1 NOW it came to pass that after the sons of Mosiah had done all these things, *they took a small number with them and returned to their father, the king, and desired of him that he would grant unto them that they might, with these whom they had selected, go up to the land of Nephi that they might preach the things which they had heard, and that they might impart the word of God to their brethren, the Lamanites— [ As King Mosiah still has the Urim and Thummim so he must have held some religious and or spiritual authority. So his son’s are asking for divine approval for their missions. They want to make sure the call comes from the Lord as well. Mosiah is obviously the patriarch over his sons as well. So it would not be unlikely that his sons would ask his permission and support for the desired mission. ]

2 That perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their hatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.

3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; [ Does this sound like Enos after his prayer in the forest? ] yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble. [ Notice the words they use quake and tremble - Why do you suppose they used those very words? Because it what they had experienced and the thought of dwelling in that state for an eternity was not imaginable for them - or to make anyone go through it. ]

4 And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever.

5 And it came to pass that they did plead with their father many days that they might go up to the land of Nephi. [ They had to plead with their Father for quite some time - possibly because he like many of the other people thought that it was a funny idea - as a matter of fact they were laughed to scorn - see Alma 26:23 ]

6 And king Mosiah went and inquired of the Lord if he should let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word.

7 And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; [I Haven Barlow - Speaking of the son's of Mosiah - Their calling and election made sure because of the change see the power of the change - how deep it was in vs 3 - compare their change to that of Enos and his feelings that he expressed. See the chapter heading which was part of the translation as well it says " The sons of Mosiah shall have eternal life" ] and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites. [ King Mosiah possibly does not tell his son’s everything that the Lord tells him. In Alma 26:23-27 we see that they had a rough start like most missionaries, they became depressed and were about to give up. sound familiar? Then they get on their knees and the Lord comforts them with his spirit. Alma 17:9-11 and then they continue on in preaching. How close is this to young missionaries today? They cannot possibly understand all the trials that they will be faced with before they go, good thing or they might not go. If they did not go then they would never receive the great experiences gained by humbling themselves and then being comforted by the Lord later. The sons’s of Mosiah are not super human they are like any other missionary, And LIKE THE GOOD ONES they are stalwart despite the odds against them. ]

8 And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go and do according to their request.

9 And they took their journey into the wilderness to go up to preach the word among the Lamanites; and I shall give an account [ Given in Alma 17-26 eighteen chapters after Mormon had said that he would later tell about it. How could Joseph Smith have known? Or done this without the help of a computer, notes or the fact that he was indeed translating? An author may promise in the course of writing to return to a subject later to supply further details. Actually keeping such a promise can prove difficult. Even with modern writing aids, memory can betray a person into failing to tuck in the corners of plot or information. Mormon, the editor of much of the Book of Mormon as we have it, made these types of promises at least seven times. In each case, he or his son Moroni followed through perfectly..(The Maxwell Institute - Mormon's Editorial Promises John A. Tvedtnes) ] of their proceedings hereafter.

10 Now king Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom upon, for there was not any of his sons who would accept of the kingdom.

11 Therefore he took the records which were engraven on the plates of brass, [ Or the records from Laban brought by Lehi. ] and also the plates of Nephi, [ After Nephi had begun the large plates, he was instructed by the Lord to make another set of plates to record (or the small plates) "the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them."[3] These smaller plates were kept by Nephi's descendants until about 150 BC, when the prophet Amaleki delivered the plates to Benjamin, king of Zarahemla, who "put them with the other plates, which contained records which had been handed down by the kings" (Words of Mormon 1:10). Amaleki's last writing was to state that the small plates were full (Omni 1:30) and from this point there were no further additions to the small plates. Mormon did not abridge the small plates of Nephi but he did include them in the records he gave to his son Moroni (Words of Mormon 1:6). The first six books of the Book of Mormon, from First Nephi to Omni are said to be a translation of the small plates of Nephi. Joseph Smith said the large plates of Nephi were continually maintained until about AD 385, when the prophet Mormon, seeing that the destruction of the Nephite nation was imminent, abridged the large plates of Nephi. This abridgment, with additions by Mormon's son, Moroni, was part of the set of gold plates Moroni delivered to Joseph Smith. The books within the Book of Mormon from The Words of Mormon to Fourth Nephi, are taken from Mormon's abridgment of the large plates. Although the large plates were intended for the more secular history of the Nephites, it is obvious from the version available in the Book of Mormon that there was a good deal of spiritual content as well, including sermons, prophecies and moral lessons. some periods of time are covered in more detail than others, in particular a series of wars between the Nephites and the Lamanites in the Book of Alma. Whether the uneven coverage is a reflection of the original record or is an artifact of Mormon's abridgment is not clear from the text. ] and all the things [ Includes the Urim and Thummim. ] which he had kept and preserved according to the commandments of God, after having translated and caused to be written the records which were on the plates of gold [ Jaredite plates ] which had been found by the people of Limhi, which were delivered to him by the hand of Limhi;

[- MORMON’S SUMMATION v12-19 on why keeping records are important -]

12 And this he did because of the great anxiety of his people; for they were desirous beyond measure [ They were curious - the secret was killing them - why is what has been lost and then found seem to be of so much more worth than that just passed down? Current scriptures compared to new found scriptures. ] to know concerning those people who had been destroyed.

13 And now he [ Mosiah ] translated them [ The Jaradite records that were found by the people of Limhi while they were trying to find the city of Zarahemla. ] by the means of those two stones which were fastened into the two rims of a bow. [ Urim and Thummin see Mosiah 8:13; Anciently, the Mayans are known to have something similar to glasses, although the symbolism and use is unclear. Attached is a picture of the Yax K’uk Mo’ from Copan, which is estimated to have been a Mayan King circa 500AD. Joseph Smith described them as “two transparent stones set in a rim of a [silver] bow fastened to a breast plate” HofC 4:537; JS-H 1:35 ]

14 Now these things [ The Urim and Thummim. ] were prepared from the beginning, and were handed down from generation to generation, for the purpose of interpreting [ In the Hebrew tradition to interpret something means to make a connection with something in the Torah ( The first 5 Books of Moses in the Old Testament ). This is done to communicate greater teachings, and direct the reader to specific scriptures and teachings. When the word interpreted is used it is a key for us that there are hidden teachings for in the Torah relating to this topic, go look for it. ] languages;

15 And they have been kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he should discover to every creature who should possess the land the iniquities and abominations of his people;

16 And whosoever has these things is called seer, after the manner of old times.

17 Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, [ Interesting that when Mosiah II finally translates the Jaredite records, he doesn't use the name "Tower of Babel" like Genesis does. He instead simply calls it "the great tower.’(Gen 11:9; Mosiah 28:17) Later on, Moroni also calls it “the great tower”(Ether 1:33). This all fits into other writings as according to The Book of Jasher it was not called the “Tower of Babel” until after the languages were confounded. So the Jaradites would have been gone before the tower received its name “tower of Babel” before that according to the Book Of Jasher it was simply called the “Great Tower”. The Jaradites would have been contemporaries of Abraham. Why were they left out of the Old Testament? Well that would smack the traditional scribes right in the face, as the Jaradites were promised a "land choice above all of the earth", such a promise would not have been thought very highly of by the scribes who did all that they could to lift up the kingdom of Judah. The fact that another group could be highly favored of the Lord would have been blaspheme. The Jaradites would have been the first non-covenant group, a group of Gentiles who were given a chance at a covenant relationship with God, well that was not going to fit well into their view of things. So tha canonizers choose to just remove it altogether. According to the Book Of Jasher Abraham was right there at the same time. Jasher 10:“1 And Peleg the son of Eber died in those days, in the forty-eighth year of the life of Abram son of Terah, and all the days of Peleg were two hundred and thirty-nine years. 2 And when the Lord had scattered the sons of men on account of their sin at the tower, behold they spread forth into many divisions, and all the sons of men were dispersed into the four corners of the earth. 3 And all the families became each according to its language, its land, or its city.” This fits right into the story we have in the Book Of Mormon found in Ether 1. So we have Nimrod building the tower, the same Nimrod who tried to kill Abraham as a young man. Now Abraham is an adult and is still dealing with the same wickedness, the wickedness that caused the Jaradites to leave. ] at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam. [ The first records of the creation of Adam were given to the early prophets directly first hand by Adam himself. 2nd Lecture on Faith. ]

18 Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; [ What reasons would they have for feeling sorrow? Obviously the pain and suffering their brothers and sisters had to go thru, not so obvious - the fact that much of their tribulation could have been prevented if they had kept the commandments] nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice. [ Note the emotions that the people had: Compare 25:5-8 for a similar reaction to Zeniff's and Alma's records. ]

19 And this account shall be written hereafter; [ The entire account is  the Book of Ether. Mormon said that he would later give the story of the Jaredites. He made this statement at the point where he mentioned that King Mosiah had translated the record of that people. Apparently the problems he faced in his role as commander of the Nephite armies in his people's battles against the Lamanites kept him from abridging the Jaredite record. But his son, Moroni, fulfilled the promise by giving us the Book of Ether. So Moroni preserved the Book of Mormon editorial pattern of not failing to cover what was promised, even though it took a generation. How could Joseph Smith have known? Or done this without the help of a computer, notes or the fact that he was indeed translating? An author may promise in the course of writing to return to a subject later to supply further details. Actually keeping such a promise can prove difficult. Even with modern writing aids, memory can betray a person into failing to tuck in the corners of plot or information. Mormon, the editor of much of the Book of Mormon as we have it, made these types of promises at least seven times. In each case, he or his son Moroni followed through perfectly..(The Maxwell Institute - Mormon's Editorial Promises John A. Tvedtnes) ] for behold, it is expedient that all people should know the things which are written in this account.

20 And now, as I said unto you, that after king Mosiah had done these things, [ What are these things? He had translated the records and then shared them with the people. ] he took the plates of brass, and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma, [ Suggesting that it was more than just handing them over to him. ] who was the son of Alma; yea, all the records, and also the interpreters, and conferred them upon him, [ Once again they were conferred not just given to him.] and commanded him [ King Mosiah provides instruction to Alma as to what he expects him to do with the records. He does not ask him but gives him a calling using the priesthood which he holds. ] that he should keep and preserve them, and also keep a record of the people, handing them down from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem.