and if my people who are called by my name become humble and pray, and look for me, and turn away from their evil ways, then I will hear them from heaven. I will forgive their sin and heal their land.

But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.

Whoever hides their sins will not be successful, but whoever confesses their sins and stops doing wrong will receive mercy.

So you must change your hearts and lives. Come back to God, and he will forgive your sins.

The Lord is not being slow in doing what he promised the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He doesn't want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.

Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed.

King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people of Israel and Judah. He wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh also. He invited all these people to come to the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem so that they all could celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel.
King Hezekiah agreed with all his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem to have the Passover in the second month.
They could not celebrate the Passover Festival at the regular time, because not enough priests had made themselves ready for holy service and the people had not gathered in Jerusalem.
The agreement satisfied King Hezekiah and all the assembly.
So they sent the announcement throughout Israel, from the town of Beersheba all the way to the town of Dan. They told the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. Not many people had been celebrating it as it was described in the law.
So the messengers took the king's letters all through Israel and Judah. This is what the letters said: "Children of Israel, turn back to the Lord God that Abraham, Isaac, and Israel obeyed. Then God will come back to you who are still alive and have escaped from the kings of Assyria.
Don't be like your fathers or your brothers. The Lord was their God, but they turned against him. So the Lord made people hate them and speak evil about them. You can see with your own eyes that this is true.
Don't be stubborn as your ancestors were. But obey the Lord with a willing heart. Come to the Temple. The Lord has made the Temple to be holy forever. Serve the Lord your God. Then the Lord's fearful anger will turn away from you.
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."
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.
But, some men from the areas of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.
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.
Many people came together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. It was a very large crowd.
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.
Then they killed the Passover lamb on the 14 day of the second month. The priests and the Levites felt ashamed. They made themselves ready for holy service. The priests and the Levites brought burnt offerings into the Lord's Temple.
They took their regular places in the Temple as described in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites gave the blood to the priests. Then the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar.
There were many people in the group who had not made themselves ready for holy service, so they were not permitted to kill the Passover lambs. That is why the Levites were responsible for killing the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean. The Levites made each lamb holy for the Lord.
Many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not prepared themselves in the right way for the Passover Festival. They did not celebrate the Passover the right way, as the Law of Moses says. But Hezekiah prayed for the people. So he said this prayer, "Lord God, you are good. These people sincerely wanted to worship you in the right way, but they did not make themselves clean as the law says. Please forgive these people. You are the God that our ancestors obeyed. Forgive, even if someone did not make himself clean as the rules of the Most Holy Place say."

The Lord listened to King Hezekiah's prayer and forgave the people.
The children of Israel at Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. They were very happy. The Levites and the priests gave praise to the Lord every day with all their strength.
King Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who understood very well how to do the service of the Lord. The people celebrated the festival for seven days and offered fellowship offerings. They gave thanks and praise to the Lord God of their ancestors.
All the people agreed to stay seven more days. They were joyful as they celebrated the Passover for seven more days.
King Hezekiah of Judah gave 1000 bulls and 7000 sheep to the assembly to kill and eat. The leaders gave 1000 bulls and 10,000 sheep to the assembly. Many priests prepared themselves for holy service.
All the assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, all the assembly who came from Israel, and the travelers who came from Israel and moved to Judah all these people were very happy.
So there was much joy in Jerusalem. There had not been a celebration like this since the time of Solomon son of King David of Israel.
The priests and the Levites stood up and asked the Lord to bless the people. God heard them. Their prayer came up to the Lord's holy home in heaven.

You need to go and learn what this Scripture means: 'I don't want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.' I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners."

From that time Jesus began to tell people his message: "Change your hearts and lives, because God's kingdom is coming soon."

Come near to God and he will come near to you. You are sinners, so clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure.

Tear your hearts, not your clothes. " Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and merciful. He does not become angry quickly. He has great love. Maybe he will change his mind about the bad punishment he planned.

"I correct and punish the people I love. So show that nothing is more important to you than living right. Change your hearts and lives.

I don't want to kill you! Please come back and live!" This is what the Lord God said.

In the same way, I tell you, heaven is a happy place when one sinner decides to change. There is more joy for that one sinner than for 99 good people who don't need to change.

Peter said to them, "Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the past people did not understand God, and he overlooked this. But now he is telling everyone in the world to change and turn to him.

He said, "The right time is now here. God's kingdom is near. Change your hearts and lives, and believe the Good News!"

Zechariah son of Berekiah received a message from the Lord. This was in the eighth month of the second year that Darius was king in Persia. (Zechariah was the son of Berekiah, who was the son of Iddo the prophet.) This is that message:
The Lord became very angry with your ancestors.
So you must tell the people what the Lord says, "Come back to me, and I will come back to you." This is what the Lord All-Powerful said.
"Don't be like your ancestors. In the past the prophets spoke to them and said, 'The Lord All-Powerful wants you to change your evil way of living. Stop doing evil things!' But your ancestors did not listen to me." This is what the Lord said.
"Your ancestors are gone, and those prophets did not live forever.
The prophets were my servants. I used them to tell your ancestors about my laws and teachings. Your ancestors finally learned their lesson and said, 'The Lord All-Powerful did what he said he would do. He punished us for the way we lived and for all the evil things we did.' So they came back to God."
On the 24 day of the eleventh month (Shebat) of the second year that Darius was king of Persia, Zechariah received another message from the Lord. (This was Zechariah son of Berekiah, son of Iddo.) This is the message:
At night I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle bushes in the valley. Behind him, there were red, brown, and white horses.
I said, "Sir, what are these horses for?" Then the angel speaking to me said, "I will show you what these horses are for."
Then the man standing among the myrtle bushes said, "The Lord sent these horses to go here and there on earth."
Then the horses spoke to the Lord's angel standing among the myrtle bushes and said, "We have walked here and there on the earth, and everything is calm and quiet."
Then the Lord's angel said, "Lord All- Powerful, how long before you comfort Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have shown your anger at these cities for 70 years now."
Then the Lord answered the angel who was talking with me. He spoke good, comforting words.
Then the angel told me to tell the people this: The Lord All-Powerful says: "I have a strong love for Jerusalem and Zion.
And I am very angry at the nations that feel so safe. I was only a little angry, and I used them to punish my people. But they caused too much damage."
So the Lord says, "I will come back to Jerusalem and comfort her." The Lord All-Powerful says, "Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and my house will be built there."
The angel also said, "The Lord All-Powerful says, 'My towns will be rich again. I will comfort Zion. I will again choose Jerusalem to be my special city.'"
Then I looked up and I saw four horns.
So I asked the angel who was talking with me, "What do these horns mean?" He said, "These are the horns that forced the people of Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem to go to foreign countries."
The Lord showed me four workers.
I asked him, "What are these four workers coming to do?" He said, "The horns represent the nations that attacked the people of Judah and forced them to go to foreign countries. The horns 'threw' the people of Judah to the foreign countries. The horns didn't show mercy to anyone. But these four workers have come to frighten the horns and throw them away."

I have not come to ask good people to change. I have come to ask sinners to change the way they live."

In the same way, it's a happy time for the angels of God when one sinner decides to change."