Mormon stresses his thesis again: Moroni has been victorious, and the people’s righteousness has preserved them. They are therefore “happier” than ever before in their history, probably due to the combination of their prosperity and the cessation of the wars. Ironically, this period of greatest happiness and peace lasts only a little more than four years.
Chronology: The twenty-third year of the reign of the judges correlates to approximately 71 B.C.