To one who has read the marvelous story of Nephi, as related so far, this exclamation may come as an unexpected surprise. "To what iniquities does he refer? To what sins? (v. 18) We know not. But whatever they were, Nephi had no intention to minimize, or excuse them. He had not any desire to say, with the Pharisee: "I thank thee, O God, that I am not as other men are"; nor with a young man whom I happen to remember, who, in a public prayer meeting, asked God to forgive him his "little" faults, for, he said, "If I have done anything wrong, I did not mean to." Nephi seems to have felt the solemn truth of the Scriptural doctrine that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. (Gen.8:21) But the nobility of the character of Nephi is clearly shown in his confession. There is no word of criticism of his brothers, no prayer for retaliation, although they were plotting against him. Nephi did not assume the responsibility of an accuser, nor a judge.(See 2)