1 AND it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had commanded him, [ To gather all of the people in the land of Zarahemla to the grounds of the temple so that King Benjamin could address them all. Mosiah 1: 10 ] and had made a proclamation throughout all the land, that the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them.

2 And there were a great number, even so many that they did not number them; [ There were a lot of them; and while they were not numbered we find that in Mosiah 6:1 those who made covenants were recorded as doing so. ] for they had multiplied exceedingly and waxed great in the land.

3 And they also took of the firstlings of their flocks, that they might offer sacrifice and burnt offerings according to the law of Moses; [ So we are left with the idea that maybe the people were coming anyway; just that King Benjamin had them come a day early. As they bring sacrificial offerrings akin to the Feast of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles which marks the end of the harvest time. The people are also instructed to return to their homes when King Benjamin concludes his remarks. So we clearly do not have all the details here. A sukkah is the name of the temporary dwelling in which farmers would live during harvesting, a fact connecting to the agricultural significance of the holiday stressed by the Book of Exodus. As stated in Leviticus, it is also intended as a reminiscence of the type of fragile dwellings in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of travel in the desert after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten inside the sukkah and many people sleep there as well. ]

4 And also that they might give thanks to the Lord their God, who had brought them out of the land of Jerusalem, and who had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies, and had appointed just men to be their teachers, and also a just man to be their king, who had established peace in the land of Zarahemla, and who had taught them to keep the commandments of God, that they might rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.

5 And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another.

6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, [ Interesting that tents are mentioned. If the notice was such a short notice then most of the traveled a very short distance; so why bring a tent? Were they already coming for Sukkot (or feast of the tabernacles)? If they were already gathering for that then why would King Benjamin have needed to summon them? ] every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;

7 For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected, [ Since the notice was short the planning to build a tower appears to be short as well. so did they just go down to the lumber store? where their supplies on hand around town? Where there vendors who supplied materials for the tents used in the festive of the tabernacles, so they were around with supplies that you could just purchase if you needed. ] that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them.

8 And it came to pass that he began to speak to his people from the tower; and they could not all hear his words because of the greatness of the multitude; therefore he caused that the words which he spake should be written [ He set a scribe to written them down as they were spoken - it appears to be done not after the fact. ] and sent forth among those that were not under the sound of his voice, that they might also receive his words.

9 And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, [ The dictionary says that the verb ‘trifle’ means to talk or act jokingly, mockingly, or lightly. To play or toy with something. The noun refers to something of little value of importance. A trivial thing or idea. Benjamin does not want his people to trifle with his words. How do we trifle with The law of chastity? General Conference? The scriptures? The sacrament? The priesthood?, Church callings?, Family obligations?] but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view. [ King Benjamin discloses the reason why he had them assemble here today. ]

10 I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.

11 But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me.

12 I say unto you that as I have been suffered to spend my days in your service, even up to this time, and have not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches of you;

13 Neither have I suffered that ye should be confined in dungeons, nor that ye should make slaves one of another, nor that ye should murder, or plunder, or steal, or commit adultery; nor even have I suffered that ye should commit any manner of wickedness, and have taught you that ye should keep the commandments of the Lord, in all things which he hath commanded you—

14 And even I, myself, have labored with mine own hands that I might serve you, and that ye should not be laden with taxes, and that there should nothing come upon you which was grievous to be borne—and of all these things which I have spoken, ye yourselves are witnesses this day. [ He is not a normal King nor has he done those thing usually done by a King. ]

15 Yet, my brethren, I have not done these things that I might boast, neither do I tell these things that thereby I might accuse you; but I tell you these things that ye may know that I can answer a clear conscience before God this day. [ What message do you suppose that he is trying to put forth to them here? ]

16 Behold, I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, [ King Benjamin explains that he has lead the people based on service. as he has served them he served God. Which was his intent. In other word he is expressing that he has been a good king for them because of his humble attitude toward the people - they are not there for him but rather he for them. He is also implying that if you want to stay humble then you need to serve others. He also expressed a couple of other concepts for staying humble 1) Be thankful for what you are given. vs 19-21; 2) Your blessing vs 22; 3) How you are really indebted to the Lord vs 23-25] for I have only been in the service of God.

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; [ Learn without have to experience the opposite first hand. What exactly is that principle? It is the pattern that is if you will take the time to consider that you are in debt to God; then you will want to serve him; if you want to serve him the best way is to serve those around you - his children. ] that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God. [ Elder Robert J Whetten of the seventy explained how the service we render to others can be used to measure the depth of our personal conversion: “Conversion means consecrating your life to caring for and serving others who need your help and sharing your gifts and blessings. . . .

“Every unselfish act of kindness and service increases your spirituality. God would use you to bless others. Your continued spiritual growth and eternal progress are very much wrapped up in your relationships—in how you treat others. Do you indeed love others and become a blessing in their lives? Isn’t the measure of the level of your conversion how you treat others? The person who does only those things in the Church that concern himself alone will never reach the goal of perfection. Service to others is what the gospel and exalted life are all about” (in Conference Report, Apr. 2005, 96; or Ensign, May 2005, 91).

Apostles helped us understand that in addition to what service we do, it is very important why we do it:

“The last motive . . . is, in my opinion, the highest reason of all. In its relationship to service, it is what the scriptures call ‘a more excellent way’ (1 Corinthians 12:31). . . .

“If our service is to be most efficacious, it must be accomplished for the love of God and the love of his children” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1984, 16; or Ensign, Nov. 1984, 14). ]

18 Behold, ye have called me your king; [ As if to say if any one should not serve the people it is me your king] and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another? [ So if I have done it then there is no excuse why you do not do it. ]

19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, [ If you think it appropriate to thank me wait a minute - I only gave you a few things think about what God has given you before you try to thank me. ] O how you ought to thank your heavenly King!

20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending [ 1. To grant to another for temporary use, on the express or implied condition that the thing shall be returned; as, to lend a book; or; 2. To grant for temporary use, on condition of receiving a compensation at certain periods for the use of the thing, and an ultimate return of the thing, or its full value. Thus money is lent on condition of receiving interest for the use, and of having the principal sum returned at the stipulated time. lend is correlative to borrow.; 3. To permit to use for another's benefit. A lent his name to obtain money from the bank. ] you breath, [ 1. The air inhaled and expelled in respiration; 2. Life itself; 3. The state or power of breathing freely; opposed to a state of exhaustion from violent action; as, I am out of breath; I am scarce in breath; ] that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, [ Use the agency that he has provided for us. ] and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. [ Unprofitable does not mean useless or worthless; but it does mean that no matter how well they do as a worker they will not provide a good return on their investment as the investment in them is and always will be greater than the return. There is nothing that you can do to get ahead of God. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that we should spend all our days in pursuit of eternal life as a means of showing gratitude for the debt Jesus Christ paid on our behalf: “How can we ever repay the debt we owe to the Savior? He paid a debt He did not owe to free us from a debt we can never pay. Because of Him we will live forever. Because of His infinite Atonement, our sins can be swept away, allowing us to experience the greatest of all the gifts of God: eternal life [see D&C 14:7]. “Can such a gift have a price? Can we ever make compensation for such a gift? The Book of Mormon prophet King Benjamin taught ‘that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess . . . [and] serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants’ [Mosiah 2:20–21]” (in Conference Report, Apr. 2004, 44; or Ensign, May 2004, 43). gratitude for what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give us is to keep the commandments. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) taught: “We are extremely ungrateful to our Father and to his Beloved son when in all humility with ‘broken hearts and contrite spirits’ we are unwilling to keep the commandments. The violation of any divine commandment is a most ungrateful act, considering all that has been accomplished for us through the atonement of our Savior. “We will never be able to pay the debt. The gratitude of our hearts should be filled to overflowing in love and obedience for his great and tender mercy. For what he has done, we should never fail him. He bought us with a price, the price of his great suffering and the spilling of his blood in sacrifice on the cross. “Now, he has asked us to keep his commandments. He says they are not grievous, and there are so many of us who are not willing to do it. I am speaking now generally of the people of the earth. We are not willing to do it. That certainly is ingratitude. We are ungrateful. “Every member of this Church who violates the Sabbath day, who is not honest in the paying of his tithing, who will not keep the Word of Wisdom, who willfully violates any of the other commandments the Lord has given us, is ungrateful to the son of God, and when ungrateful to the son of God is ungrateful to the Father who sent him” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:131–32).]

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; [ Why is that - that we prosper if we keep the commandments? Because as we keep his commandments we are making decisions based on the way that God would make them, as a result we are really becoming like him and doing his work. When that is happening we have aligned ourself with his purpose thise things which he is doing; so we in essence are working together. Prosper means to have God's presence with them. ] and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

25 And now I ask, can ye say aught [ All, everything so we cannot say that we in an of ours selves are all that there is, or that we are everything. ] of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you. [ A response leveled directly at those who would say that it is my body I can do with it as I choose. King Benjamin points out that it is simply not so; your body belongs to God. While here on earth he does allow you stewardship over it in order for us to learn but the body itself belongs to God. Paul taught that "ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" 1 Cor 6:20. ]

26 And I, even I, whom ye call your king, am no better than ye yourselves are; for I am also of the dust. [ We are all created from the same raw material by God. So one person cannot be above the other. ] And ye behold that I am old, and am about to yield up this mortal frame to its mother earth.

27 Therefore, as I said unto you that I had served you, walking with a clear conscience before God, [ King Benjamin get's back to the real purpose of why he called them together. To preach the gospel and call them to repentance, so that he can have a clear conscience before God as he has done his part. ] even so I at this time have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might be found blameless, and that your blood should not come upon me, [ See Jacob 1:19 ] when I shall stand to be judged of God of the things whereof he hath commanded me concerning you. [ Just as any good leader does who is in Gods service - we wonder what more we could do to help those whom we are called to lead. Here King Benjamin wants to make sure that he has taught them what he should have; so he is going to make sure that if he has not he will do it now so that he is not responsible for not doing so.]

28 I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together that I might rid my garments of your blood, at this period of time when I am about to go down to my grave, that I might go down in peace, and my immortal spirit may join the choirs above in singing the praises of a just God.

29 And moreover, I say unto you that I have caused that ye should assemble yourselves together, that I might declare unto you that I can no longer be your teacher, nor your king;

30 For even at this time, my whole frame doth tremble exceedingly while attempting to speak unto you; but the Lord God doth support me, and hath suffered me that I should speak unto you, and hath commanded me that I should declare unto you this day, that my son Mosiah is a king and a ruler over you.

31 And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have hitherto done. [ Or just because there is a new leader do not start to slack off - but continue as you have. ] As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of my father, and have prospered, and have been kept from falling into the hands of your enemies, even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land, and your enemies shall have no power over you.

32 But, O my people, beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit, which was spoken of by my father Mosiah. [ We do not have these teachings anywhere today. ]

33 For behold, there is a wo [ Grief; sorrow; misery; a heavy calamity. A curse. ] pronounced [ Spoken; uttered; solemnly declared. ] upon him who listeth to obey that spirit; for if he listeth to obey him, and remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. [ When a person knows what is right and does not do it, he or she not only violates the actual law, but puts himself or herself in a state of opposition to God—a serious offense in and of itself. ]

34 I say unto you, that there are not any among you, except it be your little children that have not been taught concerning these things, but what knoweth that ye are eternally indebted to your heavenly Father, to render to him all that you have and are; and also have been taught concerning the records which contain the prophecies which have been spoken by the holy prophets, even down to the time our father, Lehi, left Jerusalem;

35 And also, all that has been spoken by our fathers until now. And behold, also, they spake that which was commanded them of the Lord; therefore, they are just and true.

36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, [ What things? 1) vs 17 - when we serve others we are serving God; 2) vs 22 - That all we need to do is to keep his commandments. That we must harken to the spirit that prompts us to follow God's commandments. ] if ye should transgress [ act in disregard of laws and rules, The transgression is something that we voluntarily do. ] and go contrary to that which has been spoken, [ Whether it be the scriptures or that still small voice that is prompting you. So you know what the commandments are and you go against what you know. ] that ye do [ Our actions. ] withdraw [ Put distance between. ] yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, [ Look at it from this perspective - if the spirit prompts you to do something and you do not then you have made a conscious choice; you are learning and listening to something else. In essence you are training yourself to listen to something else. Then you continue to repeat that process over and over continuing to train yourself to listen elsewhere. ] that it may have no place in you to guide [ The Lord will not infringe on a persons free agency, see story of Jonah he will only give direction to those that ask, so if we do not ask or if we cannot hear the Lord can/will have little influence in our lives. ] you in wisdom’s paths [ Go where the Lord wants us to go; the path chosen by an all loving, all knowning God who seeing from eternity to eternity. ] that ye may be blessed, prospered, [this is what the Lord wants for us, to bless us, prosper us] and preserved— [ To keep or save from injury or destruction; to defend from evil. preserved for what? Eternal life – we can complete

[ In other words it is easier for him to help those who are listening and want help than those who do/are not. The Lord can help us much better if we are part of the process; it is easier for him to do that than try to influence us with outside circumstances. Once again we see the principle of agency applied. IF we listen and respond we are exercising our agency for good; if we choose to disobey we are exercising our agency and the Lord may try to humble use but if we are not listening and following him then we are following someone or something else. If the Lords wants us to receive certain blessing then we can best be in a place to receive them by listening to him and being in the place where he wants us to be in order to bless us. In a society where wickedness is in the majority, this necessarily requires the righteous to be more flexible in order to be blessed. One cannot expect God to impinge on other's free agency in order to bless them, so one has to be willing to go where the Spirit tells them so they can be blessed according to their needs. And, if a person spurns the Spirit, they end up wandering into trouble on their own because they have nothing outside themselves to guide them. ]

37 I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, [ Does not listen to the spirit; willingly disobey's the laws and commands of God. ] the same cometh out in open rebellion [ An open and avowed renunciation of the authority of the government to which one owes allegiance. So when you know the commandments (verse 36) and you go against what you know, you are then rebelling against the author of those commandments. ] against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; [ Why because you either in Gods camp or the enemies camp you cannot be in both. ] therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples. [ If you are in open rebellion against God then you do not have the character of wanting to be like God, wanting to have a character like God. If you do not have the character to be like God then you cannot be in his presence. So if the Lord cannot dwell in us then there is good reason why we cannot enter his holy house either. ]

38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, [ If that man does not change his ways from not listening to the spirit; to listening to the spirt; and keeping the commandments. ] and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands [ Or the ETERNAL LAW that no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. To ask or call for, as one who has a claim or right to receive what is sought; to claim or seek as due by right. The creditor demands principal and interest of his debt. Here the claim is derived from law or justice. ] of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively [ Brisk; vigorous; vivacious; active; ] sense of his own guilt, [ Interesting that just because you choose not to listen to the spirit now and allow your life to be guided by its influence; just because you are not connecting with the guilt of what you have or are doing does not mean that you will not feel that when you die; and at that point it is too late. Your soul has made its bed and now must sleep in it. Justice will have to prevail and as such you will be left to the feelings of sorrow and grief, and guilt for what you could have had; it you had only listened to the spirit which at one point did guild you, and kept the commandments. ] which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, [ From what? When this life is over and we can again see the whole picture we will remember the grand council in heaven, we will remember what was promised us and what we needed to do. When our eternal soul is connected to us an we remember everything from our premortal life we will - like it or not completely know the commandments were for us; we will then without hesitation know what we should have done and will then feel the guilt for that which we did not do. ] and pain, [ From what? I suppose the pain is real as we will be constantly reminded of what we could have had; what we could have been - and the reminder will be every moment for all of eternity. ] and anguish, [ From what? ] which is like an unquenchable [ That cannot be quenched; that will never be extinguished; inextinguishable. Matthew 3:12. Luke 3:17. ] fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.

39 And now I say unto you, that mercy [ That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being. Why? because it cannot; there must be a balance between mercy and justice. If mercy just had free claim on everything then justice would be fwarted. ] hath no claim [ A demand of a right or supposed right; a calling on another for something due, or supposed to be due; as a claim of wages for services. A claim implies a right or supposed right in the claimant to something which is in another's possession or power. A claim may be made in words, by suit, and by other means. The word is usually preceded by make or lay; to make claim; to lay claim ] on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment.

40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. [ King Benjamin desires to leave them on a positive note with the idea that if they will look and see how the Lord blesses the righteous then why would you not want to be part of that group and blessed accordingly. ] For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; [ Look at both sides of the picture as to how they are blessed. We often look at people and from a worldly perspective seem to be very well blessed without Gods help; but may times their lives are a mess both temporally and spiritually - the spiritual blessings are eternal. ] and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.