It is interesting that although just previously in Mormon 1:19, Mormon noted the fulfillment of Samuel the Lamanite's prophecies concerning sorceries, witchcraft, and magic (see Helaman 13:18-23), he now adds to that fulfillment with words about repentance and crying unto the Lord in Mormon 2:10-11:
And it came to pass that the Nephites began to repent of their iniquity, and began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet; for behold no man could keep that which was his own, for the thieves, and the robbers, and the murderers, and the magic art, and the witchcraft which was in the land. Thus there began to be a mourning and a lamentation in all the land because of these things, and more especially among the people of Nephi.
Once again, for the benefit of the reader, the following is the specific prophecy of Samuel the Lamanite:
Yea, behold, the anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.
And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them.
And in the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day, saith the Lord of Hosts. And then shall ye lament, and say:
O that I had repented, and had not killed the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out. Yea, in that day ye shall say: O that we had remembered the Lord our God in the day that he gave us our riches, and then they would not have become slippery that we should lose them; for behold, our riches are gone from us.
Behold, we lay a tool here and on the morrow it is gone; and behold, our swords are taken from us in the day we have sought them for battle.
Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land.
O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us; for behold the land is cursed, and all things are become slippery, and we cannot hold them.
Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls. Behold, our iniquities are great. O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us? And this shall be your language in those days.
But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head. (Helaman 13:30-38)
Once again, one should note here the excellence of Mormon as an inspired editor, tying in the fulfillment of prophecies made about 330 years before this time. More importantly, however, the reader should be aware that Mormon is giving a spiritual and cultural description of his people (and hopefully giving sufficient warning to us) in the most subtle yet emphatic manner possible. If Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon, he has once again proved to be a genius at tying in loose ends of the story. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]