⁶ So runners went with the letters from the king and his officers throughout all Isra’el and Y’hudah. They conveyed the king’s order: “People of Isra’el! Turn back to Adonai, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov! Then he will return to those of you who remain, who escaped capture by the kings of Ashur. ⁷ Don’t be like your ancestors, or like your kinsmen who sinned against Adonai the God of their ancestors, with the result that he allowed them to become an object of horror, as you see. ⁸ Don’t be stiffnecked now, as your ancestors were. Instead, yield yourselves to Adonai; enter his sanctuary, which he has made holy forever; and serve Adonai your God; so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.