Sennacherib Invades Judah

36 ^(A)In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, ^(B)Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ^2 (C)And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh^[a] from ^(D)Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood ^(E)by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ³ And there came out to him ^(F)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(G)Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

⁴ And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the ^(H)great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? ⁵ Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? ^6 (I)Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ⁷ But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he ^(J)whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? ⁸ Come now, 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 set riders on them. ⁹ How then can you repulse ^(K)a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when ^(L)you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ¹⁰ Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? ^(M)The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

¹¹ Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants ^(N)in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ¹² But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

¹³ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! ¹⁴ Thus says the king: ^(O)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹⁶ Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me^[b] and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, ¹⁷ until ^(P)I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ¹⁸ Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ^19 (Q)Where are the gods of ^(R)Hamath and ^(S)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? ^(T)Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ^20 (U)Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

²¹ But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” ^22 (V)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help

37 ^(W)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. ² And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet ^(X)Isaiah the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a ^(Y)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; ^(Z)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. ^4 (AA)It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for ^(AB)the remnant that is left.’”

⁵ When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. ⁷ Behold, ^(AC)I will put a spirit in him, so that ^(AD)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and ^(AE)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

⁸ The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(AF)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^(AG)Lachish. ⁹ Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of ^(AH)Cush,^[c] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ^(AI)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? ^12 (AJ)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, ^(AK)Gozan, ^(AL)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (AM)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the ^(B)Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

^(C)Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians' Faith and Example

^2 (D)We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly^{[a] (E)}mentioning you in our prayers, ³ remembering before ^(F)our God and Father ^(G)your work of faith and labor of ^(H)love and ^(I)steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, ^(J)brothers^[b] loved by God, ^(K)that he has chosen you, ⁵ because ^(L)our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and ^(M)in the Holy Spirit and with full ^(N)conviction. You know ^(O)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And ^(P)you became imitators of us ^(Q)and of the Lord, for ^(R)you received the word in much affliction, ^(S)with the ^(T)joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For not only has the word of the Lord ^(U)sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth ^(V)everywhere, so that we need not say anything. ⁹ For they themselves report concerning us the kind of ^(W)reception we had among you, and how ^(X)you turned to God ^(Y)from idols to serve the living and ^(Z)true God, ¹⁰ and ^(AA)to wait for his Son ^(AB)from heaven, ^(AC)whom he raised from the dead, Jesus ^(AD)who delivers us from ^(AE)the wrath to come.

Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians

2 For you yourselves know, brothers,^[c] that our ^(AF)coming to you ^(AG)was not in vain. ² But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated ^(AH)at Philippi, as you know, ^(AI)we had boldness in our God ^(AJ)to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much ^(AK)conflict. ³ For ^(AL)our appeal does not spring from ^(AM)error or ^(AN)impurity or ^(AO)any attempt to deceive, ⁴ but just as we have been approved by God ^(AP)to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not ^(AQ)to please man, but to please God ^(AR)who tests our hearts. ^5 (AS)For we never came with words of flattery,^[d] as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—^(AT)God is witness. ^6 (AU)Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, ^(AV)though we could have made ^(AW)demands as ^(AX)apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we were ^(AY)gentle^[e] among you, ^(AZ)like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸ So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God ^(BA)but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹ For you remember, brothers, ^(BB)our labor and toil: we ^(BC)worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and ^(BD)God also, ^(BE)how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ¹¹ For you know how, ^(BF)like a father with his children, ¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and ^(BG)charged ^(BH)you to walk in a manner worthy of God, ^(BI)who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³ And ^(BJ)we also thank God constantly^[f] for this, that when you received ^(BK)the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(BL)not as the word of men^[g] but as what it really is, the word of God, ^(BM)which is at work in you believers. ¹⁴ For you, brothers, ^(BN)became imitators of ^(BO)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For ^(BP)you suffered the same things from your own countrymen ^(BQ)as they did from the Jews,^{[h] 15 (BR)}who killed both the Lord Jesus and ^(BS)the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and ^(BT)oppose all mankind ^16 (BU)by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always ^(BV)to fill up the measure of their sins. But ^(BW)wrath has come upon them at last!^[i]

Paul's Longing to See Them Again

¹⁷ But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, ^(BX)in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire ^(BY)to see you face to face, ¹⁸ because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan ^(BZ)hindered us. ¹⁹ For what is our hope or ^(CA)joy or crown of boasting ^(CB)before our Lord Jesus at his ^(CC)coming? Is it not you? ²⁰ For you are our glory and joy.

3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing ^(CD)to be left behind at Athens alone, ² and we ^(CE)sent Timothy, ^(CF)our brother and God's coworker^[j] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, ³ that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^(CG)we are destined for this. ⁴ For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, ^(CH)just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(CI)when I could bear it no longer, ^(CJ)I sent to learn about your faith, ^(CK)for fear that somehow ^(CL)the tempter had tempted you and ^(CM)our labor would be in vain.

Timothy's Encouraging Report

⁶ But ^(CN)now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of ^(CO)your faith and love and reported ^(CP)that you always remember us kindly and ^(CQ)long to see us, as we long to see you— ⁷ for this reason, brothers,^[k] in all our distress and affliction ^(CR)we have been comforted about you through your faith. ⁸ For now we live, if you ^(CS)are standing fast in the Lord. ⁹ For ^(CT)what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, ¹⁰ as we pray most earnestly ^(CU)night and day ^(CV)that we may see you face to face and ^(CW)supply what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹ Now may ^(CX)our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, ^(CY)direct our way to you, ¹² and may the Lord ^(CZ)make you increase and abound in love ^(DA)for one another and for all, as we do for you, ¹³ so that he may ^(DB)establish your hearts blameless in holiness before ^(DC)our God and Father, at ^(DD)the coming of our Lord Jesus ^(DE)with all his saints.