Hezekiah’s Life Extended(A)

20 In (B)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ ”

Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, (C)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah (D)the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: (E)“I have heard your prayer, I have seen (F)your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and (G)I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” ’ ”

Then (H)Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, (I)“What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?”

Then Isaiah said, (J)“This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten [a]degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

11 So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and (K)He brought the shadow ten [b]degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

The Babylonian Envoys(L)

12 (M)At that time [c]Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And (N)Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and [d]all [e]his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”

15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

So Hezekiah answered, (O)“They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, (P)shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘And (Q)they shall take away some of your sons who will [f]descend from you, whom you will beget; (R)and they shall be (S)eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

19 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, (T)“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”

Death of Hezekiah(U)

20 (V)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he (W)made a (X)pool and a [g]tunnel and (Y)brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21 So (Z)Hezekiah [h]rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 20:10 Lit. steps
  2. 2 Kings 20:11 Lit. steps
  3. 2 Kings 20:12 Merodach-Baladan, Is. 39:1
  4. 2 Kings 20:13 So with many Heb. mss., Syr., Tg.; MT omits all
  5. 2 Kings 20:13 Lit. the house of his armor
  6. 2 Kings 20:18 be born from
  7. 2 Kings 20:20 aqueduct
  8. 2 Kings 20:21 Died and joined his ancestors

The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(A)

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:

“The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind your back!

23 “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against the Holy One of Israel.
24 By your servants you have reproached the Lord,
And said, ‘By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter its farthest height,
To its fruitful forest.
25 I have dug and drunk water,
And with the soles of my feet I have dried up
All the brooks of [a]defense.’

26 “Did you not hear (B)long ago
How I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
27 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.

28 “But I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.
29 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore (C)I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will (D)turn you back
By the way which you came.” ’

30 “This shall be a sign to you:

You shall eat this year such as grows of itself,
And the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
31 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
The (E)zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:

‘He shall not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
34 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the Lord.
35 ‘For I will (F)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant (G)David’s sake.’ ”

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death(H)

36 Then the (I)angel[b] of the Lord went out, and [c]killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 38 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then (J)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:25 Or perhaps Egypt
  2. Isaiah 37:36 Or Angel
  3. Isaiah 37:36 Lit. struck

Hezekiah’s Life Extended(A)

38 In (B)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: (C)‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”

Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, and said, (D)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a [a]loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your (E)sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and (F)I will defend this city.” ’ And this is (G)the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken: Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 38:3 whole or peaceful

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