Affirmation of the Covenant by Josiah and the People

²⁹ So the king sent messengers and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ The king went up to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people from great to small. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple.^{(A) 31} Then the king stood at his post^(B) and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence^(C) to follow the Lord and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul^(D) in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book.^(E)

³² He had all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree^[a] to it. So all the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

³³ So Josiah removed everything that was detestable from all the lands belonging to the Israelites,^(F) and he required all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his reign they did not turn aside from following Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.

⁴ “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.^{[a](A) 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.^{(B) 6} These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.^{(C) 7} Repeat them to your children.^(D) Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol^[b] on your forehead.^{[c](E) 9} Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Remembering God through Obedience

¹⁰ “When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, ¹¹ houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant^(F)—and when you eat and are satisfied,^{(G) 12} be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.^(H)

³⁶ “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”^[a]

³⁷ He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.^{(A)[b] 38} This is the greatest and most important^[c] command. ³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.^{(B)[d] 40} All the Law and the Prophets depend^[e] on these two commands.”^(C)