Sennacherib Invades Judah

32 ^(A)After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. ² And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, ³ he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. ⁴ A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and ^(B)the brook that flowed through the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” ⁵ He set to work resolutely and built up ^(C)all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it,^[a] and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the ^(D)Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. ⁶ And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke ^(E)encouragingly to them, saying, ^7 (F)“Be strong and courageous. ^(G)Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, ^(H)for there are more with us than with him. ⁸ With him is ^(I)an arm of flesh, ^(J)but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Blasphemes

⁹ After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? ^12 (K)Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”? ¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵ Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’”

¹⁶ And his servants said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” ¹⁸ And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. ¹⁹ And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands.

The Lord Delivers Jerusalem

²⁰ Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. ²¹ And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with ^(L)shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. ²² So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. ²³ And many ^(M)brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.

Hezekiah's Pride and Achievements

^24 (N)In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah ^(O)did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for ^(P)his heart was proud. Therefore ^(Q)wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But Hezekiah ^(R)humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ And Hezekiah had very great riches and honour, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of ^(S)costly vessels; ²⁸ storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds. ²⁹ He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions. ³⁰ This same Hezekiah ^(T)closed the upper outlet of the waters of ^(U)Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. ³¹ And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, ^(V)who had been sent to him to enquire about ^(W)the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, ^(X)in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.

³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written ^(Y)in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, ^(Z)in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ^(AA)upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

The Fall of Babylon

18 After this I saw ^(A)another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and ^(B)the earth was made bright with his glory. ² And he called out with a mighty voice,

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

⁹ And ^(U)the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, ^(V)will weep and wail over her ^(W)when they see the smoke of her burning. ^10 (X)They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,

¹¹ And ^(AA)the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo any more, ¹² cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble, ¹³ cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.^[b]

^15 (AB)The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, ^(AC)will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,

And ^(AG)all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off ¹⁸ and ^(AH)cried out ^(AI)as they saw the smoke of her burning,

¹⁹ And they threw ^(AK)dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,

²¹ Then ^(AQ)a mighty angel ^(AR)took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,

The Coming Day of the Lord

14 Behold, ^(A)a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. ² For ^(B)I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and ^(C)the city shall be taken ^(D)and the houses plundered ^(E)and the women raped. ^(F)Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. ^3 (G)Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. ^4 (H)On that day his feet shall stand ^(I)on ^(J)the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and ^(K)the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by ^(L)a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northwards, and the other half southwards. ⁵ And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from ^(M)the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

^6 (N)On that day ^(O)there shall be ^(P)no light, cold, or frost.^{[a] 7 (Q)}And there shall be a unique^[b] day, ^(R)which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but ^(S)at evening time there shall be light.

^8 (T)On that day ^(U)living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to ^(V)the eastern sea^[c] and half of them to ^(W)the western sea.^{[d] (X)}It shall continue in summer as in winter.

⁹ And ^(Y)the Lord will be king over all the earth. ^(Z)On that day the Lord will be ^(AA)one and ^(AB)his name one.

^10 (AC)The whole land shall be turned into a plain from ^(AD)Geba to ^(AE)Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But ^(AF)Jerusalem shall remain aloft ^(AG)on its site from ^(AH)the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to ^(AI)the Corner Gate, and from ^(AJ)the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. ¹¹ And it shall be inhabited, for ^(AK)there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction.^{[e] (AL)}Jerusalem shall dwell in security.

¹² And this shall be ^(AM)the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

¹³ And ^(AN)on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that ^(AO)each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. ¹⁴ Even ^(AP)Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And ^(AQ)the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. ¹⁵ And ^(AR)a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.

¹⁶ Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem ^(AS)shall go up year after year to worship ^(AT)the King, the Lord of hosts, and ^(AU)to keep ^(AV)the Feast of Booths. ¹⁷ And if ^(AW)any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship ^(AX)the King, the Lord of hosts, ^(AY)there will be no rain on them. ¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain;^[f] there shall be ^(AZ)the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up ^(BA)to keep the Feast of Booths. ¹⁹ This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up ^(BB)to keep the Feast of Booths.

²⁰ And ^(BC)on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ^(BD)“Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. ²¹ And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be ^(BE)holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And ^(BF)there shall no longer be ^(BG)a trader^[g] in the house of the Lord of hosts ^(BH)on that day.