And now it came to pass in the commencement of the twenty and ninth year216 of the judges that Ammoron sent word unto M’roni desiring that he would exchange prisoners. And it came to pass that M’roni felt to rejoice exceedingly at this request, for he desired the provisions which were imparted for the support of the Lamanite prisoners for the support of his own people; and he also desired his own people for the strengthening of his army. Now the Lamanites had taken many women and children, and there was not a woman nor a child among all the prisoners of M’roni, or the prisoners whom M’roni had taken. Therefore, M’roni resolved upon a stratagem to obtain as many prisoners of the Nefites from the Lamanites as it were possible; therefore he wrote a letter and sent it by the servant of Ammoron, the same who had brought a letter to M’roni.
Now these are the words which he wrote unto Ammoron, saying, Behold, Ammoron, I have written unto you somewhat concerning this war which you have waged against my people, or rather which your brother has waged against them and which you are still determined to carry on after his death. Behold, I would tell you something concerning the justice of Elohim, and the sword of his almighty wrath which does hang over you except you repent and withdraw your armies into your own lands, or the lands of your possessions, which is the land of Nefi. Yes, I would tell you these things if you were capable of hearkening unto them. Yes, I would tell you concerning that awful Gehinnom that awaits to receive such murderers as you and your brother have been except you repent and withdraw your murderous purposes, and return with your armies to your own lands; but as you have once rejected these things and have fought against the people of yhwh, even so I may expect you will do it again.
And now behold, we are prepared to receive you; yes, and except you withdraw your purposes, behold, you will pull down the wrath of that Elohim whom you have rejected upon you, yes, even to your utter destruction. But as yhwh lives,217 our armies shall come upon you except you withdraw, and you shall soon be visited with death; for we will retain our cities and our lands, yes, and we will maintain our religion and the cause of our Elohim. But behold, I suppose that I talk to you concerning these things in vain, or I suppose that you are a child of She’ol. Therefore, I will close my letter by telling you that I will not exchange prisoners except it be on conditions that you will deliver up a man, and his wife, and his children for one prisoner. If this be the case that you will do it, I will exchange. And behold, if you do not this, I will come against you with my armies. Yes, even I will arm my women and my children, and I will come against you, and I will follow you even into your own land, which is the land of our first inheritance. Yes, and it shall be blood for blood, yes, life for life; and I will give you battle even until you are destroyed from off the face of the earth. Behold, I am in my anger, and also my people; you have sought to murder us, and we have only sought to defend our lives. But behold, if you seek to destroy us more, we will seek to destroy you; yes, and we will seek our lands, the lands of our first inheritance. Now I close my letter. I am M’roni; I am a leader of the people of the Nefites.
Now it came to pass that Ammoron, when he had received this letter, he was angry, and he wrote another letter unto M’roni. And these are the words which he wrote, saying, I am Ammoron, the king of the Lamanites; I am the brother of Amalickiah whom you have murdered. Behold, I will avenge his blood upon you, yes, and I will come upon you with my armies, for I fear not your threatenings. For behold, your fathers did wrong their brothers, insomuch that they did rob them of their right to the government when it rightfully belonged unto them. And now behold, if you will lay down your arms and subject yourselves to be governed by those to whom the government does rightly belong, then will I cause that my people shall lay down their weapons and shall be at war no more. Behold, you have breathed out many threatenings against me and my people, but behold, we fear not your threatenings. Nevertheless, I will grant to exchange prisoners according to your request gladly, that I may preserve my food for my men of war. And we will wage a war which shall be eternal, either to the subjecting the Nefites to our authority, or to their eternal extinction. And as concerning that Elohim whom you say we have rejected, behold, we know not such a being, neither do you. But if it so be that there is such a being, we know not but that he has made us as well as you. And if it so be that there is an adversary and a Gehinnom, behold, will he not send you there to dwell with my brother whom you have murdered? Whom you have hinted that he has gone to such a place? But behold, these things matter not. I am Ammoron, and a descendant of Tzuram, whom your fathers forced and brought out of Yerushalayim. And behold, I am now a bold Lamanite. Behold, this war has been waged to avenge their wrongs, and to maintain and to obtain their rights to the government. And I close my letter to M’roni.
Now it came to pass that when M’roni had received this letter, he was more angry, because he knew that Ammoron had a perfect knowledge of his fraud; yes, he knew that Ammoron knew that it was not a just cause that had caused him to wage a war against the people of Nefi. And he said, Behold, I will not exchange prisoners with Ammoron except he will withdraw his purpose as I have stated in my letter, for I will not grant unto him that he shall have any more power than what he has gotten. Behold, I know the place where the Lamanites do guard my people whom they have taken prisoners. And as Ammoron would not grant unto my letter, behold, I will give unto him according to my words; yes, I will seek death among them until they shall petition for shalom. And now it came to pass that when M’roni had said these words, he caused that a search should be made among his men, that perhaps he might find a man who was a descendant of Laman’s among them.
And it came to pass that they found one whose name was Laman, and he was one of the servants of the king who was murdered by Amalickiah. Now M’roni caused that Laman and a small number of his men should go forth unto the guards who were over the Nefites. Now the Nefites were guarded in the city of Gid; therefore, M’roni caused that Laman, and a small number of men who were appointed, go with him.
And when it was evening, Laman went to the guards who were over the Nefites, and behold, they saw him coming and they hailed him. But he said unto them, Fear not. Behold, I am a Lamanite. Behold, we have escaped from the Nefites and they sleep; and behold, we have taken of their wine and brought with us. Now when the Lamanites heard these words, they received him with joy. And they said unto him, Give us of your wine, that we may drink. We are glad that you have thus taken wine with you, for we are weary. But Laman said unto them, Let us keep of our wine till we go against the Nefites to battle. But this saying only made them more desirous to drink of the wine. For, said they, we are weary, therefore let us take of the wine, and by and by we shall receive wine for our rations, which will strengthen us to go against the Nefites. And Laman said unto them, You may do according to your desires. And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely, and it was pleasant to their taste, therefore they took of it more freely; and it was strong, having been prepared in its strength.
And it came to pass they did drink and were merry, and by and by they were all drunken. And now when Laman and his men saw that they were all drunken and were in a deep sleep, they returned to M’roni and told him all the things that had happened. And now this was according to the design of M’roni. And M’roni had prepared his men with weapons of war; and he went to the city Gid while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, and cast in weapons of war, in unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed, yes, even to their women and all their children, as many as were able to use a weapon of war. When M’roni had armed all those prisoners (and all those things were done in a profound silence, but had they awoken the Lamanites, behold, they were drunken and the Nefites could have slain them; but behold, this was not the desire of M’roni. He did not delight in murder or bloodshed, but he delighted in saving his people from destruction. And for this cause, that he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness. But he had obtained his desire, for he had armed those prisoners of the Nefites who were within the walls of the city, and had given them power to gain possession of those parts which were within the walls) and then he caused his men who were with him to withdraw a pace from them and surround the armies of the Lamanites. Now behold, this was done in the nighttime so that when the Lamanites awoke in the morning, they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nefites without and that their prisoners were armed within. And thus they saw that the Nefites had power over them; and in these circumstances they found that it were not expedient that they should fight with the Nefites. Therefore, their chief captains demanded their weapons of war, and they brought them forth and cast them at the feet of the Nefites, pleading for mercy. Now behold, this was the desire of M’roni. He took them prisoners of war, and took possession of the city, and caused that all the prisoners should be liberated who were Nefites. And they did join the army of M’roni and were a great strength to his army.
And it came to pass that he did cause the Lamanites whom he had taken prisoners that they should commence a labor in strengthening the fortifications round about the city Gid. And it came to pass that when he had fortified the city Gid according to his desires, he caused that his prisoners should be taken to the city Bountiful. And he also guarded that city with an exceedingly strong force. And it came to pass that they did, despite all the intrigues of the Lamanites, keep and protect all the prisoners whom they had taken, and also maintain all the ground and the advantage which they had retaken. And it came to pass that the Nefites began again to be victorious and to reclaim their rights and their privileges. Many times did the Lamanites attempt to encircle them about by night, but in these attempts they did lose many prisoners. And many times did they attempt to administer of their wine to the Nefites, that they might destroy them with poison or with drunkenness. But behold, the Nefites were not slow to remember yhwh their Elohim in these their times of affliction. They could not be taken in their snares, yes, they would not partake of their wine, yes, they would not take of wine except they had first given to some of the Lamanite prisoners. And they were thus cautious that no poison should be administered among them; for if their wine would poison a Lamanite, it would also poison a Nefite; and thus they did try all their liquors. And now it came to pass that it was expedient for M’roni to make preparations to attack the city Morionton. For behold, the Lamanites had, by their labors, fortified the city Morionton until it had become an exceeding stronghold. And they were continually bringing new forces into that city, and also new supplies of provisions. And thus ended the twenty and ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nefi.