^7 (A)And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous ^(B)sister Judah saw it.

⁴⁶ “Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you; and ^(A)your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her daughters.

Israel Restored at Last

A Call to Repentance

Impenitence of Israel and Judah

⁸ Then I saw that ^(A)for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had ^(B)put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; ^(C)yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹ So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she ^(D)defiled the land and committed adultery with ^(E)stones and trees. ¹⁰ And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me ^(F)with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the Lord.

¹¹ Then the Lord said to me, ^(G)“Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.

⁶ Then the ^(A)runners went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the king and his leaders, and spoke according to the command of the king: “Children of Israel, ^(B)return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; then He will return to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of ^(C)the kings of ^(D)Assyria. ⁷ And do not be ^(E)like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He ^(F)gave them up to ^(G)desolation, as you see. ⁸ Now do not be ^(H)stiff-necked,^[a] as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, ^(I)that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. ⁹ For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with ^(J)compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is ^(K)gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you ^(L)return to Him.”

¹⁰ So the runners passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun; but ^(M)they laughed at them and mocked them. ¹¹ Nevertheless ^(N)some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² Also ^(O)the hand of God was on Judah to give them singleness of heart to obey the command of the king and the leaders, ^(P)at the word of the Lord.

¹³ Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His ^(A)prophets, ^(B)every seer, saying, ^(C)“Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ Nevertheless they would not hear, but ^(D)stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who ^(E)did not believe in the Lord their God.