24 And it came to pass that Amos died also; And it was an hundred and ninety and four years from the coming of Christ; And his son Amos kept the record in his stead, And he also kept it upon the plates of Nephi; And it was also written in the book of Nephi, which is this book.
25 And it came to pass that two hundred years had passed away, And the second generation had all passed away, save it were a few.
26 And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, Insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, And that they had become exceeding rich because of their prosperity in Christ.
27 And now in this two hundred and first year, there began to be among them those which were lifted up in pride, Such as the wearing of costly apparel and all manner of fine pearls and of the fine things of the world;
28 And from that time forth, they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them, And they began to be divided into classes, And they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, And began to deny the true church of Christ.
29 And it came to pass that when two hundred and ten years had passed away, there were many churches in the land, Yea, there were churches which professed to know the Christ and yet they did deny the more part of His gospel, Insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, And did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness;
30 And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity and because of the power of Satan which did get hold upon their hearts.
31 And again, there was another church which denied the Christ, And they did persecute the true church of Christ because of their humility and their belief in Christ, And they did despise them because of the many miracles which were wrought among them;
32 Therefore, they did exercise power and authority over the disciples of Jesus which did tarry with them, And they did cast them into prison;
33 But by the power of the word of God which was in them, the prisons were rent in twain, And they went forth doing mighty miracles among them.
34 Nevertheless, and notwithstanding all these miracles, the people did harden their hearts and did seek to kill them, even as the Jews at Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus, according to His word;