has not inclined to you, and chosen you, because ye were more than all nations--ye were the least of the nations--but because Jehovah loved you."[430] "It is the grace of Jehovah that he has inclined to the fathers of Israel, and to them only, to lead them."[431] If the relation of the protecting lord to his people thus passes into a relation of free choice and love, the Book of the Law, on the other hand, requires from the Israelites something more than an external worship of Jehovah by gifts and sacrifices. "The command which I give thee is not hidden from thee, nor is it far off, that thou shouldst say, Who will go up to heaven and bring it down, or who will go over the sea and announce it to us? The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart."[432] "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stiff-necked."[433] "Ye will find Jehovah if ye seek him with all your heart, and all your soul."[434] "What does Jehovah require of thee? That thou shouldst love him with all thy strength, and walk in his ways."[435] "Love Jehovah, thy God, with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments alway."[436] If the new law seeks to give a value to inwardness, to lifting up the heart, and love to God; if it recognises the moral nature of Jehovah in the heart of man, and in this point is fully in harmony with the requirements of the prophets; yet at the same time, in accordance with the view of the priests, the whole sacrificial service was retained, with the regulations for purification. Even if the priests had been able to adopt the point of view of the prophets--the conception of purely inward elevation, and service with the heart--how could this have been brought into force, and established among the people, or with the kings, who found it no easy task to keep up the ritual of the service of Jehovah beside the sensual Syrian rites? The ritual for the priests, the regulations for their rights and duties, were in existence; the new law was not intended to instruct the priests, it was essentially a rule of life for the laity. Hence in this respect the new law had only to work its way as a supplement, to impress more definitely on the people unity of the worship, and its concentration in the temple at Jerusalem. Thus it was decisively commanded that the Passover also should be kept by all Israelites in Jerusalem (II. 210). In order finally to put an end to the ancient custom of worshipping Jehovah "in the high places," the rule was enforced that all sacrifices should be offered in the temple at Jerusalem: every other place of sacrifice was expressly forbidden, and every sacrifice which was not presented by the priests of the temple. On the other hand, in other departments, the new law exhibits greater moderation. At the festival of the new bread it was enough if every one offered freewill-offerings according to the measure in which "Jehovah