Wicked King Noah and the Prophet Abinadi: Mosiah 11

 ... Zeniff conferred the kingdom upon Noah, one of his sons; 

King Noah

therefore Noah began to reign in his stead; and he did not walk in the ways of his father... he did walk after the desires of his own heart.  And he had many wives and ^aconcubines. And he did ^bcause his people to commit sin, and do that which was ^cabominable in the sight of the Lord. Yea, and they did commit ^dwhoredoms and ^eall manner of wickedness.

3 And he laid a ^atax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ^bziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.

4 And all this did he take to ^asupport himself, and his wives and his ^bconcubines; and also his priests, and their wives and their concubines; thus he had changed the affairs of the kingdom.

5 For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ^aones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.

6 Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.

7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.

8 And it came to pass that king Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings; and he ornamented them with fine work of wood,  and of all manner of ^aprecious things, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff, and of copper...

And he also built him a spacious palace, and a throne in the midst thereof...  And he also caused that his workmen should work all manner of fine work within the walls of the ^atemple, of fine wood, and of copper, and of brass. And the seats which were set apart for the ^ahigh priests, which were above all the other seats, he did ornament with pure gold;  and he caused a breastwork to be built before them, that they might rest their bodies and their arms upon while they should speak lying and vain words to his people.

12 And it came to pass that he built a ^atower  near the temple; yea, a very high tower, even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of ^bShilom, and also the land of ^cShemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look over all the land round about.

14 And it came to pass that he placed his heart upon his riches, and he spent his time in ^ariotous living with his wives and his concubines; and so did also his priests spend their time with harlots.

    And it came to pass that he planted vineyards round about in the land; and he built wine-presses, and made ^awine in abundance; and therefore he became a wine-bibber, and also his people.

...They were lifted up in the pride of their hearts; they did ^aboast in their own strength, saying that their fifty could stand against thousands of the Lamanites; and thus they did boast, and did delight in blood, and the shedding of the blood of their brethren, and this because of the wickedness of their king and priests.

 20 And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was ^aAbinadi;  

and he went forth among them, and began to prophesy, saying: Behold, thus saith the Lord, and thus hath he commanded me, saying, Go forth, and say unto this people, thus saith the Lord—Wo be unto this people, for I have seen their abominations, and their wickedness, and their whoredoms; and except they repent I will ^bvisit them in mine anger.

26 Now it came to pass that when Abinadi had spoken these words unto them they were wroth with him, and sought to take away his life; but the Lord ^adelivered him out of their hands.



King Noah

 27 Now when king Noah had heard of the words which Abinadi had spoken unto the people, he was also wroth; and he said: ^aWho is Abinadi,   that I and my people should be judged of him, or ^bwho is the Lord, that shall bring upon my people such great affliction?

28 I command you to bring Abinadi hither, that I may slay him, for he has said these things that he might ^astir up my people to anger one with another, and to raise contentions among my people; therefore I will slay him.

29 Now the eyes of the people were ^ablinded; therefore they ^bhardened their hearts against the words of Abinadi, and they sought from that time forward to take him. And king Noah hardened his heart against the word of the Lord, and he did not repent of his evil doings.

 

The Story of the Wicked Priest Who Suddenly Believed Abinadi: Mosiah 17: 1-5

First, an introduction:  Abinadi is the prophet of the Lord who has been preaching to the unfriendly King Noah and his wicked priests.  They don't like him, and they don't believe him.  Abinadi won't stop talking, no matter what they threaten.  He is determined to deliver the message the Lord commanded him to deliver.

One of the young, wicked priests of King Noah, however, has been listening to Abinadi intently, and he has begun to believe.  This young priest is named Alma.


Abinadi was a prophet of God.

  


King Noah did not like God or His prophets.

 1 And now it came to pass that when Abinadi had finished these sayings, that the king commanded that the ^apriests should take him and cause that he should be put to ^bdeath.





 2But there was one among them whose name was ^aAlma, he also being a descendant of Nephi.

Alma started out as one of King Noah's wicked priests, but he was converted to Christ.

And he was a young man, and he ^bbelieved the words which Abinadi had spoken, for he knew concerning the iniquity which Abinadi had testified against them; therefore he began to plead with the king that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace.

 3But the king was more wroth, and caused that Alma should be cast out from among them, and sent his servants after him that they might slay him.





 4But he fled from before them and ^ahid himself that they found him not. And he being concealed for many days did ^bwrite all the words which Abinadi had spoken.

While Alma hid from King Noah, he wrote what Abinadi had said.

 5And it came to pass that the king caused that his guards should surround Abinadi and take him; and they bound him and cast him into prison.

King Noah threw Abinadi into prison.

How Abinadi was killed by King Noah: Mosiah 17: 11-20

Brave Abinadi was killed by fire because he would not take back his truthful words.

10 ... I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a ^btestimony against you. And if ye slay me ye will shed ^cinnocent blood, and this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day.



King Noah thought, for a moment, about releasing Abinadi.

  11And now king Noah was about to release him, for he feared his word; for he feared that the judgments of God would come upon him.

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12But the ^apriests lifted up their voices against him, and began to accuse him, saying: He has reviled the king. Therefore the king was stirred up in ^banger against him, and he delivered him up that he might be slain.

 13And it came to pass that they took him and bound him, and ^ascourged his skin with faggots, yea, even unto ^bdeath.

 14And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them, saying:

15Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy ^aseed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of ^bdeath by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God...

18And... ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, the pains of ^bdeath by fire.

 20And now, when ^aAbinadi had said these words, he fell, having suffered death by fire; yea, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his ^bdeath.