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and they issued a decree to be proclaimed throughout all Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan, that everyone should come to celebrate the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Jerusalem; for not many had kept it in the prescribed manner. By the king’s command, the couriers, with the letters written by the king and his princes, went through all Israel and Judah. They said: “Israelites, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to you, the remnant left from the hands of the Assyrian kings. Do not be like your ancestors and your kin who acted treacherously toward the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he handed them over to desolation, as you yourselves now see.(A)

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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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