1 NOW it came to pass in the *sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were no contentions nor wars in the land of Zarahemla;

2 But the people were afflicted, yea, greatly afflicted for the loss of their brethren, and also for the loss of their flocks and herds, and also for the loss of their fields of grain, which were trodden under foot and destroyed by the Lamanites.

3 And so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them because of their wickedness and their abominations; therefore they were awakened to a remembrance of their duty.

4 And they began to establish the church more fully; yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon and were joined to the church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the high priest over the people of the church, by the hand of his father Alma.

5 And it came to pass in the *seventh year of the reign of the judges there were about three thousand five hundred souls that united themselves to the church of God and were baptized. And thus ended the seventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi; and there was continual peace in all that time.

6 And it came to pass in the *eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud , [ Why do they begin to become proud? Because they start to be blessed with material things and in that they do not recognize the source of those blessings. God. ] because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which they had obtained by their industry; [ At least this is whom they fell to give credit for the blessings as a result they become proud, and maybe we could also say ungrateful. ] and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel.

7 Now this was the cause of much affliction to Alma, yea, and to many of the people whom Alma had consecrated to be teachers, and priests, and elders over the church; yea, many of them were sorely grieved for the wickedness which

8 For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their hearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did not believe according to their own will and pleasure. [ How might we say that today? They develop a Holier than thou attitude, it you do not see things like I do than you are not as righteous as I am... ]

9 And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; [ Interesting to note that the contentions occur in the same year as the pride does. Why? Pride causes us to cast judgement, we are better than so and so as a result we see others in a different light, we tend to see differences not the things that we have in common. Who is the primary case of the current persecution? Members of the church. How does that differ from the persecution of the members found in Mosiah 26? In Mosiah 26 the persecution was coming from those outside of the church, here it is coming from within, and the outsiders are put off by the behavior vs 10. . ] yea, there were envyings, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God.

10 And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress. [ What was the council given to the members of the church back in Mosiah 27:13? "nothing shall overthrow [my church], save it is the transgression of my people". Now we can see the prophecy being fulfilled. Once again the importance of following the council of the prophet and how not doing so will slowly lead you into trouble. ]

11 And it came to pass in the *commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people.

12 Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, [ Whoa - Were they had equality among them because they were living the law of consecration (Alma 1:27) - the inequality had ceased and they appear to not be living the law any longer. ] some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted.

13 Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions, for Christ’s sake,

14 Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; [ The phrase "remission of sins" is one not found in the KJV OT, it is only found in the NT, cf. Matt 26:28; Luke 1:77. The same general concept is found in the OT but the wording is phrased as "forgiveness of sins", "atonement for sins" or something to that effect. It is only mentioned 8 times in the Book Of Mormon. The First mention is in 2 Ne 25:26 & then again in Mosiah during King Benjamins address. Remission is defined as "Discharge from that which is due; relinquishment of a claim, right, or obligation; pardon of transgression; release from forfeiture, penalty, debt". In other words a Savior that will discharge us from the punishment that is due.. Notice here that he is specifically speaking of the Savior here and his role in forgiveness of our sin - and why they should look forward to his coming in the flesh. The principal taught here may come from the tradition of the Jews and further demonstrates the need for a Savior to atone for our sins. To understand Jewish culture is to understand that forgiveness is between God and the individual. If one confesses his sins to God then they are gone, they disappear, they did not happen. Therefore they have no need for a Savior to remit their sins for them - since if they will only confess they are in simple legal terms acquitted of the sin. In their view only God himself can "forgive sin", only God himself can "atone for sin". ] being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death.

15 And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecutions which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless the Spirit of the Lord did not fail

16 And he selected a wise man who was among the elders of the church, and gave him power according to the voice of the people, that he might have power to enact laws according to the laws which had been given, and to put them in force according to the wickedness and the crimes of the people.

17 Now this man’s name was Nephihah, and he was appointed chief judge; and he sat in the judgment-seat to judge and to govern the people.

18 Now Alma did not grant unto him the office of being high priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment-seat unto Nephihah. [ Alma gives up his position in the government as chief judge; but does not give up his position of high priest as he sees that this must be done in order to change the coarse of the people. ]

19 And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, [minister] or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them.

20 And thus in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment-seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation and prophecy. [ Did he give up the judgement seat because he was revealed that he should, or was he fulfilling his duty using the spirit pf revelation? Or both? ]