So they decided to send messages to all the towns in Judah and in Israel, from Beersheba in the far south to Dan in the far north, including towns in the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, to invite people to come to the temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Festival to honor Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people worshiped/belonged to. Many of the people had not previously celebrated that festival, even though it had been written in the laws of Moses that they should do that.