And now as I said unto you that after king Moshiyah had done these things, he took the plates of brass and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them upon Alma, who was the son of Alma — yes, all the records, and also the interpreters — and conferred them upon him, and commanded him 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 Lechi left Yerushalayim.
Now when Moshiyah had done this, he sent out through all the land, among all the people, desiring to know their will concerning who should be their king. And it came to pass that the voice of the people148 came, saying, We are desirous that Aharon your son should be our king and our ruler. Now Aharon had gone up to the land of Nefi; therefore, the king could not confer the kingdom upon him. Neither would Aharon take upon him the kingdom, neither was any of the sons of Moshiyah willing to take upon them the kingdom. Therefore, king Moshiyah sent again among the people — yes, even a written word sent he among the people. And these were the words that were written, saying, Behold, O you my people — or my brothers, for I esteem you as such — I desire that you should consider the cause which you are called to consider; for you are desirous to have a king. Now I declare unto you that he to whom the kingdom does rightly belong has declined and will not take upon himself the kingdom. And now, if there should be another appointed in his place, behold, I fear there would arise contentions among you. And who knows but that my son, to whom the kingdom does belong, should turn and become angry and draw away a part of this people after him, which will cause wars and contentions among you, which would be the cause of shedding much blood and perverting the way of yhwh — yes, and destroy the souls of many people. Now I say unto you, let us be wise and consider these things. For we have no right to destroy my son, neither should we have any right to destroy another if he should be appointed in his place. And if my son should turn again to his pride and vain things, 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. And now let us be wise, and look forward to these things, and do that which will make for the peace of this people. Therefore, I will be your king the remainder of my days.
Nevertheless, let us appoint judges 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 mitzvot of Elohim. Now it is better that a man should be judged of Elohim than of man; for the judgments of Elohim are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just. Therefore, if it were possible that you could have just men to be your kings, who would establish the laws of Elohim and judge this people according to his mitzvot, yes, if you could have men for your kings who would do even as my father Binyamin did for this people, I say unto you, if this could always be the case, then it would be expedient that you should always have kings to rule over you. And even I myself have labored with all the power and faculties which I have possessed to teach you the mitzvot of Elohim and to establish shalom throughout the land, that there should be no wars nor contentions, no stealing, nor plundering, nor murdering, nor any manner of iniquity. 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.
Now I say unto you that because all men are not just, it is not expedient that you should have a king or kings to rule over you. For behold, how much iniquity does one wicked king cause to be committed; yes, and what great destruction. Yes, remember king Noah, 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. And were it not for the intervention of their all-wise Creator — and this because of their sincere repentance — they must have unavoidably remained in bondage until now. 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 does yhwh 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.149
And behold, now I say unto you, you cannot dethrone an iniquitous king except it be through much contention and the shedding of much blood. For behold, he has his friends in iniquity, and he keeps his guards about him, and he tears up the laws of those who have reigned in righteousness before him, and he tramples under his feet the mitzvot of Elohim. And he enacts laws and sends them forth among his people, yes, laws after the manner of his own wickedness; and whosoever does not obey his laws, he causes to be destroyed. And whosoever does 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 does pervert the ways of all righteousness. And now behold, I say unto you, it is not expedient that such abominations should come upon you.
Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people,150 judges,151 that you 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 yhwh. Now it is not common that the voice of the people desires 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. Therefore, this shall you observe and make it your law: to do your business by the voice of the people.
And if the time comes that the voice of the people does choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of Elohim will come upon you. Yes, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction, even as he has previously visited this land. And now, if you have judges, and they do not judge you according to the law which has been given, you can cause that he may be judged of a higher judge. If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, you 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. And I command you to do these things in the fear of yhwh. And I commanded you to do these things, and that you have no king, that if these people commit sins and iniquities, they shall be answered upon their own heads. 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.
And now I desire that this inequality should be no more in this land, 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 yhwh sees fit that we may live and inherit the land, yes, even as long as any of our posterity remains upon the face of the land. And many more things did king Moshiyah write unto them, unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous king, yes, 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. 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. And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they labored under by having an unrighteous king to rule over them, yes, 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 mitzvot of Elohim.
And now it came to pass, after king Moshiyah had sent these things forth among the people, they were convinced of the truth of his words. Therefore, they relinquished their desires for a king and became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal chance throughout all the land; yes, and every man expressed a willingness to answer for his own sins. 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 rejoiced exceedingly because of the liberty which had been granted unto them. And they did grow strong in love towards Moshiyah; yes, they did esteem him more than any other man. For they did not look upon him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain — yes, for that lucre which does corrupt the soul — for he had not exacted riches of them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood, but he had established shalom 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, yes, exceedingly beyond measure. 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.
And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the chief judge, he being also the Kohen HaGadol, his father having conferred the office upon him and had given him the charge concerning all the affairs of the assembly. And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways of yhwh, and he did keep his mitzvot, and he did judge righteous judgments.152 And there was continual shalom through the land. And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zerach’mla, among all the people who were called the Nefites; and Alma was the first and chief judge.
And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty and two years old, having lived to fulfill the mitzvot of Elohim. And it came to pass that Moshiyah died also, in the thirty and third year of his reign, being sixty and three years, making in the whole five hundred and nine years from the time Lechi left Yerushalayim. And thus ended the reign of the kings over the people of Nefi. And thus ended the days of Alma, who was the founder of their assembly.