¹² Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.

¹⁴ “But I admit that I follow the Way, which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors, and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets.

Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms

¹⁶ Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people.

¹⁰ But now I will make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us.

A Call to Love and Obedience

¹² “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.

⁵ They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

²⁹ joined their leaders and bound themselves with an oath. They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the Law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the Lord our Lord:

The People Agree to Obey

^38 [a]The people responded, “In view of all this,^[b] we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.”