THE THIRD BOOK OF MORONI

1And under the direction of the high priest, the people made a regulation of the church and of their religion. But behold, they required no man or woman to comply with their directives as Tucantor did, but all were invited to seek a confirmation of the truth for themselves.

2And behold, if any person received not the same confirmation as the rest of the people, they were not punished or shunned. But because all the people were admonished to receive the Holy Ghost in all things, and also the direct commission of the Lord, the influence of those who would control the people or take authority over them was made the lesser of their concerns.

3But when a person broke the laws of the city, they were dealt with according as the people did dictate. And this was done to insure the peace, but never as a means of demanding that one person believe the same as any other.

4And behold, there were those who continued to believe the teachings of Tucantor and this did create a division among the people. But such division was not against the law of the people and, even though Tucantor would have taken the control of the entire city, his followers were still considered part of the community and their vote had as much weight as any others.

5And Tucantor took some few of his followers and they did request of the council a piece of land on the which to build a synagogue. And the council did grant the land and they did build. And the followers of Tucantor worshiped God after their own conscience and most ways their worship did resemble the ways of the Nem, except that the priesthood was elevated in an extreme manner and almost they did appear to worship the high priest and extol him instead of God. And the priesthood and all public service was withheld from all women.

6But behold, they were full of charity and good works, and they did speak peaceably to all the people. And they did teach baptism with water and also the purification of the Ammonites. And they did marry and were given in marriage. Yea, in all ways they did resemble the Nem and they did do the things the Nem did, except in the power and authority they rendered unto the priesthood, and also in the manner in which they did subjugate women.

7And the more part of their beliefs did appear well to the people and they did allow them all freedom to act and be acted upon in the city, just as they did any other citizen. But behold, among the followers of Tucantor, there were those who had much, in terms of spiritual things, and there were those who had less. And behold, among them there were even those unto whom the ordinances and the gifts were withheld because they were deemed unworthy by the high priest. Wherefore, there were divisions among them and hard feelings and harsh words, and this thing was seen by the council of Mentina and by the Peli as troubling, and they watched them

8But the city and its citizens did prosper, as did all the cities and settlements in the land, with the exception of certain cities away down in the south by the gulf of the sea. In some of these cities there was division and unrest. For some of the people there had ceased to give of their surplus and began to heap up their substance as in days of old.

9And this thing was because of the remnant of the Gadiantons left in that region after the Great War. And they did pervert the ways of the Nem.

10But in the northern regions and in the mountains, the ways of the Nem continued unchanged and the people did prosper and grow. And behold, they did also prosper in the things of the Spirit. For they did seek the face of Christ and the confirmation of the Holy Ghost. Wherefore, in their daily walk and their daily talk, they did seek the sacred and they were highly favored of the Lord.

11And in my own city there was peace. Yea, in all the remainder of my life, I saw no reason to grieve or to hasten away to settle any conflict at all. The people of Elak Kowa needed little admonition to seek their God and this was a great comfort to me.

12And behold, I became old, having lived well past the age of a tree. And I began to feel my Lord call me. Yea, I began to feel that He would call me home. Wherefore behold, I did beg the people to call another to sit in the seat of the high priest in my stead. But they would not, preferring that I ought to be high priest to them until the day that I should be taken from among them.

13And I do finish my record. For I do believe that I shall surely lay down my life soon. Yea, I shall go unto my grandfathers and enter into that rest of the Lord that He does promise unto them who love Him.

14For I do love the Lord with all my heart. And with all my might I do worship Him. Yea, He is my wellspring, and the bread of my life. He has promised that I might be filled with His love and, behold, He has done it. Yea, He has promised that I might have His light and, behold, I do walk daily in that light.

15Behold, I have been blessed beyond all that I had thought possible. Yea, I have been blessed greatly. I have bound myself to a daughter of God and we have seen His face together.

16Our children do honor us and do us honor in all their walk and talk. Yea, in all that they have done, they have given us cause only to praise our God in them. Surely, our children are a blessing unto us.

17And behold, we have prospered in every good thing that we have undertaken. Yea, our crops do grow and our beasts multiply. Our work has been hard and sometimes we have been greatly burdened. But, with every burden under which we have bowed our backs, giving thanks unto God, behold, He has blessed us and succored us.

18And behold, has He hid His face from us? I say unto you, Nay! He has led us into His presence. And it is a great blessing to us that He does not require us to wait until the day of our death to come unto Him, and a great blessing that we may approach Him even in our bodies. For behold, He has prepared the Way before us and we do make good use of it.

19And this is the key to our prosperity, our success, and our happiness. For is it possible that we could have been so prosperous and happy without His presence in our lives? It may be possible that we might have succeeded in the wilderness, but could we claim such happiness? Or can anyone say that greater happiness can be achieved than that the Lord should prepare all things before them? Nay, but we have been blessed and prospered because of the goodness of our God.

20For the world is a wilderness and we are lost in it without the Lord. Yea, we do walk alone in darkness, hoping to find truth and health, and hoping to be able to provide for our needs. And the sun does rise upon us each day, but so also does it rise upon our enemies. Lone and dangerous is the world and filled with calamity.

21Yea, the world is full of war and of rumor of evil and without the love of God we would be as the beasts of the field and of the mountains. For, surely He does love them also, but they are left to make their way in the wild. Behold, short and bitter is the life of the wild animal, and so too would be the life of man if it were not for the Lord and His grace.

22For behold, because of Him we may become more than we are. Yea, because of His atonement, we may hope to emerge from darkness into the light of the day of His grace. Yea, and we have hope that our lives may account for a greater thing and a greater work. Behold, we may arise out of this darkness into a blessed state of happiness.

23And behold, He has provided that this life might be a type of the life that we shall enjoy hereafter. Yea, even in the midst of darkness, yet may we walk upon the Way with Him and see His face. And behold, walking with Him and in His way, we may be instructed in all things and emerge, putting down this clay and taking up great glory and exaltation.

24We shall not remain as we are but shall become even as He is. And if we are perfected in all things, then are we not made as the Father? Then are we not become as the Mother? And is this not a greater thing than we could ever imagine? Yea, is this not a blessing?

25For it is beyond hope that we could have overcome our natures without the assistance of Him who overcame all things. Yea, it is beyond hope that we could have, in this carnal, put away all carnality. Behold, it is beyond hope that we could have arisen with our mortality into immortality. Great is God and holy, for He has provided for us a way out of darkness.

26And behold, we shall rise into immortality and eternal life. Yea, because of His atonement, we shall cast aside all that is beastly. The night of our tribulation shall bring again the dawning of His glory in us. And we shall learn war no more. Surely, our swords shall we make into plowshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. And the science of war we shall teach no more unto our children. For the Lord is our vanguard and our rearguard. Yea, He shall go before us and we are girded up in His love.

27Behold, the Lord is our foundation and our sure wall. He is the buttress that does protect us from the forces of the world. He has revealed Himself to us and does not hide His face from us. We do live in His presence and He does instruct us.

28And we do come into His presence and He does make His abode with us. Surely, there can be no greater blessing from heaven than that we do walk and talk with the Lord our God. For, what calamity can compare and what tribulation can make conquest of that peace which comes only from the presence of God? his grandmother and learn wisdom. Such is our Lord unto us.

31Yea, the Nem have been blessed beyond measure. And this is also a blessing unto me, for I am Nem also. And in all that the Nem are blessed and prospered, I do esteem it blessing and prosperity unto myself.

32And even in my rememberings, of a life long past, which are full of grievous things, yet I do rejoice in my Lord. For all of my sufferings have become joy and all of my pain also. And that field of blood and crimson which I thought was all that I had left in my stead, by which the world must surely have remembered me, He has turned up and made of it as a field of white. Surely, I am the most blessed of men.

33Wherefore, I do give up this stylus and also all my tools unto my son, Shioni, and I go unto that rest which my Lord shall provide for me. Amen.

29And His yoke is not heavy. We are not bowed down by His commandments. His doctrine is simple and it is easy to live. We are edified by His spirit and the Holy Ghost is our constant companion. There is no want in our souls and we do hunger and thirst, but not for bread and wine, for of these things we have plenty. But we do hunger and thirst after righteousness because the Lord is with us.

30Behold we do honor the Lord in all things, remembering Him and His sacrifice for us. He has taken us into His household and we are His children. Yea, we do sit at the feet of our Lord and we do learn wisdom, even as a little child does sit at the feet of his grandfather or