¹² They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and with all their soul,^(A)

¹⁴ But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors, believing everything laid down according to the law or written in the prophets.^(A)

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

¹⁰ Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger may turn away from us.^(A)

The Essence of the Law

¹² “So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,^(A)

⁵ and not as we expected. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us,

⁵ They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, and they shall come and join themselves to the Lord by an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

¹² Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.^{(A) 13} When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,^(B)

²⁹ join with their kin, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord and his ordinances and his statutes.^(A)

Those Who Signed the Covenant

^38 [a]Because of all this we make a firm agreement in writing, and on that sealed document are inscribed the names of our officials, our Levites, and our priests.^(A)