³⁵ Then ^[a]a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, My Chosen One; listen and obey and yield to Him!”

¹⁸ So be careful how you listen; for whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a longing for truth], even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”^(A)

²⁸ But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”

²³ But this thing I did command them: ‘Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, so that it may be well with you.’

¹¹ Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your fathers have abandoned (rejected) Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and have walked after other gods and have served them and bowed down to the handmade idols and have abandoned (rejected) Me and have not kept My law, ¹² and because you have done worse [things] than your fathers. Just look, every one of you walks in the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you do not listen [obediently] to Me.