40 And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward.
41 And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the Judges.
42 And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the Judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies, in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they retained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.
43 And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of the Judges, they succeeded in retaining even the half of all their possessions.
44 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened, had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God:
45 And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites;
46 And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.
47 But behold, Moronihah did preach many things unto the people, because of their iniquity, and also Nephi and Lehi, who were the sons of Helaman, did preach many things unto the people;
48 Yea, and did prophesy many things unto them concerning their iniquities, and what should come unto them if they did not repent of their sins.
49 And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent, they did begin to prosper;
50 For when Moronihah saw that they did repent, he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had retained the one half of their property, and the one half of all their lands.
