2 Chronicles 20:33 (KJV)

Passage

Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

Nearby Context

2 Chronicles 20:31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

2 Chronicles 20:32 And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 20:33 Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 20:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.

2 Chronicles 20:35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "howbeit", "high", "places", "taken", "away", "people", "prepared", and "hearts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "howbeit" and "high", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 32's "And he walked in the way of..." into verse 34's "Now the rest of the acts of...", so "howbeit" and "high" belong inside that flow. In 2 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "howbeit" and "high" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.