1 NOW when Mosiah had done this [ He had finished the translation of the records and had read them to the people. Then he took the brass plates and the Urim and Thummim and conferred them upon Alma with instructions of what he wanted him to do with them going forward. ] he sent out throughout all the land, among all the people, desiring to know their will concerning who should be their king.

2 And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: We are desirous that Aaron thy son should be our king and our ruler.

3 Now Aaron had gone up to the land of Nephi, therefore the king could not confer the kingdom upon him; neither would Aaron take upon him the kingdom; neither were any of the sons of Mosiah willing to take upon them the kingdom.

4 Therefore king Mosiah sent again among the people; [ Suggesting that they are not going to get their way with that one so are their any other suggestions. ] yea, even a written [ It is important enough that it is written so that everyone can read and respond. ] word sent he among the people. And these were the words that were written, saying: [ Verses 5-32 are the quotation of that letter itself. ]

5 Behold, O ye my people, or my brethren, for I esteem you as such, I desire that ye should consider the cause which ye are called to consider—for ye are desirous to have a king. [ Having a king is what the people want because their current experience with their king has been favorable, with his help they have prospered and have chosen to do go and have been blessed as a people. So King Mosiah needs to do something. ]

6 Now I declare unto you that he to whom the kingdom doth rightly belong [ Aaron - King Mosiah's son. ] has declined, and will not take upon him the kingdom. [ Why? Because he knew what pride had done to him before and did not want to be close to being in a position where it might corrupt him. In other words he and his brothers wanted to stay as far away from it as they could. ]

7 And now if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear there would rise contentions among you. [ Why? Because if they do not like how the king is doing things you just break off, or over through the king. Either way that would not be good either and King Mosiah is trying to keep the people from being put in that position. He is a pretty wise man. ] And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause of shedding much blood and perverting the way of the Lord, yea, and destroy the souls of many people.

8 Now I say unto you let us be wise and consider these things, for we have no right to destroy my son, [ Which might happen if one of his son's were made King - even his son's recognize this and so the do not want to be the King. ] neither should we have any right to destroy another if he should be appointed in his stead. [ Referring to the position that the king selected from the people might be put in if he does not rule as his son's think he should rule. So in other words: he is protecting his son's from gaining power and pride from being King; and also trying to not put them in a position were the people come to them and complain about the new king and what he is doing wrong and then the people convincing one of King Mosiah's son's to become involved in an over-through such that he now has power and is still put in the position that he is trying hard to avoid. ]

9 And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things [ In essence if my son is afraid that he will get sucked into the same traps that he did before. The power that came from his dads standing in the government - now it would be his standing in the government. If that is what he is fearful of then he is better and the people are better if we do not put him in that position. ] he would recall the things which he had said, and claim his right to the kingdom, which would cause him and also this people to commit much sin.

10 And now let us be wise and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people.

11 Therefore I will be your king the remainder of my days; nevertheless, let us appoint judges, [ Let's begin now to transition our form of government. ] to judge this people according to our law; and we will newly arrange the affairs of this people, for we will appoint wise men to be judges, that will judge this people according to the commandments of God.

12 Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just.

13 Therefore, if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of God, and judge this people according to his commandments, yea, if ye could have men for your kings who would do even as my father Benjamin did for this people—I say unto you, if this could always be the case then it would be expedient that ye should always have kings to rule over you.

14 And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed, to teach you the commandments of God, and to establish peace throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity;

15 And whosoever has committed iniquity, him have I punished according to the crime which he has committed, according to the law which has been given to us by our fathers.

16 Now I say unto you, that because all men are not just it is not expedient that ye should have a king or kings to rule over you.

17 For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction! [ Remember that King Mosiah has just finished translating the records of the Jaradites who were destroyed by the hands of the wicked kings. The brother of Jared made his comments about government as well in Ether 6:22-23 which may have added to King Mosiah's suggestions. Note how the Lord has worked in the laives of the people and the prophet. Is it just a coincidence that King Mosiah has just finished the translation of the brass plates, and that there is a discussion by the brother of Jared suggesting a style of government that the Lord would prefer?. ]

18 Yea, remember king Noah, [ As if to say Case in point. Look here for your proof. This is what can happen. ] his wickedness and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of his people. Behold what great destruction did come upon them; and also because of their iniquities they were brought into bondage.

19 And were it not for the interposition of their all-wise Creator, and this because of their sincere repentance, they must unavoidably remain in bondage until now.

20 But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him.

21 And behold, now I say unto you, ye cannot dethrone an iniquitous king save it be through much contention, and the shedding of much blood.

22 For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keepeth his guards about him; and he teareth up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him; and he trampleth under his feet the commandments of God;

23 And he enacteth laws, and sendeth them forth among his people, yea, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever doth not obey his laws he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can he will destroy them; and thus an unrighteous king doth pervert the ways of all righteousness.

24 And now behold I say unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations should come upon you.

25 Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges, [ The idea is that the people will get the kind of representation that the majority of the people want. With the idea that usually most of the people will choose good. vs 26] that ye may be judged according to the laws which have been given you by our fathers, which are correct, and which were given them by the hand of the Lord.

26 Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth anything contrary to that which is right; but it is common for the lesser part of the people to desire that which is not right; [ With this in mind how has Satan used the voice of the lesser part to enact laws in this country; to bring us as a nation down? Gay marriage is in no way the voice of the majority as well as other laws that have and are being passed to enable that the majority become entitled to privileges that the majority do not. How or were do we see this today? How do we turn this around? Can we? How has Satan won the battle by entitling the majority to usurped the law - the minority is responsible to make the decisions for the majority? If the majority does not cater to the minority then they call the majority raciest, in-tolerant, in-sensitive...until they get their way. The rights of the one are above the rights of everyone; as a matter of fact the rights of an animal is above the rights of a human in some cases. It does not take long for the focused eye to see that Satan has been at the same tactics for a long time. He just repeats them over and over so no wonder he is so good as he has had a long time to perfect them. With the scriptures in hand we can see that and learn to combat them as others have. ] therefore this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people. [ The lord established the proper pattern for them to follow. Just as he had done in Deut 16:18]

27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; [ Were are we at in this? Or perhaps in our time we could even extend the wording to when the voice of the people is no longer relevant as others are making the decisions siding with the minority; outside of the law. ] yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land. [ We have the witness in this book of what and how God dealt with those before us who choose to go against his laws. So if you want to know where you are at - simple read between the lines and establish for yourself who is making decisions and are those decisions contrary to the laws of God? 2015 The decisions by the supreme court against all of the states but one of two rejecting gay marriage - the supreme court rules that gay marriage is the law of the land. Just one profound example that the voice of the people is not in charge. In a leadership session with Bishops only held in the Layton area early 2015 Elder Perry said that he wanted everyone present to know that the church had not changed its position on gay marriage in any way. However the brethren had a good idea how the vote was going to turn out and so they worked with the local gay community and local and state leaders to draft legislation that would help the gay community and enact laws that would hold up against the future agression of such communities that could eventually strip the church from performing marriages and such in the temples. So the position of the brethren was to move forward and do what good they could while they still held a voice in the process of writing the laws. ]

28 And now if ye have judges, and they do not judge you according to the law which has been given, ye can cause that they may be judged of a higher judge.

29 If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye shall cause that a small number of your lower judges should be gathered together, and they shall judge your higher judges, according to the voice of the people. [ The checks and balances are in place so that the majority of the people get a say. It does not suggest that an elected official select the judges that he or she wants and once in they can rule forever. No it suggests and provides for a way to remove or extract a wayward judge from the bench. ]

30 And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord; and I command you to do these things, and that ye have no king; that if these people commit sins and iniquities they shall be answered upon their own heads. [ How does a wicked king cause people to sin? Who bears the burden when people sin under a unrighteous king? The people as a whole do; the king does and the people will bear some of that unrighteous burden of themselves - in other words they are not free from it just because the king commanded them to. ]

31 For behold I say unto you, the sins of many people have been caused by the iniquities of their kings; therefore their iniquities are answered upon the heads of their kings. [ These righteous or unrighteous kings that cause the people to sin will be held accountable and will have to answer for the sins they caused the people to commit. ]

32 And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, [ What would have equality have looked like to Mosiah? 1) No royality or royal class of people - all were of the same class Mosiah 29:32; 2) All had an equal chance to be accountable under the law Mosiah 29:38; 3) All would have a equal voice Mosiah 29:25, 39 One person one vote; 4) all were equal to believe what they wanted and that would be protected Alma 1:17; 5) No respect of persons, removal of pride and despising of others for what they do not have, all would share with those in need Alma 1:30; 4:12-15. ] especially among this my people; but I desire that this land be a land of liberty, and every man may enjoy his rights and privileges alike, so long as the Lord sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land. [ End of quoting verbatim what King Mosiah said. ]

33 And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them, [ From this point on Mormon does not quote verbatim but chooses to paraphrase the key points from the records. ] unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yea, all the travails of soul for their people, and also all the murmurings of the people to their king; and he explained it all unto them.

34 And he told them that these things ought not to be; but that the burden should come upon all the people, that every man might bear his part. [ Or in other-words try to escape the burdens of sin that you will be caused to commit if you have an unrighteous king. So that you are free to exercise your agency and are responsible for your own mistakes and not those dictated by others. ]

35 And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them;

36 Yea, all his iniquities and abominations, and all the wars, and contentions, and bloodshed, and the stealing, and the plundering, and the committing of whoredoms, and all manner of iniquities which cannot be enumerated—telling them that these things ought not to be, that they were expressly repugnant to the commandments of God.

37 And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had sent these things forth among the people they were convinced of the truth of his words.

38 Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins.

39 Therefore, it came to pass that they assembled themselves together in bodies throughout the land, to cast in their voices concerning who should be their judges, to judge them according to the law which had been given them; and they were exceedingly rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted unto them.

40 And they did wax strong in love towards Mosiah; yea, they did esteem him more than any other man; for they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre which doth corrupt the soul; for he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he had established peace in the land, and he had granted unto his people that they should be delivered from all manner of bondage; therefore they did esteem him, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure.

41 And it came to pass that they did appoint judges to rule over them, or to judge them according to the law; and this they did throughout all the land.

42 And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the first chief judge, [ Or the highest chief judge. this is a pretty significant event - the people saw fit to elect him or at least sustain him - so they must have forgiven him. Not very much time has passed since his dealings with the angel less than 10 years. So his conversion was pretty strong. So the chief judge is also the presiding high priest. ] he [ Alma the younger ] being also the high priest, his father having conferred the office upon him, and having given him the charge concerning all the affairs of the church. [ Evidence once again just like his father the Lord has forgiven him because he is called, appointed and sustained as the prophet of the church. What can we learn from the Nephites about forgiveness here?]

43 And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways of the Lord, and he did keep his commandments, and he did judge righteous judgments; [ How could Joseph Smith have known? Cognates are related words that come from the same root. For example, the English noun student is cognate to the verb study and the adjective studious. In Hebrew, a verb is sometimes followed by a noun that is a cognate, such as "wrote upon it a writing" (Exodus 39:30) and "she vowed a vow" (1 Samuel 1:11). In English, cognates are used much less often. Using such cognates is often considered an awkward or inelegant style in English. someone writing in English would be more likely to use "she vowed" or "she made a vow." Even in translation from the Hebrew, the King James Bible sometimes avoids using cognates. In Genesis 1:11, a literal translation of the Hebrew would be "Let the earth grass grass," but the English translation reads "Let the earth bring forth grass." The Book of Mormon uses cognates much more often than we would expect if the book had originally been written in English. These cognates show the Hebrew influence of the original. "and he did judge righteous judgments" - instead of judge righteously or make righteous judgments. (The Maxwell Institute - Hebrew Background of the Book Of Mormon - http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=72&chapid=862) ] and there was continual peace through the land.

44 And thus *commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who were called the Nephites; and Alma was the first and chief judge.

45 And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty and two years old, [ Alma senior the founder of the church among the Nephites dies. ] having lived to fulfil the commandments of God.

46 And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, [ Upon the death of King Mosiah they are not longer lead by a king as their form of government. see vs 11. ] in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years old; making in the whole, five hundred and nine years from the time Lehi left Jerusalem.

47 And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nephi; and thus ended the days of Alma, who was the founder of their church.