⁶ And the runners went with the letter from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah according to the command of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,^[a] so that he made them as a desolation, as you see. ⁸ Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers,^[b] but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you.