Mosiah 29:25
25 Therefore, choose you by the voice of this people, judges,
that ye 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 the Lord.
Mosiah 29:26
26 Now it is not common that the voice of the people desireth
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 ye observe and make it your law—to do your
business by the voice of the people.
Mosiah 29:27
27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth
choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will
come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great
destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.
Mosiah 29:28
28 And now if ye have judges, and they do not judge you
according to the law which has been given, ye can cause that they
may be judged of a higher judge.
Mosiah 29:29
29 If your higher judges do not judge righteous judgments, ye
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.
Mosiah 29:30
30 And I command you to do these things in the fear of the Lord;
and I command you to do these things, and that ye have no king;
that if these people commit sins and iniquities they shall be
answered upon their own heads.
Mosiah 29:31
31 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.
Mosiah 29:32
32 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 the Lord sees fit that we
may live and inherit the land, yea, even as long as any of our
posterity remains upon the face of the land.
Mosiah 29:33
33 And many more things did king Mosiah write unto them,
unfolding unto them all the trials and troubles of a righteous
king, yea, 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.
Mosiah 29:34
34 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.
Mosiah 29:35
35 And he also unfolded unto them all the disadvantages they
labored under, by having an unrighteous king to rule over them;
Mosiah 29:36
36 Yea, 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
commandments of God.
Mosiah 29:37
37 And now it came to pass, after king Mosiah had sent these
things forth among the people they were convinced of the truth of
his words.
Mosiah 29:38
38 Therefore they relinquished their desires for a king, and
became exceedingly anxious that every man should have an equal
chance throughout all the land; yea, and every man expressed a
willingness to answer for his own sins.
Mosiah 29:39
39 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 were exceedingly
rejoiced because of the liberty which had been granted unto them.
Mosiah 29:40
40 And they did wax strong in love towards Mosiah; yea, they did
esteem him more than any other man; for they did not look upon
him as a tyrant who was seeking for gain, yea, for that lucre
which doth corrupt the soul; for he had not exacted riches of
them, neither had he delighted in the shedding of blood; but he
had established peace 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, yea, exceedingly, beyond measure.
Mosiah 29:41
41 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.
Mosiah 29:42
42 And it came to pass that Alma was appointed to be the first
chief judge, he being also the high priest, his father having
conferred the office upon him, and having given him the charge
concerning all the affairs of the church.
Mosiah 29:43
43 And now it came to pass that Alma did walk in the ways of the
Lord, and he did keep his commandments, and he did judge
righteous judgments; and there was continual peace through the
land.
Mosiah 29:44
44 And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the
land of Zarahemla, among all the people who were called the
Nephites; and Alma was the first and chief judge.
Mosiah 29:45
45 And now it came to pass that his father died, being eighty
and two years old, having lived to fulfil the commandments of
God.
Mosiah 29:46
46 And it came to pass that Mosiah died also, in the thirty and