DOUBTS AND FAITH
31After the spirit-messenger left us, Shimmering Light (Laman) and Devoted to Creator (Lemuel) sighed and worried, saying:
“How is it possible that Creator will deliver Chief Full Moon (Laban) into our weak hands? He is called Chief by fifty warriors. If he could kill fifty men by their command, what will stop him from killing us four if we try to get ahold of him?”
4:1But I replied to them and said:
“Let us go back to Village of Peace (Jerusalem) as Creator instructs. He is called Great Warrior Chief by all creation, so I will turn your question back to you: if Creator can defeat tens of thousands of warriors by his command, what will stop him from defeating Chief Full Moon and his fifty warriors?
2 “Let us go up! We can be strong like Drawn from the Water (Moses) who spoke to the waters of the Red Sea and they opened and our tribal ancestors came through—out of captivity—on dry ground. And the tens of thousands of warriors of Great House (Pharaoh) tried to follow and were drowned when the waters of the Red Sea closed on them.
3 “You know these things from what has been written in the Sacred Teachings. And you also know that a spirit-messenger just spoke face-to-face with you. With such great witnesses how can you doubt?
“Let us go up! If Creator can help our tribal ancestors, he can help us; if he can defeat the people of Black Land (Egypt), he can defeat Chief Full Moon (Laban).”
4Despite my words, my brothers were still worried and troubled. But in the end they decided to follow me to the walls of Village of Peace (Jerusalem).
WORDS OF THE SPIRIT-MESSENGER FULFILLED
5We arrived at night and I instructed my brothers to wait outside the walls for me. They hid themselves there while I crept into the village towards the lodge of Chief Full Moon (Laban). 6Because I had no plan as I went in, I had to be guided by the Spirit of Creator. 7 But even so I went ahead.
As I approached the lodge of Chief Full Moon (Laban), I saw a man who had fallen down drunk. 8 I crept closer and to my surprise found that it was Chief Full Moon (Laban).
Chief Full Moon (Laban) was dressed in his ceremonial war garments as he lay upon the open ground in a deep sleep. The smell of wine rose up from his open mouth, and the glint of his weapons caught the eye of Creator is Chief (Nephi).
9As he lay there, I was able to take his long knife out of its sheath. The hilt was made of pure gold and was skillfully crafted, and the blade of the knife was made of costly steel.
10Suddenly, the Spirit gripped my soul and I felt that Creator wanted me to kill Chief Full Moon (Laban). But I dismissed the feeling as I had never killed a human being and I did not want to do such a thing now. 11But the words of Creator were repeated to my soul:
“As the spirit-messenger said, it is fulfilled: Creator has delivered Chief Full Moon (Laban) into your hands.”
I then saw the crimes of Chief Full Moon (Laban) in my mind: that he tried to kill me, that he did not walk in Creator’s ways according to the Sacred Teachings, and that he had stolen our property. 12The words of Creator then came to me again:
“Kill him–as the spirit-messenger said, it is fulfilled: Creator has delivered Chief Full Moon (Laban) into your hands. 13This is what Creator does: he brings those with bad hearts to a band end so that the path of his right ways may be opened, and he has chosen that this man should die by his worthless ways so that a whole nation can have the life of the world to come that never fades away.”
14I then heard Creator’s promise that he made to me in the desert wilderness repeated in my mind:
“If your descendants walk in my ways in the land of promise, they will become a great nation.”
15I thought in my heart, how can my descendants walk in Creator’s ways unless they can read the Sacred Teachings for themselves? 16I then saw in my mind the Sacred Teachings carved on the record of brass sheets, 17and the Spirit gripped my soul again and I knew Creator had delivered Chief Full Moon (Laban) into my hands for this one reason: to get the sacred records as Creator instructed.
18 So I obeyed the voice of the Spirit, and I took Chief Full Moon (Laban) by his scalp and cut off his head with his own long knife.
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