When King Mosiah of the Nephites died, his son Benjamin succeeded him. During his reign, the Lamanites came forth from the land of Nephi, so King Benjamin gathered his armies and he fought among them using the sword of Laban. And with the power of Jesus the Nephites killed thousands of Lamanites and drove them out the land of Nephi, where the Nephites had once lived.
Sources:
• Omni 1:23
• The Words of Mormon 1:13-14
Also during this time, there were false preachers, false prophets, and false Christs, but King Benjamin was a holy and righteous man, and after their mouths had been shut and they had been punished according to their crimes there was peace in the land of Zarahemla for the rest of his reign.
Sources:
• The Words of Mormon 1:15-18
• Mosiah 1:1
Then King Benjamin admonished the Nephites to love and take care of one another. "Share what you have with the needy," he said. "Don't turn away beggars, saying, 'This man has brought his misery upon himself, so I will not give him anything of mine,' for what you have isn't yours at all, but God's, and aren't we all beggars before God? Does he turn us away?"
Sources:
• Mosiah 4:15-20
King Benjamin told the Nephites what an angel from God had made known to him about the future. He told them many details about the mortal life of Jesus that would occur about 120 years from then. He told them that whoever believes that Christ will come can have the same forgiveness of their sins as if Jesus had already lived on Earth.
Sources:
• Mosiah 3:1-8, 13
"His blood will atone for the sins of those who lived and died without knowing God's will and who thus sinned in ignorance," said King Benjamin. "Someday the knowledge of the Savior will be spread among all the people of Earth, and woe to those learn of it and reject it! On Judgment Day they will be sentenced to never-ending torture that is like a lake of fire and brimstone."
Sources:
• Mosiah 3:11-12, 20-27
When King Benjamin finished telling the people what the angel of Jesus had told him, the people shouted in unison, "We believe all your words and know them with certainty to be true. We are willing to enter a covenant with God to obey his commandments so that we won't bring upon ourselves the never-ending torture spoken of by the angel, and not face the wrath of God.” Then the Spirit of Jesus came upon them because of their great faith and they were filled with joy.
Sources:
• Mosiah 4:1-2
• Mosiah 5:2-5
Benjamin then appointed his son Mosiah to succeed him as ruler of the Nephites, becoming King Mosiah II. He was also a righteous king who obeyed the commandments of Jesus. He caused his people to become farmers of the land, and, so as not to be a burden to his people, he farmed along with them. There followed three years of peace, then Benjamin died.
Sources:
• Mosiah 2:31
• Mosiah 6:4-7
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