three
sons of the late judge, Pahoran.
All three strove to
be the next chief judge, like their dad
They chose Pahoran
in the election they had.
His brother,
Pacumeni, accepted his loss
But his brother,
Paanchi, was exceedingly wroth.
When he tried to
start a rebellion they took him
And put him to
death, which angered dangerous men.
His supporters sent a
man known as Kishkumen
To the judgment seat
where he murdered Pahoran.
When the deed was
done, this group made a covenant
That they’d never
tell about the man they had sent.
Afterward, they had
Pacumeni take his place.
Soon the Nephites
had a new enemy to face.
A dissenter named
Coriantumr had gone
To the Lamanites, to
the son of Ammoron.
He convinced the
king that with his wisdom and might
He could lead their
armies to defeat the Nephites.
They marched to the
heart of their lands—Zarahemla—
This was something
not foreseen by Moronihah.
They cut down the
watch. They soon took over it all
And killed Pacumeni
right by the city wall.
This had been so
easy Coriantumr planned
To take Bountiful
and all other Nephite lands.
Though he marched
quickly and his men were merciless
Placing his army in
the center was careless.
Soon Moronihah had
his army surrounded.
Coriantumr’s
arrogance was unfounded.
When their leader
was killed his army surrendered
And peace was
restored. The forty first year ended.
Helaman 2
That next year they
needed to fill the judgment seat
Since Coriantumr had
killed Pacumeni.
When the people
voted they all chose Helaman
Plans were laid for
his homicide by Kishkumen.
His band had a new
leader who had them convinced
That if he was chief
judge he’d give power to them.
But a servant
obtained their plans while in disguise
And he killed
Kishkumen but soon their band was wise.
So, when Helaman
tried to have them arrested
Gadianton and his
band had already left.
They dwelt in the
wilderness. Their numbers would rise.
One day these
robbers would destroy all the Nephites.
Helaman 3
Three years passed
with few disputations among them
But the 46th
year brought many contentions.
A new home was found
for those who were discontent.
There weren’t many
trees so they learned to use cement.
Even some of the
Ammonites moved north with them.
Meanwhile things
went well in the south for Helaman.
He was like his
father and kept the commandments
And his sons, Nephi
and Lehi, became great men.
In the 49th
year the Church would grow in size
When tens of
thousands of the Nephites were baptized.
Anyone who wants to
may hold the word—the rod.
It will lead the man
of Christ directly to God.
Though there was
rejoicing and peace throughout the land,
In only two years
some became prideful again.
Those who let pride
enter their hearts would persecute
Any who had less
wealth and their pride grew and grew.
But those of the
church fasted often and they prayed
And their faith and
humility grew day by day.
In the 53rd
year Helaman would die.
His place as chief
judge was filled by his son, Nephi.
Helaman 4
That next year the
Nephites’ contentions were so bad
That the rebels were
killed and driven from the land.
In only two years
they convinced the Lamanites
To forget their fears
so that they’d fight the Nephites.
By the 58th
year, the Lamanites possessed
All the Nephite
lands in the south. This great success
Was all thanks to
the wickedness of the Nephites.
They had let their
wealth fill their souls and hearts with pride.
They’d oppressed the
poor and mocked anything sacred
And they gradually
became truly wicked.
But when Moronihah,
Nephi and Lehi taught,
Many repented and
had success when they fought.
By the 61st
year they’d regained half their lands
But they couldn’t
get more and so they changed their plans.
From that time the
Nephites’ outlook was very bleak—
They realized that their
wickedness had made them weak.
Helaman 5
Nephi saw this
wickedness and wanted to preach
So he left and gave
Cezoram his judgment seat.
He and Lehi would
preach for the rest of their days,
For they remembered
the words that their father spake.
“I named you Nephi
and Lehi so that you would
“Remember and be
like those men whose works were good.
“Share the words of
Amulek and King Benjamin,
“‘Through our
Savior’s blood we can be redeemed from sin.’
“You must build your
foundation on the rock of Christ
“So that you’ll stay
strong through the whirlwinds of this life.
“When the devil
sends forth his storms—they come to all—
“He will never drag
you down, for you cannot fall.”
Helaman shared many
more teachings with his sons
They remembered and
shared his words with everyone.
They taught with
great power and many were baptized.
This included 8,000
of the Lamanites.
While they traveled
they were cast into a prison.
After many days their
captors came to kill them
But a fire appeared
and it encircled them just then.
Seeing that their
captors were struck with such great fear
Nephi and Lehi spoke
these words for all to hear,
“Fear not, for it is
God who has shown you this thing.”
After they said
these words the earth started shaking.
All those in the
prison were covered with darkness
And a voice spoke to
them, it whispered with mildness,
“Repent ye and seek
no more to destroy these men.”
Afterward, the walls
of the prison shook again.
One among them saw
that Nephi and Lehi shone
And could see that
they were conversing with someone.
When the others
asked him, “With whom do they converse?”
He said it was
angels and went on to rehearse
What he’d learned
when he was a member of the church,
“You must all repent
so the darkness will disperse.”
The darkness left
and they saw that each and every man
Had a pillar of fire
that was surrounding him.
The Holy Ghost
entered their hearts. They all heard a
voice,
“Thanks to your
faith in Christ you can have peace; rejoice.”
Then the heavens
opened! Angels appeared to them.
Afterward, they all testified
of this event.
They convinced so
many Lamanites of what they’d seen
They gave up warfare
and the lands that they had seized.
Helaman 6
Thanks to the
conversion of all these Lamanites
They became even
more righteous than the Nephites.
These two groups
became friends, interacting freely.
For the next four
years they enjoyed prosperity.
In the 66th
year someone killed Cezoram
Afterward they
murdered his replacement—his son.
That next year the
people became wicked again,
Due to the influence
of Gadianton’s band.
Their hearts were so
set on wealth that they’d kill and rob.
They ignored the
laws of men and the laws of God.
Lamanites did all
they could to destroy these men
But, sadly, many
Nephites united with them.
They took secret
oaths to protect their band members
Whenever they stole
or committed a murder.
They had secret
signs and even had secret words
So that they could
tell whoever was a “brother.”
This whole system
was put in Gadianton’s heart
By the same being
who’d tempted men from the start.
He’s the author of
sin and in only one year
Many Nephites
discarded all that they’d held dear.
While the Lamanites had
begun to walk in truth,
Nephites lost the
Spirit as their wickedness grew.
And by the 68th
year, Gadianton’s band
Had taken over the
government of the land.
© 2020 by N. Noelle Maes
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