Ether 14:1

And now there began to be a great curse upon the land, because of the iniquity of the people, in the which, if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon the shelf, or upon the place whither he would keep it, and behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the curse upon the land.

A great curse came upon the land because the people were so bad. If a man put his tool or sword on a shelf to keep it there, the next morning he couldn’t find it. The curse was that bad.

A terrible curse settled over the land because of the people’s wickedness. Things began to vanish—a man could set his tool or sword on a shelf, and the next morning it would be gone. That’s how heavy the curse had become.