⁵so they invited all the Israelites, from Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, to come together in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover according to the Law, in larger numbers than ever before. ⁶Messengers went out at the command of the king and his officials through all Judah and Israel with the following invitation:

“People of Israel, you have survived the Assyrian conquest of the land. Now return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and he will return to you. ⁷Do not be like your ancestors and your fellow-Israelites who were unfaithful to the Lord their God. As you can see, he punished them severely. ⁸Do not be stubborn as they were, but obey the Lord. Come to the Temple in Jerusalem, which the Lord your God has made holy for ever, and worship him so that he will no longer be angry with you. ⁹If you return to the Lord, then those who have taken your relatives away as prisoners will take pity on them and let them come back home. The Lord your God is kind and merciful, and if you return to him, he will accept you.”

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