This passage is a concentrated summary of what has already been presented at length in chapters 6, 7 and 8. The election of Israel to serve God places unavoidable obligations on them, but God's election of Israel to be his special people out of all the nations of the earth reveals his love for them. We should note that non-Israelites, who join the community of Israel, perhaps as slaves, are accepted as belonging to the people of God. There is a clear difference here between people who oppose Israel and her God, such as the Canaanites and other nations referred to in chapter 7, and foreigners who, for various reasons, are fully absorbed into the covenant way of life and worship.