Helaman 13
People in this chapter
For most of the book of Helaman, the Nephites have been sliding. Riches, pride, secret combinations, and the rejection of prophets have done their work. Now Mormon sets up a reversal: the Nephites did still remain in wickedness, yea, in great wickedness, while the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God (v. 1). Into the Nephite capital walks one Samuel, a Lamanite (v. 2).
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Helaman 13:1-7Samuel, a Lamanite
1And now it came to pass in the eighty and sixth year, the Nephites did still remain in wickedness, yea, in great wickedness, while the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God, according to the law of Moses. 2And it came to pass that in this year there was one Samuel, a Lamanite, came into the land of Zarahemla, and began to preach unto the people. And it came to pass that he did preach, many days, repentance unto the people, and they did cast him out, and he was about to return to his own land.
By this time the Nephites are the wicked ones and the Lamanites are keeping the commandments. So the Lord sends a Lamanite prophet to call the Nephites to repent.
Samuel preaches for many days. The people throw him out, and he starts to go home.
3But behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into his heart. 4And it came to pass that they would not suffer that he should enter into the city; therefore he went and got upon the wall thereof, and stretched forth his hand and cried with a loud voice, and prophesied unto the people whatsoever things the Lord put into his heart.
The Lord tells Samuel to go back. The people won't let him in, so he climbs the city wall and preaches from there.
5And he said unto them: Behold, I, Samuel, a Lamanite, do speak the words of the Lord which he doth put into my heart; and behold he hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice falleth upon this people. 6Yea, heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people. 7And behold, an angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring glad tidings to my soul. And behold, I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also, that ye might have glad tidings; but behold ye would not receive me.
Samuel names himself as a Lamanite and says his words come from the Lord. He warns that the sword of justice hangs over the Nephites, and that within four hundred years it will fall.
Helaman 13:8-16For the Righteous' Sake
8Therefore, thus saith the Lord: Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them, and I will suffer them no longer, and I will turn the hearts of their brethren against them. 9And four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. 10Yea, I will visit them in my fierce anger, and there shall be those of the fourth generation who shall live, of your enemies, to behold your utter destruction; and this shall surely come except ye repent, saith the Lord; and those of the fourth generation shall visit your destruction.
The Lord warns that if the Nephites keep hardening their hearts, He will take away His word and His Spirit. Destruction will come in the fourth generation unless they repent.
11But if ye will repent and return unto the Lord your God I will turn away mine anger, saith the Lord; yea, thus saith the Lord, blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not.
12Yea, wo unto this great city of Zarahemla; for behold, it is because of those who are righteous that it is saved; yea, wo unto this great city, for I perceive, saith the Lord, that there are many, yea, even the more part of this great city, that will harden their hearts against me, saith the Lord. 13But blessed are they who will repent, for them will I spare. But behold, if it were not for the righteous who are in this great city, behold, I would cause that fire should come down out of heaven and destroy it. 14But behold, it is for the righteous' sake that it is spared. But behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord, that when ye shall cast out the righteous from among you, then shall ye be ripe for destruction; yea, wo be unto this great city, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in her. 15Yea, and wo be unto the city of Gideon, for the wickedness and abominations which are in her. 16Yea, and wo be unto all the cities which are in the land round about, which are possessed by the Nephites, because of the wickedness and abominations which are in them.
Zarahemla is being spared because of the righteous people still living there. When the people drive the righteous out, the city will be ripe for destruction.
Helaman 13:17-23Hide Up Your Treasures unto Me
17And behold, a curse shall come upon the land, saith the Lord of Hosts, because of the people's sake who are upon the land, yea, because of their wickedness and their abominations. 18And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God, that whoso shall hide up treasures in the earth shall find them again no more, because of the great curse of the land, save he be a righteous man and shall hide it up unto the Lord. 19For I will, saith the Lord, that they shall hide up their treasures unto me; and cursed be they who hide not up their treasures unto me; for none hideth up their treasures unto me save it be the righteous; and he that hideth not up his treasures unto me, cursed is he, and also the treasure, and none shall redeem it because of the curse of the land. 20And the day shall come that they shall hide up their treasures, because they have set their hearts upon riches; and because they have set their hearts upon their riches, and will hide up their treasures when they shall flee before their enemies; because they will not hide them up unto me, cursed be they and also their treasures; and in that day shall they be smitten, saith the Lord.
Samuel says a curse will come on the land so that hidden treasures will be lost. Only treasures hidden up unto the Lord are safe. The danger lies in setting your heart on riches.
21Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; for behold, he saith that ye are cursed because of your riches, and also are your riches cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them, and have not hearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto you. 22Ye do not remember the Lord your God in the things with which he hath blessed you, but ye do always remember your riches, not to thank the Lord your God for them; yea, your hearts are not drawn out unto the Lord, but they do swell with great pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities. 23For this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse should come upon the land, and also upon your riches, and this because of your iniquities.
The Nephites forgot who gave them their riches. They remembered the money and forgot the Giver, and their hearts swelled with pride.
Helaman 13:24-29Foolish and Blind Guides
24Yea, wo unto this people, because of this time which has arrived, that ye do cast out the prophets, and do mock them, and cast stones at them, and do slay them, and do all manner of iniquity unto them, even as they did of old time. 25And now when ye talk, ye say: If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets; we would not have stoned them, and cast them out. 26Behold ye are worse than they; for as the Lord liveth, if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities, ye are angry with him, and cast him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy him; yea, you will say that he is a false prophet, and that he is a sinner, and of the devil, because he testifieth that your deeds are evil.
The people say they would never have killed the prophets of old. Samuel says they are worse, because they cast out the prophets standing in front of them.
27But behold, if a man shall come among you and shall say: Do this, and there is no iniquity; do that and ye shall not suffer; yea, he will say: Walk after the pride of your own hearts; yea, walk after the pride of your eyes, and do whatsoever your heart desireth—and if a man shall come among you and say this, ye will receive him, and say that he is a prophet. 28Yea, ye will lift him up, and ye will give unto him of your substance; ye will give unto him of your gold, and of your silver, and ye will clothe him with costly apparel; and because he speaketh flattering words unto you, and he saith that all is well, then ye will not find fault with him. 29O ye wicked and ye perverse generation; ye hardened and ye stiffnecked people, how long will ye suppose that the Lord will suffer you? Yea, how long will ye suffer yourselves to be led by foolish and blind guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?
The same people welcome a man who tells them to do whatever they want. They pay him and call him a prophet because he says all is well.
Helaman 13:30-39Everlastingly Too Late
30Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity. 31And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them. 32And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say: 33O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out. Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us.
Samuel says the riches the Nephites trust in will become slippery. They will not be able to hold on to them. Then they will wish they had repented.
34Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle. 35Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land. 36O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them. 37Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.
Samuel describes what life will be like: tools disappear overnight, swords are gone when needed, and people cry out that they should have repented when the word of the Lord came to them.
38But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head. 39O ye people of the land, that ye would hear my words! And I pray that the anger of the Lord be turned away from you, and that ye would repent and be saved.
Samuel warns that people can put off repentance until it is everlastingly too late. Now is the time.
Samuel says the Nephites were looking for happiness in sin, which can never work, because it goes against the nature of God's righteousness.
Samuel ends with a prayer for the people who threw him out. He wants them to repent and be saved.
Research trail
Sources & further study
These references support the historical, linguistic, manuscript, and contextual notes in this chapter. Scripture remains the primary text; external sources are provided so readers can inspect the research directly.
- Samuel the LamaniteThe scripture references for Samuel's preaching and prophecies.
- RichesWhat the scriptures teach about wealth, including the warnings Samuel gives in verses 17-23.
- ProphetWhat a prophet is and does, and references to how prophets have been received.
- RepentanceThe Church's overview of repentance, the one way of escape Samuel offers the city.
Where this echoes in Scripture
Samuel, a Lamanite
- Helaman 6:1Their righteousness did exceed that of the Nephites, because of their firmness and their steadiness in the faith.How the Lamanites became a righteous people.
- Jonah 3:1-2The word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh.Another prophet sent back to a city.
- Alma 45:10-11In four hundred years from the time that Jesus Christ shall manifest himself unto them, shall dwindle in unbelief.Alma's earlier prophecy of the same four hundred years.
- Mormon 6:5When three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away, we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.The last struggle of the Nephites, within Samuel's four hundred years.
- Luke 2:10Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.The glad tidings Samuel heard from an angel, announced at Bethlehem.
For the Righteous' Sake
- Alma 12:10-11They that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word.The same pattern of the word withdrawn.
- 1 Nephi 12:11-12I looked, and beheld three generations pass away in righteousness... many of the fourth generation who passed away in righteousness.Nephi's vision of the generations after Christ's visit.
- Genesis 18:32I will not destroy it for ten's sake.A city spared for the righteous.
- 3 Nephi 9:3, 11That great city Zarahemla have I burned with fire... because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire.Fire on Zarahemla, and on cities that cast out the righteous; compare verses 13-14.
- 3 Nephi 9:13Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?The same invitation, from the same Lord, after the destruction.
Hide Up Your Treasures unto Me
- Matthew 6:19-21Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven... For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.The Savior's teaching on where to keep treasure.
- Deuteronomy 8:11-14Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God.Moses' warning about prosperity.
- Jacob 2:18-19Before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God.Jacob's order of priorities.
- D&C 38:39Beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.The Lord applies the lesson to the latter days.
Foolish and Blind Guides
- Matthew 23:29-31If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.The Savior's words, closely matching verse 25.
- Isaiah 30:9-10Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things.An older people asking for flattery.
- 2 Nephi 28:21All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well.Nephi's warning about the same words in the last days.
- John 3:19Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.The phrase Samuel's last question echoes.
Everlastingly Too Late
- Mormon 2:10-13Began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet; for behold no man could keep that which was his own.Mormon records the fulfillment in his own day.
- Alma 34:32-33Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end.Amulek on the same urgency.
- Alma 41:10Wickedness never was happiness.Alma's four-word version of verse 38.
- Mosiah 2:41Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.Where happiness is found.