And testifiedst against them,.... By sending prophets to them, to admonish them of their sins, and remind them of their duty:
that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law; to regard it, and walk according it:
yet they dealt proudly; with an haughty air rejected the counsel of God:
and hearkened not unto thy commandments; yielded not obedience to them:
but sinned against thy judgments; transgressed his laws, which were so just, righteous, reasonable, and equitable:
which if a man do, he shall live in them; or by them, in the land of Canaan, see Leviticus 18:5,
and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear; like oxen, that wriggle and struggle, and draw back, and will not admit the yoke upon them.