Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it came about ^(A)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(B)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was ^(C)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (D)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done. ^4 (E)He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the ^[a]Asherah. He also crushed to pieces ^(F)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called ^[b]Nehushtan. ^5 (G)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and ^(H)after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. ⁶ For he ^(I)clung to the Lord; he did not desist from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

^7 (J)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he was successful. And ^(K)he revolted against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (L)He ^[c]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(M)watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^(N)Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(O)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria led Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(P)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. ¹² This happened because they ^(Q)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but violated His covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of Judah

^13 (R)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent messengers to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^(S)I have done wrong. ^[d]Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will endure.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah the payment of three hundred ^[e]talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ^15 (T)Hezekiah then gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(U)Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(V)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the ^[f]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ Then they called to the king, and ^(W)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, ^(X)Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

¹⁹ And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “^(Y)What is this confidence that you ^[g]have? ²⁰ You say—but they are only ^[h]empty words—‘I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, ^(Z)that you have revolted against me? ²¹ Now behold, you have ^[i](AA)relied on the ^[j]support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[k]hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. ²² However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^(AB)whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Now then, ^[l]come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them! ²⁴ How then can you drive back even ^[m]one ^[n]official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^[o]rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up without ^[p]the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we ^[q]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[r](AC)Judean ^[s]so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” ²⁷ But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸ Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, ^[t]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ This is what the king says: ‘^(AD)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from ^[u]my hand. ³⁰ And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make ^[v]your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, ^(AE)each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you ^(AF)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will save us.” ^33 (AG)Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^34 (AH)Where are the gods of Hamath and ^(AI)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^[w](AJ)Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, ^(AK)that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

³⁶ But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s ^[x]command: “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then ^(AL)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah ^(AM)with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 ^(AN)Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he ^(AO)tore his clothes, ^(AP)covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(AQ)covered with sackcloth, to ^(AR)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. ^4 (AS)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(AT)to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(AU)the remnant that is ^[y]left.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^(AV)servants of the king of Assyria ^(AW)have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that ^(AX)he will hear news and return to his own land. And ^(AY)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(AZ)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^(BA)Lachish. ⁹ When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of ^[z]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[aa]Judah: ‘Do not ^(BB)let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “^(BC)Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? ^12 (BD)Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^(BE)Gozan, ^(BF)Haran, Rezeph, and ^(BG)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (BH)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴ Then ^(BI)Hezekiah took the ^[ab]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[ac]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^[ad](BJ)enthroned above the cherubim, ^(BK)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (BL)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; ^(BM)open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(BN)to taunt the living God. ¹⁷ It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have ^[ae]hurled their gods into the fire; ^(BO)for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, ^(BP)so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^(BQ)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^(BR)I have heard you.’ ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

²⁹ ‘Then this shall be ^(CG)the sign for you: ^[ah]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ^30 (CH)The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors ^(CI)out of Mount Zion. ^(CJ)The zeal of ^[ai]the Lord will perform this.

³² ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “^(CK)He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. ^33 (CL)By the way that he came, by ^[aj]the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ³⁴ ‘^(CM)For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and ^(CN)for My servant David’s sake.’”

^35 (CO)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of ^[ak]the 185,000 were ^[al]dead. ³⁶ So ^(CP)Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^[am]returned home, and lived at ^(CQ)Nineveh. ³⁷ Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[an](CR)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to ^(CS)the land of Ararat. And his son ^(CT)Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

32 After these ^[a]acts of faithfulness ^(A)Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and ^[b]intended to break into them for himself. ² Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that ^[c]he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, ³ he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴ So many people assembled ^(B)and stopped up all the springs and ^(C)the stream which flowed ^[d]through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” ⁵ And he resolutely set to work and ^(D)rebuilt all of the wall that had been broken down and ^[e]erected towers on it, and built ^(E)another outside wall and strengthened the ^[f](F)Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great numbers. ⁶ He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the public square at the city gate, and ^(G)spoke ^[g]encouragingly to them, saying, ⁷ “^(H)Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; ^(I)for the One with us is greater than the one with him. ⁸ With him is only ^(J)an arm of flesh, but ^(K)with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

⁹ After this ^(L)Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ^[h]besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: ‘On what are you trusting that you are staying in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹ Is Hezekiah not misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will save us from the ^[i]hand of the king of Assyria”? ^12 (M)Is it not the same Hezekiah who removed His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ^[j]Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall ^[k]burn incense”? ¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^(N)Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to save their land from my hand? ^14 (O)Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could save his people from my hand, that your God would be able to save you from my hand? ¹⁵ Now then, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ^(P)no god of any nation or kingdom was able to save his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God save you from my hand?’”

¹⁶ His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^(Q)As the gods of the nations of the lands ^[l]have not saved their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not save His people from my hand.” ^18 (R)They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city. ¹⁹ They spoke ^[m]of the God of Jerusalem as they did against ^(S)the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

²⁰ But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and called out to heaven for help. ²¹ And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ^[n]in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with the sword. ²² So the Lord ^(T)saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and ^[o]guided them on every side. ²³ And ^(U)many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so thereafter ^(V)he rose in the sight of all nations.

^24 (W)In those days Hezekiah became ^[p]mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and ^[q]the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah did nothing in return for the benefit ^[r]he received, ^(X)because his heart was ^[s]proud; ^(Y)therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ However, ^(Z)Hezekiah ^[t]humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuable articles, ²⁸ also storehouses for the produce of grain, wine, and oil; stalls for all kinds of cattle, and ^[u]sheepfolds for the flocks. ²⁹ He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, because ^(AA)God had given him very great ^[v]wealth. ³⁰ It was Hezekiah who ^(AB)stopped the upper outlet of the waters of ^(AC)Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah was successful in everything that he did. ³¹ Even in the matter of ^(AD)the messengers of the rulers of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about ^(AE)the wonder that had happened in the land; God left him alone only ^(AF)to test him, so that He might know everything that was in his heart.

³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ So Hezekiah ^[w]lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the ^[x]upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(AG)honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.

The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.

For the music director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

Paul’s Use of Freedom

9 Am I not ^(A)free? Am I not an ^(B)apostle? Have I not ^(C)seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^(D)my work in the Lord? ² If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the ^(E)seal of my ^(F)apostleship in the Lord.

³ My defense to those who examine me is this: ^4 [a](G)Do we not have a right to eat and drink? ^5 [b](H)Do we not have a right to take along a ^[c]believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^(I)brothers of the Lord, and ^[d](J)Cephas? ⁶ Or do only ^[e](K)Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from ^[f]working? ⁷ Who at any time serves ^(L)as a soldier at his own expense? Who ^(M)plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not ^[g]consume some of the milk of the flock?

⁸ I am not just asserting these things ^(N)according to human judgment, am I? Or does the Law not say these things as well? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “^(O)You shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” God is not concerned about ^(P)oxen, is He? ¹⁰ Or is He speaking entirely for our sake? Yes, it was written ^(Q)for our sake, because ^(R)the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing in the crops. ^11 (S)If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^(T)did not use this right, but we endure all things ^(U)so that we will cause no hindrance to the ^(V)gospel of Christ. ^13 (W)Do you not know that those who ^(X)perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share ^[h]from the altar? ¹⁴ So also ^(Y)the Lord directed those who proclaim the ^(Z)gospel to ^(AA)get their living from the gospel.

¹⁵ But I have ^(AB)used none of these things. And I have not written these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than that. No one shall make ^(AC)my boast an empty one! ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for ^(AD)I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach ^(AE)the gospel. ¹⁷ For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^(AF)reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a ^(AG)commission nonetheless. ¹⁸ What, then, is my ^(AH)reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^(AI)without charge, so as ^(AJ)not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I am ^(AK)free from all people, I have made myself ^(AL)a slave to all, so that I may ^(AM)gain more. ^20 (AN)To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might gain Jews; to those who are under the Law, I became as one under the Law, though ^(AO)not being under the Law myself, so that I might gain those who are under the Law; ²¹ to those who are ^(AP)without the Law, I became ^(AQ)as one without the Law, though not being without the law of God but ^(AR)under the law of Christ, so that I might gain those who are without the Law. ²² To the ^(AS)weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become ^(AT)all things to all people, ^(AU)so that I may by all means save some. ²³ I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

^24 (AV)Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives ^(AW)the prize? ^(AX)Run in such a way that you may win. ²⁵ Everyone who ^(AY)competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. So they do it to obtain a perishable ^(AZ)wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ Therefore I ^(BA)run in such a way as not to run aimlessly; I box in such a way, as ^[i]to avoid ^(BB)hitting air; ²⁷ but I strictly discipline ^(BC)my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.