Alma 17 1 My son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God, ye shall prosper in the land.
2 I would that ye should do as I have done, in remembering the captivity of our fathers; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them, except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob: and he surely did deliver them in their afflictions.
3 And now, O my son Helaman, behold thou art in thy youth, and therefore I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words, and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God, shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day;
4 And I would not that ye think that I know of myself, not of the temporal, but of the spiritual; not of the carnal mind, but of God.
5 Now behold I say unto you, If I had not been born of God, I should not have known these things; but God has by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself, for I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way.
6 And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet, and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.
7 But behold, the voice said unto me, Arise. And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel. And he said unto me, If thou wilt not of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.
8 And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights, that I could not open my mouth; neither had I the use of my limbs.
9 And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words, If thou wilt not be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God, I was struck with such great fear and amazement, lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth, and I did hear no more;
10 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree, and racked with all my sins. Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell;
11 Yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments; yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction;
