In the beginning of Abinadi’s discourse before the people, he declared that, since they had not repented, Jehovah would visit them in his anger. These verses continue that condemnation. This is no longer an opportunity to repent, but a rendering of judgment.
What comes is a description of the fate that awaits the people of Noah. This isn’t a conditional fate, but a prophesied fate. They will be brought into bondage and many will be slain. There will be sore afflictions, even pestilence and famine. Abinadi specifically prophesies that King Noah’s life “will be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace.” While that is a simile, it is also a foreshadowing of Noah’s shameful death.
A comment can be made about the language in verse 4. That the people come into bondage is elaborated with them having burdens lashed upon their backs. Carrying burdens on backs is a very Mesoamerican way of carrying heavy loads, assisted by a tumpline, which is a rope or cloth that goes under the load and is fixed onto the forehead.
The idea that the people would be “driven before like a dumb ass” is an understandable metaphor for English readers, but there were no asses in the Americas. Thus, the metaphor with that meaning on the plates must have been somewhat different while conveying the same notion of being a beast of burden. Perhaps it was a further reference to the people who might be treated as a beast, while burdened.