1 NOW it was in the law of Mosiah that every man who was a judge of the law, or those who were appointed to be judges, should receive wages according to the time which they labored to judge those who were brought before them to be judged.

2 Now if a man owed another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the judge; and the judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber.

3 And the judge received for his wages according to his time—a senine of gold for a day, or a senum of silver, which is equal to a senine of gold; and this is according to the law which was given.

4 Now these are the names of the different pieces of their gold, and of their silver, according to their value. And the names are given by the Nephites, for they did not reckon after the manner of the Jews who were at Jerusalem; neither did they measure after the manner of the Jews; but they altered their reckoning and their measure, according to the minds and the circumstances of the people, in every generation, until the reign of the judges, they having been established by king Mosiah.

5 Now the reckoning is thus—a senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold, and a limnah of gold.

6 A senum of silver, an amnor of silver, an ezrom of silver, and an onti of silver.

7 A senum of silver was equal to a senine of gold, and either for a measure of barley, [ Since the discovery among the Hohokam archaeological sites in Arizona in 1983, it has been discovered that little barley (Hordeum pussilum) is native to the Americas. It was first discovered in the “Midwest during the Middle Archaic period, at two locationally-close sites. The earliest record came from the Koster North site in central west Illinois, dating to 7,300 B.P. Hordeum pusillumalso occurred at the Napoleon Hollow site, beginning at 6,800 B.P.”[4]Archaeologists are now finding barley in several sites all over North America. Barley has now been discovered in archaeological sites in the following places: Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Mexico. https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/barley-and-book-mormon-new-evidence ] and also for a measure of every kind of grain. [ Where did Mosiah’s system of weights and measures come from? We aren’t told, but we do know from Mosiah 1:2–5 that King Benjamin taught his sons “in all the language of his fathers,” including “the language of the Egyptians,” So that they could read the engravings on the plates of brass. No doubt, one of the first things Mosiah and his brothers would have learned was how to count in Egyptian, a basic part of any language. In the early twentieth century, a mathematical papyrus was found that shows us how precise and elegant the ancient Egyptian system of weights and measures actually was. Interestingly, the mathematical symbols for counting in the marketplace were all related to the “wedjat eye,” or the right eye of Horus. Altogether, it was a symbol of protection, royal power, and complete good health, as well as a full measure of grain. When broken into its parts, moving around the eye, each part became the glyph that represented that fraction of the full measure. so, the pupil was 1⁄4, the eyebrow was 1/8, the eyelash was 1/32, and the tear duct was (sadly) only 1/64. This system was binary (each measure was half the size of the previous measure), and there were six of these weights or measures with the seventh being the sum of them all, just like the system inaugurated by King Mosiah. Moreover, in the beginning of legal history in Mesopotamia, a king named Eshnunna (1770 B.C., just before Hammurabi) set forth a body of laws. His law code began, as its first matter of business, by establishing how much silver was worth how much barley, and then how much silver it took to purchase how much sesame, and so forth. This was an immense step forward in establishing a kingdom-wide economy with regulated ratios and established proportions. These laws in the kingdom of Eshnunna allowed people to deal confidently in the marketplace with barley, silver, oil, lard, wool, salt, bitumen, and refined and unrefined copper. And this was one more thing that King Mosiah’s system also did, allowing people to convert between precious metals and “every kind of grain” (11:7). This was an early form of price regulation, so that people could not overcharge. They also could not create artificial scarcity on a commodity like corn in order to price gouge. It was a big step forward in creating a viable market economy, but at the same time it could also be subject to abuse, as is seen with the lawyers and judges of Ammonihah. By combining the binary aspect of the Egyptian grain measure with the commodities conversion feature found in the earliest Mesopotamian laws, Mosiah (perhaps unwittingly, but maybe intentionally) brought together cultural contributions from both the Nephite (Egyptian) and the Mulekite (Near Eastern, Jaredite, and Mesopotamian) worlds. And recent interest in the complex and long-term use of standardized accounting practices and currencies in the ancient Maya world offers students of the Book of Mormon yet another glimpse into why the details about Mosiah system of weights and measures were reported as they were in the book of Alma. ]

8 Now the amount of a seon of gold was twice the value of a senine.

9 And a shum of gold was twice the value of a seon.

10 And a limnah of gold was the value of them all.

11 And an amnor of silver was as great as two senums.

12 And an ezrom of silver was as great as four senums.

13 And an onti was as great as them all.

14 Now this is the value of the lesser numbers of their reckoning—

15 A shiblon is half of a senum; therefore, a shiblon for half a measure of barley.

16 And a shiblum is a half of a shiblon.

17 And a leah is the half of a shiblum.

18 Now this is their number, according to their reckoning.

19 Now an antion of gold is equal to three shiblons.

20 Now, it was for the sole purpose to get gain, because they received their wages according to their employ, therefore, they did stir up the people to riotings, and all manner of disturbances and wickedness, [ Wow do we see this kind of activity in the world today? People who hire others to see an opportunity for a riot and then employ others to go increase the disruption. It is often the most easy to capture the hearts and minds of those who feel entitled or discriminated against, or persecuted. Once they are in a frenzied state they are often easily manipulated, they can be used to replace one idea with another until they often are not sure what they are fighting about other than they were mad when they started the riot and now they are increasing more mad as they have more to be upset about. ] , that they might have more employ, that they might get money according to the suits which were brought before them; therefore they did stir up the people against Alma and Amulek.

21 And this Zeezrom began to question Amulek, saying: Will ye answer me a few questions which I shall ask you? Now Zeezrom was a man who was expert in the devices of the devil, that he might destroy that which was good; therefore, he said unto Amulek: Will ye answer the questions which I shall put unto you?

22 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. And Zeezrom said unto him: Behold, here are six onties of silver, [ Or about 42 days worth of professional labor Judgeship revenue. So this was a pretty good bribe. See verse 3, then calculated using verses 5-13] and all these will I give thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a Supreme Being.

23 Now Amulek said: O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?

24 Believest thou that there is no God? I say unto you, Nay, thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that lucre more than him. [ Amulek has decerned the soul of Zeezrom; and knows that he knows full well that there is a God, but that is not were he makes his living. ]

25 And now thou hast lied before God unto me. Thou saidst unto me—Behold these six onties, which are of great worth, I will give unto thee—when thou hadst it in thy heart to retain them from me; and it was only thy desire that I should deny the true and living God, that thou mightest have cause to destroy me. And now behold, for this great evil thou shalt have thy reward.

26 And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God?

27 And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God.

28 Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God?

29 And he answered, No.

30 Now Zeezrom said unto him again: How knowest thou these things?

31 And he said: An angel hath made them known unto me.

32 And Zeezrom said again: Who is he that shall come? Is it the son of God?

33 And he said unto him, Yea.

34 And Zeezrom said again: Shall he save his people in their sins? [ Satan’s original plan of not losing one soul and being saved in sin. ] And Amulek answered and said unto him: I say unto you he shall not, for it is impossible for him to deny his word.

35 Now Zeezrom said unto the people: See that ye remember these things; [ He thinks he has set the trap for Amulek - So he tells the people o remember what Amulek has said because Zeezrom plans to use it to catch Amulek] for he said there is but one God; yet he saith that the son of God shall come, but he shall not save his people— [Zeezrom try's to argue that now Amulek is saying that there is really 2 Gods - which is it; then that God will not save his people; proposing that God does not have the power to save them. How quickly he has twisted the words of Amulek. ] as though he had authority to command God.

36 Now Amulek saith again unto him: Behold thou hast lied, [ You have twisted the truth - lied in doing so Zeezrom. ] for thou sayest that I spake as though I had authority to command God because I said he shall not save his people in their sins.

37 And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; [ So I will tell you again - I did not say that God could not save his people, I said that God would not save any people in their sins, there is a difference and you know it Zeezrom. ] for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; [ This is a foundational and ETERNAL LAW. (2 Ne. 2:5; 3 Ne. 27:19; 1 Ne. 10:21; 1 Ne. 15:34; Alma 7:21; Hel. 8:25; Moses 6:57; Eph. 5:5-6) ] therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins. [ Again because of the law which is that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven. ]

38 Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the son of God the very Eternal Father?

39 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;

40 And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else. [ Mercy is applied ONLY to those who believe in him and exercise faith in him by changing their character to be like him. ]

41 Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, [ Because the laws of justice will be applied. ] except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, [ Because of his grace unto everyone, everyone will rise from the dead and be resurrected - everyone. ] and be judged according to their works.

42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.

43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; [ The plan of redemption is really a plan of restoration. Note the 3 things that are restore to use during the resurrection First the body is restored with the spirit. ] both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, [2) the body is restored in it's perfect form. Our body will be made perfect. ] even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, [3) The body is restored to the presence of God for judgment. (Mosiah 2:38-39) ] knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. [4) Our total memory is restored, as well as our character who we are. This memory will hold both mortal and premortal recollections and this recollection does not appear at death but a resurrection. ]

44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.

45 Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.

46 Now, when Amulek had finished these words the people began again to be astonished, and also Zeezrom began to tremble. [See Alma 12:1, 7] And thus ended the words of Amulek, or this is all that I have written.