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So they made an announcement everywhere in Israel, from Beersheba to Dan.[a] They told the people to come to Jerusalem. There they would celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. For a long time most of the people had not celebrated the Passover as the law commanded. So the messengers took letters from the king and his officers all through Israel and Judah. This is what the letters said:

People of Israel, come back to obeying the Lord. He is the God that Abraham, Isaac and Israel obeyed. Then God will come back to you who are still alive. You have escaped from the kings of Assyria. Don’t be like your ancestors or your relatives. They turned against the Lord, the God their fathers obeyed. So the Lord caused other people to be disgusted with them. You know this is true.

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Footnotes

  1. 30:5 Beersheba to Dan Dan was the city farthest north in Israel. Beersheba was the city farthest south. So this means all the people of Israel.

They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan,(A) calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.

At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:

“People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your parents(B) and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful(C) to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror,(D) as you see.

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