Nephi uses the formalities of mourning to set up this confrontation with the crowd, and he uses that imagery to highlight the sinful state of his audience. He ties his current discourse to his actions by asking “why will ye die?” The people had come to learn who had died, and Nephi now tells them that it is they who are dying by following “him who is seeking to hurl away your souls down to everlasting misery and endless wo.”