And ye all are witnesses this day, that Zeniff, who was made king over this people, he being over–zealous to inherit the land of his fathers, therefore being deceived by the cunning and craftiness of king Laman, who having entered into a treaty with king Zeniff, and having yielded up into his hands the possessions of a part of the land, or even the city of Lehi–Nephi, and the city of Shilom; and the land round about— And all this he did, for the sole purpose of bringing this people into subjection or into bondage.