6. Hezekiah's messengers went everywhere in Israel and Judah with the following letter:People of Israel, now that you have survived the invasion of the Assyrian kings, it's time for you to turn back to the Lord God our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshipped. If you do this, he will stop being angry.
7. Don't follow the example of your ancestors and your Israelite relatives in the north. They were unfaithful to the Lord, and he punished them horribly.
8. Don't be stubborn like your ancestors. Decide now to obey the Lord our God! Come to Jerusalem and worship him in the temple that will belong to him for ever. Then he will stop being angry,
9. and the enemies who have captured your families will show pity and send them back home. The Lord God is kind and merciful, and if you turn back to him, he will no longer turn his back on you.
10. The messengers went to every town in Ephraim and West Manasseh as far north as the territory of Zebulun, but everyone laughed and insulted them.
11. Only a few people from the tribes of Asher, West Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble and went to Jerusalem.