Hezekiah Shows His Treasure to the Babylonian Envoys

¹² Some time later, Berodach-baladan,^[a] the son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to the entourage^[b] and showed them his entire treasury, including the silver, gold, and spices, the precious oil, his armory, and everything that was inventoried in his treasuries. There was nothing in his household or in his holdings that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men have to say, and where did they come from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country far away—from Babylon.”

¹⁵ He asked, “What did they see in your household?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything. In my household there is nothing in my treasuries that I haven’t shown them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah replied to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘Watch out! The days are coming when everything that’s in your house—everything that your ancestors have saved up right to this day—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ declares the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some of your descendants—your very own seed, whom you will father—will be carried away to become officials^[c] in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ At this, Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “What you’ve spoken from the Lord is good,” because he had been thinking, “Why not, as long as there’s peace and security^[d] in my lifetime…?”

²⁰ Now the rest of Hezekiah’s actions, as well as his glorious deeds, including how he constructed the pool and the conduit to bring water into the city, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²¹ Hezekiah died, as did^[e] his ancestors, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

The Visit by Merodach-baladan

39 At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, when^[a] he heard he had been sick and had survived.^{[b] 2} Hezekiah was delighted with them, and showed them everything in^[c] his treasure-houses^[d]—the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oils, his entire armory, and everything found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom^[e] that Hezekiah did not show them.

Isaiah Rebukes Hezekiah

³ Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men have to say? And from where did they come to you?”

Hezekiah replied, “From a distant land—they came to me from Babylon.”

⁴ “What did they see in your palace?” he asked.

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah replied. “There is nothing in my treasuries that I did not show them.”

⁵ Then Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Listen to this message^[f] from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies: ⁶ ‘The days are surely coming when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off^[g] to Babylon. They will come in, and^[h] nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ⁷ ‘Then some of your own sons, who will come from your loins,^[i] whom you will father, will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

⁸ “The message from the Lord that you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, since he was thinking, “…at least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”