The Lamanites followed them from the land of their first possession, and were constantly harassing them by incursions and invasions, which led to numerous and bloody wars. These were sometimes very disastrous to the Nephites. Spiritually, the Nephites had many seasons of faithfulness to God when they listened to and obeyed the words of his prophets; and, unfortunately, they had also many seasons of apostasy, at which times the judgments of God fell upon them; the Lamanites being often used by him as a sharp instrument to bring them to repentance and reformation. CHAPTER IX. CAUSES THAT LED TO THE MIGRATION FROM THE LAND OF NEPHI--THE PEOPLE OF ZARAHEMLA--MULEK AND HIS COLONY--THE FUSION OF THE TWO NATIONS--MOSIAH MADE KING--HIS HAPPY REIGN. (BOOK OF OMNI.) Mosiah resided in the land of Nephi, and lived there as near as we can discover during the latter half of the third century before Christ. Whether he was originally a prophet, priest, or king, the historian (Amaleki) does not inform us. Most certainly he was a righteous man, for the Lord made choice of him to guide the obedient Nephites from their native country to a land that he would show them. The causes that led the Lord to make this call upon the Nephites are not stated, but some of them can be easily surmised. Amongst such we suggest that: The aggressive Lamanites were constantly crowding upon them, ravaging their more remote districts, entrapping and enslaving the inhabitants of the outlying settlements, driving off their flocks and herds, and keeping them in a constant state of anxiety and dread, which hindered their progress and stayed the growth of the work of God. The Lord therefore led them to a land of peace. Again, this course of events, continued for so long a period, had caused much hard-heartedness and stiff-neckedness in the midst of the Nephites. Some of the people had remained righteous, some had grown very wicked. To separate these classes the Lord called the faithful and obedient to follow Mosiah to another land. For a third reason: there was a portion of the house of Israel, a few hundred miles to the north, entirely unknown to their Nephite brethren. These people had sunk very low in true civilization; they were so degraded that they denied the being of their Creator, they had had many wars and contentions among themselves; they had corrupted their language, had no records nor scriptures, and were altogether in a deplorable condition. To save and regenerate this branch of God's covenant people, Mosiah and his people were led to the place where they dwelt. Few are the words and brief is the statement made by Amaleki regarding this great migration under Mosiah. We are altogether left to our imagination to picture the scenes that occurred at this division of a nation.