During this time of peace Zeniff taught his people to be very industrious. He caused his men to till the ground and raise all kinds of fruit and grain. The women he had spin and make cloth for clothing, fine linen, etc. In this way for twenty-two years they prospered and had uninterrupted peace; but at the end of that period the Lamanites again came up to war against them.
At this time the old king Laman died, and his son succeeded him upon the throne. Like many young men, he desired to distinguish himself in war. So he gathered a numerous host of the Lamanites and having armed them in the same manner as the Nephites, he led them to the north of the land of Shemlon, which lay by the side of the land of Nephi-Lehi.
The warriors of the Lamanites were at this era a strange sight to look upon. Their heads were shaven, the only covering of their bodies was a leathern girdle around their loins, otherwise they were naked. Their arms were bows, arrows, slings, swords, etc.
When Zeniff learned of the approach of young king Laman's armies, he caused the women and children of his people to hide in the wilderness; but every man, young or old, who was able to bear arms was placed in the ranks to go out against the foe. Zeniff himself was then an aged man, but he still continued to command his forces and to lead them in person to battle. But before doing so he recounted to his soldiery the history of the two peoples, stimulated them to valor by showing them that in this contest they were in the right; then calling upon them to put their trust in God, he led them to the onset. Strengthened by the faith Zeniff had renewed in their hearts, the Nephites gained a great victory; and so numerous were the slain of the Lamanites that they were not counted. After this there was peace again in the land, which continued all the remaining days of Zeniff. Shortly after this he died, and, unfortunately for his kingdom, chose for his successor an unworthy son, named Noah, who drew the people into many sins and ruled with such folly and weakness that they fell an easy prey to the ever-watchful foe that everywhere surrounded them.
King Noah did not walk in the ways of his father, for he was a very wicked man. He was filled with lust and cruelty, and ruled his people with a tyrant's hand. He removed the good priests who had been consecrated by his father, and placed corrupt men, of his own stamp, in their stead. Then he lay heavy taxes upon the people, even one-fifth of all they possessed, whether it was gold or silver, grain or fruit, flocks or herds. These taxes he wasted upon himself and his priests, upon his wives and concubines, and the harlots with whom the priests consorted. Noah also built a very grand palace in Lehi-Nephi for his own comfort, and spent much in lavishly ornamenting the temple in that city. Near the temple he erected a very high tower, so high that any one standing on its top could see all over the surrounding country. He also did much building in the land of Shilom, and there erected another high tower. Furthermore, he planted many vineyards and made his people a drunken race. All this he did with the riches which he ground out of his tax-burdened subjects.
How different was his course to that of the righteous Benjamin, who was at that time reigning in Zarahemla! We can scarcely conceive of two men more different in habits and character. The great care of the one was to serve God and benefit his people, the other had no other thought than to gratify his own desires and live for his own pleasure, no matter how much pain or suffering it caused his fellow-men.
Again the Lamanites attacked the Nephites while engaged in their labors, killed many and drove off their flocks. King Noah then set guards around the land, but in such small numbers that they were destroyed. He finally sent his armies and drove the Lamanites away. This victory made him and his people conceited and boastful, and developed in them a delight in shedding the blood of the Lamanites.
At this time a prophet, named Abinadi, appeared among them, and predicted that they would be brought into bondage unless they repented of their wickedness. The king and the people were very angry with Abinadi, and sought to take his life. Two years after he came among them in disguise. This time he uttered, in the name of the Lord, very terrible prophecies against Noah and his people. He told them that they should go into bondage to their enemies, that they should be smitten like dumb beasts and be slain. That vultures and dogs should devour their carcasses. That famine and pestilence should come upon them, and hail and insects should destroy their crops. And in the end, if they did not repent, they should be utterly destroyed. All of which was fulfilled in a very few years.
Abinadi was one of the greatest of prophets; he was filled with the Holy Ghost, but the people would not heed him, and the more he exposed their iniquities the more furious raged their anger against him. Neither did they believe his words; in their own opinion they were everything that was good. They were mighty in their own strength, and unapproachably wise in their own conceit. Never, if you could believe them, had a better, more valiant, more innocent people lived. Filled with this spirit of self-conceit they took Abinadi, bound him, and hurried him, with railing accusations, before the king. There the priests began to cross-question him, that they might confuse him and cause him to say something that would give them a pretext for slaying him. This conduct was providentially turned to the glory of God and to the good of many souls. It gave Abinadi the chance in turn to question his accusers, by which he showed their deceit and iniquity; and it also enabled him to explain many of the principles of the gospel of life and salvation. His teachings pricked the hearts of a few, while they more greatly enraged the greater number. Particularly did he impress upon their minds the great truth that Christ should come, and quoted the words of Isaiah and other Hebrew prophets to sustain his words. His teachings are among the strongest and plainest that any of the scriptures record, and should be read by all who desire to become fully acquainted with the truths of Divine love and mercy for fallen humanity.
These doctrines were, however, exactly what Noah's infidel priests did not want. They charged Abinadi with having reviled the king, and on this charge obtained Noah's consent for his execution. So Abinadi was cruelly tortured and burned to death by his fellow-citizens in the sin-stained city of Lehi-Nephi. How strange that a people could so quickly grow wicked! In Zeniff's reign they kept God's laws, if only after a fashion, but in Noah's days, led by his bad example, they sank to the depth of shedding innocent blood, and taking the life of one who had done them no wrong, but whose only fault lay in reproving them for their sins, and in striving to teach them repentance and the road to heaven.