20 And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to ^arestore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. But our ^blabors were vain; their ^chatred was fixed, and they were led by their evil nature that they became wild, and ferocious, and a ^dblood-thirsty people, full of ^eidolatry and ^ffilthiness; feeding upon beasts of prey; dwelling in ^gtents, and wandering about in the wilderness with a short skin girdle about their loins and their heads shaven; and their skill was in the ^hbow, and in the cimeter, and the ax. And many of them did eat nothing save it was raw meat; and they were continually seeking to destroy us.

  14 For at the present our strugglings were ^avain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would ^bdestroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.

  5 I say unto you, my sons, ^awere it not for these things, which have been kept and ^bpreserved by the hand of God, that we might ^cread and understand of his ^dmysteries, and have his ^ecommandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the ^ftraditions of their fathers, which are not correct.

  12 They were a ^awild, and ferocious, and a blood-thirsty people, believing in the ^btradition of their fathers, which is this—Believing that they were driven out of the land of Jerusalem because of the iniquities of their fathers, and that they were ^cwronged in the wilderness by their brethren, and they were also wronged while crossing the sea;

  8 And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not ^amix and believe in incorrect ^btraditions which would prove their destruction.

  16 For there are many promises which are ^aextended to the Lamanites; for it is because of the ^btraditions of their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of ^cignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and ^dprolong their existence in the land.

  39 And that ^awicked one cometh and ^btaketh away light and truth, through ^cdisobedience, from the children of men, and because of the ^dtradition of their fathers.

  1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cry much unto the Lord my God, because of the ^aanger of my brethren.

  2 ^aThat perhaps they might bring them to the knowledge of the Lord their God, and convince them of the iniquity of their fathers; and that perhaps they might cure them of their ^bhatred towards the Nephites, that they might also be brought to rejoice in the Lord their God, that they might become friendly to one another, and that there should be no more contentions in all the land which the Lord their God had given them.