30 Then King Hizkiyah (Hezekiah) sent invitations to all of Yisrael (Israel) and Yehudah (Judah) (including Efrayim (Ephraim) and Menasheh (Manasseh)) to come to Yahweh’s temple, 2 because the king had consulted with his officials and the whole assembly in Yerushalem (Jerusalem) and decided to have a late celebration of the Passover in April.[ref] 3 (They couldn’t have done it at the proper time because the priests hadn’t consecrated themselves sufficiently then, and so the people hadn’t gathered in Yerushalem.) 4 The plan pleased the king and all the people, 5 so they sent messages across all of Yisrael and Yehudah, from Be’er-Sheva (Beersheba) in the south to Dan in the far north, for the people to come to Yerushalem to celebrate the Passover to honour Yisrael’s god Yahweh. (They hadn’t previously been observing the written instructions.) 6 Runners took the letters from the king and his officials, going to all of Yisrael and Yehudah with the king’s command: “Descendants of Yisrael, return to Yahweh, the god of Avraham, Yitshak (Isaac), and Yisrael, and he’ll return to you—the group that escaped from the control of the Assyrian kings. 7 Don’t be like your fathers and brothers who weren’t faithful to Yahweh, their ancestors’ god, provoking him to leave them decimated, as you can see. 8 So don’t be stubborn like your ancestors were. Obey Yahweh and come to the sanctuary that he’s consecrated forever, and serve your god Yahweh so he’ll turn his anger away from you. 9 If you descendants of Yisrael return to Yahweh, your brothers and sons will be shown mercy by their captors and be able to return to this land, because your god Yahweh is gracious and compassionate, and he won’t ignore you if you’ll turn back to him.

10 The messengers went from city to city in the Efrayim (Ephraim) and Menasheh (Manasseh) regions, as far north as Zevulun, but many people there laughed at them and mocked them. 11 However, some of the people from Asher, Menasheh, and Zevulun humbled themselves and went to Yerushalem. 12 Also in Yehudah, God moved the people to want to obey the king and his officials and Yahweh’s instructions.