Cultic reform — incomplete — 'Yet the high places were not removed, for the people had not yet set their hearts to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers' (אך הבמות לא סרו כי עדיין העם לא הכינו את לבבם לאלהי אבותם). The qualifier 'yet' (אך) introduces a significant limitation: the high places (במות, unauthorized local shrines) were not removed. This contradicts the statement in 19:3 that he 'removed the Asherim and high places.' The Chronicler may be noting that while the king's personal reform removed some cultic sites, the popular practice persisted. The explanation — 'the people had not yet set their hearts' (לא הכינו את לבבם) — places responsibility on the people's incomplete commitment. The verb כון (prepare, set in order) suggests volitional preparation. Even a faithful king cannot reform a people unwilling to be reformed. The Chronicler's theology includes the limits of leadership.

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