3 Nephi 3

1And now it came to pass that in the sixteenth year from the coming

2Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I

3And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should

4And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in

5Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own

6Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto

7Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us

8And behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye

9And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this the

10And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoneus, and I hope that ye

11And now it came to pass when Lachoneus received this epistle he

12Now behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and

13Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should

14And he caused that fortifications should be built round about

15Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of

16And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of

17And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over

18Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great

19Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their

20Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let

21But Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should

22And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter end of

23And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and

24And there were a great many thousand people who were called

25And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they

26And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. And