²² For I did not speak with your ancestors,^[a] nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. ²³ But I only commanded them this word, saying,^[b] ‘Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.’ ²⁴ Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they became worse instead of better.^[c]