37 But Laman saith unto them: "Let us keep of our wine till we go against the Nephites to battle." But this saying only made them more desirous to drink of the wine;
38 For, said they: "We are weary, therefore, let us take of the wine, And by and by we shall receive wine for our rations which will strengthen us to go against the Nephites." And Laman saith unto them: "You may do according to your desires."
39 And it came to pass that they did take of the wine freely, And it was pleasant to their taste; Therefore, they took of it more freely; And it was strong, having been prepared in its strength.
40 And it came to pass they did drink and were merry; And by and by they were all drunken.
41 And now when Laman and his men saw that they were all drunken and were in a deep sleep, they returned to Moroni and told him all the things that had happened; And now this was according to the design of Moroni.
42 And Moroni had prepared his men with weapons of war; And he went to the City Gid while the Lamanites were in a deep sleep and drunken, And cast in the weapons of war in unto the prisoners, insomuch that they were all armed, Yea, even to their women and all those of their children - as many as were able to use a weapon of war - when Moroni had armed all those prisoners;
43 And all those things were done in a profound silence; But had they awakened the Lamanites, Behold, they were drunken and the Nephites could have slain them.
44 But behold, this was not the desire of Moroni; He did not delight in murder or bloodshed, But he delighted in the saving of his people from destruction; And for this cause he might not bring upon him injustice, he would not fall upon the Lamanites and destroy them in their drunkenness.
45 But he had obtained his desire, for he had armed those prisoners of the Nephites which were within the walls of the city, And had given them power to gain possession of those parts which were within the walls;
46 And then he caused the men which were with him to withdraw a pace from them and surround the armies of the Lamanites;
47 Now behold, this was done in the nighttime so that when the Lamanites awoke in the morning, they beheld that they were surrounded by the Nephites without and that their prisoners were armed within.