Cleanliness of the Campsite

⁹ “When the army goes out against your enemies, then keep yourself from every wicked thing.

¹⁸ And you, ^(A)by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, ^(B)and trouble it.

Christ on a White Horse

^11 (A)Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, ^(B)a white horse. And He who sat on him was called ^(C)Faithful and True, and ^(D)in righteousness He judges and makes war. ^12 (E)His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. ^(F)He ^[a]had a name written that no one knew except Himself. ^13 (G)He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called ^(H)The Word of God. ^14 (I)And the armies in heaven, ^(J)clothed in ^[b]fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

The Reforms of Jehoshaphat

⁴ So Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the mountains of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord God of their ^(A)fathers.

²⁶ Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, ^(A)went up and came to ^[a]the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not ^[a]intimidate anyone ^(A)or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

²⁰ Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he ^(A)did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. ²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he ^(B)prospered.

Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord^(C)

32 After ^(D)these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself. ² And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem, ³ he consulted with his leaders and ^[a]commanders to stop the water from the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him. ⁴ Thus many people gathered together who stopped all the ^(E)springs and the brook that ran through the land, saying, “Why should the ^[b]kings of Assyria come and find much water?” ⁵ And ^(F)he strengthened himself, ^(G)built up all the wall that was broken, raised it up to the towers, and built another wall outside; also he repaired ^[c]the ^(H)Millo in the City of David, and made ^[d]weapons and shields in abundance. ⁶ Then he set military captains over the people, gathered them together to him in the open square of the city gate, and ^(I)gave them encouragement, saying, ^7 (J)“Be strong and courageous; ^(K)do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for ^(L)there are more with us than with him. ⁸ With him is an ^(M)arm of flesh; but ^(N)with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

^9 (O)After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem (but he and all the forces with him laid siege against Lachish), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ^10 (P)“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹ Does not Hezekiah persuade you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, ^(Q)“The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? ^12 (R)Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on ^(S)it”? ¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? ^(T)Were the gods of the nations of those lands in any way able to deliver their lands out of my hand? ¹⁴ Who was there among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my ^(U)hand? ¹⁵ Now therefore, ^(V)do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”

¹⁶ Furthermore, his servants spoke against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷ He also wrote letters to revile the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, ^(W)“As the gods of the nations of other lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my ^(X)hand.” ^18 (Y)Then they called out with a loud voice in ^[e]Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them, that they might take the city. ¹⁹ And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth—^(Z)the work of men’s hands.

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death^(AA)

^20 (AB)Now because of this King Hezekiah and ^(AC)the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried out to heaven. ^21 (AD)Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ^(AE)shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.

²² Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and ^[f]guided them on every side.

³ And Jehoshaphat feared, and set ^[a]himself to ^(A)seek the Lord, and ^(B)proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ So Judah gathered together to ask ^(C)help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court, ⁶ and said: “O Lord God of our fathers, are You not ^(D)God in heaven, and ^(E)do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and ^(F)in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand You? ⁷ Are You not ^(G)our God, who ^(H)drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham ^(I)Your friend forever? ⁸ And they dwell in it, and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name, saying, ^9 (J)‘If disaster comes upon us—sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine—we will stand before this temple and in Your presence (for Your ^(K)name is in this temple), and cry out to You in our affliction, and You will hear and save.’ ¹⁰ And now, here are the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir—whom You ^(L)would not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt, but ^(M)they turned from them and did not destroy them— ¹¹ here they are, rewarding us ^(N)by coming to throw us out of Your possession which You have given us to inherit. ¹² O our God, will You not ^(O)judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but ^(P)our eyes are upon You.”

¹³ Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the Lord.

¹¹ Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. ^(A)For they have even taken some of the ^[a]accursed things, and have both stolen and ^(B)deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. ^12 (C)Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because ^(D)they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you. ¹³ Get up, ^(E)sanctify^[b] the people, and say, ^(F)‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”