Mosiah 19:21 - 19:25

Mosiah 19:21 And they were about to take the priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them.

They were about to do the same with Noah’s priests but they all managed to escape the wrath of these angry men and fled into the wilderness.

Mosiah 19:22 And it came to pass that they were about to return to the land of Nephi, and they met the men of Gideon. And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children; and that the Lamanites had granted unto them that they might possess the land by paying a tribute to the Lamanites of one half of all they possessed.

These fathers were beginning their return trip to their homes when they met Gideon’s men. They were then told how the Lamanites had compassion on the women and children and that now the people were slaves forced to pay a 50% tribute each year.

Mosiah 19:23 And the people told the men of Gideon that they had slain the king, and his priests had fled from them farther into the wilderness.

Gideon’s men were then brought up to date on what they had done to king Noah and that the priests had escaped deeper into the wilderness.

Mosiah 19:24 And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, that they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain; and they told Gideon what they had done to the king.

A ceremony was held to give thanks for the saving of the lives of their women and children and that they could return to their homes even though it life would not be like it was.
[The ceremony mentioned in this verse is not elaborated on, but I think it was a sacrifice of thanks to God for sparing the lives of their families such as the sacrifice Lehi offered on his alter of stones when his sons returned safely from Jerusalem with the brass plates. One can only wonder at the reception these men received from their wives when they came back. I’m sure it was cold in their homes for a while.]

Mosiah 19:25 And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an oath unto them, that his people should not slay them.

The king of the Lamanites made a covenant that if the Nephites would give the tribute he demanded, he would not kill them all.