As Amulek pressed his charges against their corruption, the Ammonihahites grew more and more angry because of his insistence that they walked in crooked paths. They reviled at him, and mocked his warning words. In spite of the threats they made against him, he, nevertheless, remained calm and patient under trial. He neither reviled against the reviler, nor did he smite the smiter. But Amulek was firm in his pronouncement. "O ye wicked and perverse generation, why hath Satan got such great hold upon your hearts?" he said. In their ignorance and infatuation, their pride and folly, the people of Ammonihah did not understand the things of God. They refused to acknowledge guilt. Their hearts were set upon the things of the world.
By his answers to their questions, the lawyers knew that Amulek understood their thoughts. They hoped to stir up strife and angry passions, and thereby add to their crafty profession the opportunity they laid in wait for. The lawyers urged the people to remember whereof Amulek spoke that they might entrap him in their courts. In all their murmurings against them, Alma and Amulek boldly and fearlessly delivered their warnings. The missionaries valiantly proclaimed their terrible message.