Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 ^(A)In those days Hezekiah became ^[a]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘^(B)Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Please, Lord, just ^(C)remember ^(D)how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And ^(E)Hezekiah wept ^[b]profusely. ⁴ And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and say to ^(F)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “^(G)I have heard your prayer, ^(H)I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ And I will add fifteen years to your ^[c]life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(I)I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “^(J)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹ Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and ^(K)He brought the shadow on the ^[d]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[e]stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

^12 (L)At that time ^[f]Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ And Hezekiah listened to ^[g]them, and showed them ^(M)all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the ^[h]scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^[i]answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries 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 ^(N)everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘And some ^(O)of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become ^(P)officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is ^(Q)good.” For he ^[j]thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and ^[k]security in my days?”

^20 (R)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^(S)constructed the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^21 (T)So Hezekiah ^[l]lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked

Judas’ Remorse

27 ^(A)Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; ² and they bound Him and led Him away, and ^(B)handed Him over to ^(C)Pilate the governor.

³ Then when ^(D)Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned ^(E)the thirty ^[a]pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? ^(F)You shall see to it yourself!” ⁵ And he threw the pieces of silver into ^(G)the temple sanctuary and left; and ^(H)he went away and hanged himself. ⁶ The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them in the temple treasury, since it is money paid for blood.” ⁷ And they conferred together and ^[b]with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. ^8 (I)For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “^(J)And ^[c]they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One whose price had been set by the sons of Israel; ^10 (K)and ^[d]they gave them for the Potter’s Field, just as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus before Pilate

^11 (L)Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “So You are the ^(M)King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “^(N)It is as you say.” ¹² And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, ^(O)He did not offer any answer. ¹³ Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?” ¹⁴ And still ^(P)He did not answer him in regard to even a single ^[e]charge, so the governor was greatly amazed.

^15 (Q)Now at the Passover Feast the governor was accustomed to release for the ^[f]people any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus ^(R)who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was because of envy that ^[g]they had handed Him over.

¹⁹ And ^(S)while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that ^(T)righteous Man; for ^[h]last night I suffered greatly ^(U)in a dream because of Him.” ²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ^(V)ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death. ²¹ And the governor ^[i]said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate *said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus ^(W)who is called Christ?” They all *said, “^[j]Crucify Him!” ²³ But he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” Yet they kept shouting all the more, saying, “^[k]Crucify Him!”

²⁴ Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that ^(X)a riot was starting, he took water and ^(Y)washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of ^(Z)this Man’s blood; ^(AA)you yourselves shall see.” ²⁵ And all the people replied, “^(AB)His blood shall be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released Barabbas ^[l]for them; but after having Jesus ^(AC)flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

^27 (AD)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into ^(AE)the ^[m]Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman ^[n](AF)cohort to Him. ²⁸ And they stripped Him and ^(AG)put a red ^[o]cloak on Him. ^29 (AH)And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a ^[p]reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “^(AI)Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And ^(AJ)they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. ^31 (AK)And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.