2 Kings 17:13

13 God had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly through countless holy prophets and seers time and time again, "Turn away from your evil way of life. Do what I tell you and have been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I've kept reminding you ever since through my servants the prophets."

2 Kings 17:13 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:13

Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by
all the prophets, [and by] all the seers
Against their sins, reproving them for them, dehorting them from them, exhorting them to repent and leave them; as in all preceding reigns, by Ahijah the Shilonite, by Elijah and Elisha, by Hosea, Amos, and Micah, and others:

saying, turn ye from your ways;
repent of them, and reform from them, worship of the calves particularly:

and keep my commandments, and my statutes, according to all the law
which I commanded your fathers;
which was given them and enjoined them at Mount Sinai:

and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets;
by whom he put them in mind of them, explained them, and urged obedience to them.

2 Kings 17:13 In-Context

11 Everywhere you looked there was smoke from their pagan offerings to the deities - the identical offerings that had gotten the pagan nations off into exile. They had accumulated a long list of evil actions and God was fed up,
12 fed up with their persistent worship of gods carved out of deadwood or shaped out of clay, even though God had plainly said, "Don't do this - ever!"
13 God had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly through countless holy prophets and seers time and time again, "Turn away from your evil way of life. Do what I tell you and have been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I've kept reminding you ever since through my servants the prophets."
14 But they wouldn't listen. If anything, they were even more bullheaded than their stubborn ancestors, if that's possible.
15 They were contemptuous of his instructions, the solemn and holy covenant he had made with their ancestors, and of his repeated reminders and warnings. They lived a "nothing" life and became "nothings" - just like the pagan peoples all around them. They were well-warned: God said, "Don't!" but they did it anyway.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.