We need to interrupt at this point and consider what the king has just said. Notice how he lists among their catalog of sins their many murders. It must have come as a shock when they became converts and learned that the Atonement of Jesus Christ does not cover murder. However, if it was done in ignorance of God's law there is a special allowance by God. The casual manner in which Lamoni had killed his servants who lost a few sheep and the apparent readiness of Lamoni's father to kill Ammon is indicative of the relative indifference which the apostate Lamanite culture held toward the sanctity of human life. But their conversion to Christianity had changed all that. Now the king says they realize the magnitude of their sins including their many murders. The intensity of their desire to be forgiven for these terrible sins is reflected in the rest of the king's comments.