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.’ ”

² Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, ^3 (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.

⁴ And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “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. ⁶ 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.” ’ ”

⁷ Then ^(H)Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ 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?”

⁹ 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.

By Grace Through Faith

2 And ^(A)you He made alive, ^(B)who were dead in trespasses and sins, ^2 (C)in which you once walked according to the ^[a]course of this world, according to ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in ^(E)the sons of disobedience, ^3 (F)among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in ^(G)the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and ^(H)were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

⁴ But God, ^(I)who is rich in mercy, because of His ^(J)great love with which He loved us, ^5 (K)even when we were dead in trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together ^(M)in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in ^(N)His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ^8 (O)For by grace you have been saved ^(P)through faith, and that not of yourselves; ^(Q)it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of ^(R)works, lest anyone should ^(S)boast. ¹⁰ For we are ^(T)His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Manasseh Reigns in Judah^(A)

33 Manasseh ^(B)was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. ² But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the ^(C)abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. ³ For he rebuilt the ^[a]high places which Hezekiah his father had ^(D)broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and ^(E)made wooden images; and he worshiped ^(F)all ^[b]the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, ^(G)“In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” ⁵ And he built altars for all the host of heaven ^(H)in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ^6 (I)Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced ^(J)soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and ^(K)consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. ^7 (L)He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the ^[c]house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, ^(M)“In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; ^8 (N)and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” ⁹ So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

Manasseh Restored After Repentance

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not ^[d]listen. ^11 (O)Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with ^[e]hooks, ^(P)bound him with ^[f]bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. ¹² Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and ^(Q)humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, ¹³ and prayed to Him; and He ^(R)received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh ^(S)knew that the Lord was God.

¹⁴ After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of ^(T)Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it ^(U)enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. ¹⁵ He took away ^(V)the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. ¹⁶ He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and ^(W)thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. ^17 (X)Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the ^[g]high places, but only to the Lord their God.

Death of Manasseh^(Y)

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of ^(Z)the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the ^[h]book of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built ^[i]high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of ^[j]Hozai. ^20 (AA)So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.

Amon’s Reign and Death^(AB)

^21 (AC)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. ²³ And he did not humble himself before the Lord, ^(AD)as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.

^24 (AE)Then his servants conspired against him, and ^(AF)killed him in his own house. ²⁵ But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.

Life and Judgment Are Through the Son

²⁴ “Most assuredly, I say to you, ^(A)he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, ^(B)but has passed from death into life. ²⁵ Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when ^(C)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For ^(D)as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have ^(E)life in Himself, ²⁷ and ^(F)has given Him authority to execute judgment also, ^(G)because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will ^(H)hear His voice ^29 (I)and come forth—^(J)those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. ^30 (K)I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because ^(L)I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

The Fourfold Witness

^31 (M)“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not ^[a]true. ^32 (N)There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. ³³ You have sent to John, ^(O)and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was the burning and ^(P)shining lamp, and ^(Q)you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. ³⁶ But ^(R)I have a greater witness than John’s; for ^(S)the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very ^(T)works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. ³⁷ And the Father Himself, who sent Me, ^(U)has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, ^(V)nor seen His form. ³⁸ But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. ^39 (W)You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and ^(X)these are they which testify of Me. ^40 (Y)But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

^41 (Z)“I do not receive honor from men. ⁴² But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. ⁴³ I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. ^44 (AA)How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek ^(AB)the honor that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; ^(AC)there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; ^(AD)for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But if you ^(AE)do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”