There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when Jehovah made a covenant with the sons of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
So says Jehovah, the God of Israel: I cut a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying,
Whether it is good, or whether it is evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you; so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.
And I passed by you and looked on you, and, behold, your time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness. And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord Jehovah. And you became Mine.
Is there not one Father to us all? Has not one God created us? Why do we act deceitfully, each man with his brother, to profane the covenant of our fathers.
And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men, brothers, if you have any word of comfort for the people, speak.