The Lord said he saw the heartbreak and the sorrow which immoral and unauthorized unions inflicted on the women who were in mourning. Now that the Nephites had been led out of that land to America, the Lord said He would not suffer the Nephite men to inflict this type of sorrow and heartbreak on the Nephite women. The Lord pronounced a curse, even unto destruction, if the Nephite men tried to seduce the daughters of the Nephites who were in their years of innocence and tenderness to engage in unauthorized secret marriages or commit other immoral acts with them.
Jacob then reminded the men of his congregation that this commandment of strict monogamy was not anything new. It had been given originally to father Lehi. The men of this congregation had therefore violated this commandment knowingly and were under great condemnation.