9. If you come back and obey the Lord, your relatives and your children will find mercy from the people who captured them. And your relatives and your children will come back to this land. The Lord your God is kind and merciful. He will not turn away from you if you come back to him.”
10. The messengers went to every town in the area of Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to the area of Zebulun, but the people laughed at the messengers and made fun of them.
11. But, some men from the areas of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.
12. Also, in Judah God’s power united the people so that they would obey the king and his officials concerning the word of the Lord.
13. Many people came together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. It was a very large crowd.
14. The people took away the altars in Jerusalem that were for false gods and all the incense altars that were for false gods. They threw them into the Kidron Valley.