Mosiah, father of King Benjamin and grandfather of the second Mosiah (the last of the Nephite kings), is a descendant of Lehi. He lives in the southern area of the country where Lehi and his group from Jerusalem first settle in the promised land. In those early days, Nephi and his righteous followers, having been warned of the Lord, separate themselves from Laman and Lemuel for reasons of safety (see 2 Nephi 5:5–7). The animosity of the Lamanite branch of the family against the Nephites continues for many generations so that Mosiah is likewise warned of the Lord to flee into the wilderness to preserve his life from the enemies. Mosiah’s willingness to heed the counsel of the Lord is evidence of the quality of his character. The Book of Mormon provides scant detail concerning Mosiah’s life—there are only a dozen verses of scripture about him from the hand of his contemporary, Amaleki, one of the curators of the sacred text (see Omni 1:12–23). We can conclude that Mosiah is active in the period between around 279 b.c. to 130 b.c.