1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.^(A)

Isaiah Reassures King Ahaz

7 In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem but could not conquer it.^(A)

The Future House of God

2 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.^(A)

Reign of Uzziah

26 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king to succeed his father Amaziah.^{(A) 2} He rebuilt Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his ancestors. ³ Uzziah was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear^[a] of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.^(B)

⁶ He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.^{(C) 7} God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.^{(D) 8} The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong.^{(E) 9} Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle and fortified them.^{(F) 10} He built towers in the wilderness and dug out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by the secretary Jeiel and the officer Maaseiah, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. ¹² The whole number of the heads of ancestral houses of mighty warriors was two thousand six hundred. ¹³ Under their command was an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred, who could make war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy.^{(G) 14} Uzziah provided for all the army the shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he set up machines, invented by skilled workers, on the towers and the corners for shooting arrows and large stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

Pride and Apostasy

¹⁶ But when he had become strong he grew proud, to his destruction. For he acted unfaithfully toward the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to make offering on the altar of incense.^{(H) 17} But the priest Azariah went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor;^{(I) 18} they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to make offering to the Lord, but for the priests the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offering. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.”^{(J) 19} Then Uzziah was enraged. Now he had a censer in his hand to make offering, and when he became enraged with the priests a defiling disease broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.^{(K) 20} When the chief priest Azariah, and all the priests, looked at him, he was diseased on his forehead. They hurried him out, and he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him. ²¹ King Uzziah had a defiling disease to the day of his death, and being diseased lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, governing the people of the land.^(L)

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz wrote.^{(M) 23} Uzziah slept with his ancestors; they buried him near his ancestors in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He had a defiling disease.” His son Jotham succeeded him.^(N)

Reign of Jotham

27 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerushah daughter of Zadok.^{(O) 2} He did what was right in the sight of the Lord just as his father Uzziah had done—only he did not enter the temple of the Lord. But the people still followed corrupt practices.^{(P) 3} He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord and did extensive building on the wall of Ophel.^{(Q) 4} Moreover, he built cities in the hill country of Judah and forts and towers on the wooded hills. ⁵ He fought with the king of the Ammonites and prevailed against them. The Ammonites gave him that year one hundred talents of silver, ten thousand cors of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. The Ammonites paid him the same amount in the second and the third years. ⁶ So Jotham strengthened himself because he ordered his ways before the Lord his God.^{(R) 7} Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all his wars and his ways are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.^{(S) 8} He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.^{(T) 9} Jotham slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city of David, and his son Ahaz succeeded him.

Reign of Ahaz

28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestor David had done,^{(U) 2} but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made cast images for the Baals,^{(V) 3} and he made offerings in the valley of the son of Hinnom and made his sons pass through fire, according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel.^{(W) 4} He sacrificed and made offerings on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.^(X)

Aram and Israel Defeat Judah

⁵ Therefore the Lord his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram, who defeated him and took captive a great number of his people and brought them to Damascus. He was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, who defeated him with great slaughter.^{(Y) 6} Pekah son of Remaliah killed one hundred twenty thousand in Judah in one day, all of them valiant warriors, because they had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors.^{(Z) 7} And Zichri, a mighty warrior of Ephraim, killed the king’s son Maaseiah, Azrikam the commander of the palace, and Elkanah the next in authority to the king.

Intervention of Oded

⁸ The people of Israel took captive two hundred thousand of their kin: women, sons, and daughters; they also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.^{(AA) 9} But a prophet of the Lord was there whose name was Oded; he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria and said to them, “Because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand, but you have killed them in a rage that has reached up to heaven.^{(AB) 10} Now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem, male and female, as your slaves. But what have you except sins against the Lord your God?^{(AC) 11} Now hear me, and send back the captives whom you have taken from your kindred, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you.”^{(AD) 12} Moreover, certain chiefs of the Ephraimites, Azariah son of Johanan, Berechiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai, stood up against those who were coming from the war ¹³ and said to them, “You shall not bring the captives in here, for you propose to bring on us guilt against the Lord in addition to our present sins and guilt. For our guilt is already great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel.” ¹⁴ So the warriors left the captives and the plunder before the officials and all the assembly. ¹⁵ Then those who were mentioned by name got up and took the captives, and with the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them; they clothed them, gave them sandals, provided them with food and drink, and anointed them; and carrying all the feeble among them on donkeys, they brought them to their kindred at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.^(AE)

Assyria Refuses to Help Judah

¹⁶ At that time King Ahaz sent to the king^[b] of Assyria for help.^{(AF) 17} For the Edomites had again invaded and defeated Judah and carried away captives. ¹⁸ And the Philistines had made raids on the cities in the Shephelah and the Negeb of Judah and had taken Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages, and they settled there.^{(AG) 19} For the Lord brought Judah low because of King Ahaz of Israel, for he had behaved without restraint in Judah and had been faithless to the Lord.^{(AH) 20} So King Tiglath-pileser^[c] of Assyria came against him and oppressed him instead of strengthening him.^{(AI) 21} For Ahaz plundered the house of the Lord and the houses of the king and of the officials and gave tribute to the king of Assyria, but it did not help him.

Apostasy and Death of Ahaz

²² In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord—this same King Ahaz. ²³ For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them so that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.^{(AJ) 24} Ahaz gathered together the utensils of the house of God and cut in pieces the utensils of the house of God. He shut up the doors of the house of the Lord and made himself altars in every corner of Jerusalem.^{(AK) 25} In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his ancestors. ²⁶ Now the rest of his acts and all his ways, from first to last, are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.^{(AL) 27} Ahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem, but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him.^(AM)

Reign of Hezekiah

29 Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.^{(AN) 2} He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done.^(AO)

The Temple Cleansed

³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.^{(AP) 4} He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east. ⁵ He said to them, “Listen to me, Levites! Sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and carry out the filth from the holy place.^{(AQ) 6} For our ancestors have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God; they have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the dwelling of the Lord and turned their backs.^{(AR) 7} They also shut the doors of the vestibule and put out the lamps and have not offered incense or made burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore the wrath of the Lord came upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.^{(AS) 9} Our fathers have fallen by the sword and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.^{(AT) 10} Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger may turn away from us.^{(AU) 11} My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence to minister to him and to be his ministers and offer incense.”^(AV)

¹² Then the Levites arose, Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;^{(AW) 13} and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.^{(AX) 16} The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and they brought out all the unclean things that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took them and carried them out to the Wadi Kidron. ¹⁷ They began to sanctify on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule of the Lord; then for eight days they sanctified the house of the Lord, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.^{(AY) 18} Then they went inside to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the table for the rows of bread and all its utensils. ¹⁹ All the utensils that King Ahaz discarded during his reign when he was faithless, we have restored and sanctified; see, they are in front of the altar of the Lord.”^(AZ)

Temple Worship Restored

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah rose early, assembled the officials of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and for the sanctuary and for Judah. He commanded the priests the descendants of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord.^{(BA) 22} So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests received the blood and dashed it against the altar; they slaughtered the rams, and their blood was dashed against the altar; they also slaughtered the lambs, and their blood was dashed against the altar.^{(BB) 23} Then the male goats for the sin offering were brought to the king and the assembly; they laid their hands on them,^{(BC) 24} and the priests slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood at the altar, to make atonement for all Israel. For the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.^(BD)

²⁵ He stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of the prophet Nathan, for the commandment was from the Lord through his prophets.^{(BE) 26} The Levites stood with the instruments of David and the priests with the trumpets.^{(BF) 27} Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of King David of Israel.^{(BG) 28} The whole assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ²⁹ When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped.^{(BH) 30} King Hezekiah and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of the seer Asaph. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “You have now consecrated yourselves to the Lord; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” The assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all who were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.^{(BI) 32} The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. ³³ The consecrated offerings were six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few and could not skin all the burnt offerings, so, until other priests had sanctified themselves, their kindred, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished, for the Levites were more conscientious^[d] than the priests in sanctifying themselves.^{(BJ) 35} Besides the great number of burnt offerings there was the fat of the offerings of well-being, and there were the drink offerings for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored.^{(BK) 36} And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people, for the thing had come about suddenly.

The Great Passover

30 Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the Lord the God of Israel. ² For the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month^{(BL) 3} (for they could not keep it at its proper time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem).^{(BM) 4} The plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. ⁵ So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it in great numbers as prescribed.^{(BN) 6} So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.^{(BO) 7} Do not be like your ancestors and your kindred, who were faithless to the Lord God of their ancestors, so that he made them a desolation, as you see.^{(BP) 8} Do not now be stiff-necked as your ancestors were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger may turn away from you.^{(BQ) 9} For as you return to the Lord, your kindred and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.”^(BR)

¹⁰ So the couriers went from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them.^{(BS) 11} Only a few from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.^{(BT) 12} The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the officials commanded by the word of the Lord.

¹³ Many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly.^{(BU) 14} They set to work and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for offering incense they took away and threw into the Wadi Kidron.^{(BV) 15} They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and they sanctified themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord.^{(BW) 16} They took their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses the man of God; the priests dashed the blood that they received^[e] from the hands of the Levites.^{(BX) 17} For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to make it holy to the Lord.^{(BY) 18} For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was prescribed. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon all^{(BZ) 19} who set their hearts to seek God, the Lord the God of their ancestors, even though not in accordance with the sanctuary’s rules of cleanness.”^{(CA) 20} The Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. ²¹ The people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Festival of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, accompanied by loud instruments for the Lord.^{(CB) 22} Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing offerings of well-being and giving thanks to the Lord the God of their ancestors.^(CC)

²³ Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the festival for another seven days, so they kept it for another seven days with gladness.^{(CD) 24} For King Hezekiah of Judah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, and the officials gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep. The priests sanctified themselves in great numbers.^{(CE) 25} The whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the resident aliens who came out of the land of Israel, and the resident aliens who lived in Judah rejoiced. ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon son of King David of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then the priests and the Levites stood up and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; their prayer came to his holy dwelling in heaven.^(CF)

Pagan Shrines Destroyed

31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke down the pillars, cut down the sacred poles,^[f] and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, all to their individual properties.^(CG)

² Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, everyone according to his service, the priests and the Levites, for burnt offerings and offerings of well-being, to minister in the gates of the camp of the Lord and to give thanks and praise.^{(CH) 3} The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed festivals, as it is written in the law of the Lord.^{(CI) 4} He commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, so that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord.^{(CJ) 5} As soon as the word spread, the people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.^{(CK) 6} The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been consecrated to the Lord their God and laid them in heaps.^{(CL) 7} In the third month they began to pile up the heaps and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. ¹⁰ The chief priest Azariah, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty to spare, for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this great supply left over.”^(CM)

Reorganization of Priests and Levites

¹¹ Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare store chambers in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. ¹² Faithfully they brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The chief officer in charge of them was Conaniah the Levite, with his brother Shimei as second; ¹³ while Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers assisting Conaniah and his brother Shimei, by the appointment of King Hezekiah and of Azariah the chief officer of the house of God.^{(CN) 14} Kore son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the east gate, was in charge of the freewill offerings to God, to apportion the contribution reserved for the Lord and the most holy offerings. ¹⁵ Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah were faithfully assisting him in the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their kindred, old and young alike, by divisions,^{(CO) 16} except those enrolled by genealogy, males from three years old and up, all who entered the house of the Lord as the duty of each day required, for their service according to their offices, by their divisions.^{(CP) 17} The enrollment of the priests was according to their ancestral houses; that of the Levites from twenty years old and up was according to their offices, by their divisions.^{(CQ) 18} They were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole multitude, for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy. ¹⁹ And for the descendants of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of pastureland belonging to their towns, town by town, the people designated by name were to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone among the Levites who was enrolled.^(CR)

²⁰ Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah; he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God.^{(CS) 21} And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

Sennacherib’s Invasion

32 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself.^{(CT) 2} When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, ³ he planned with his officers and his warriors to stop the flow 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 the wadi that flowed through the land, saying, “Why should the Assyrian kings come and find water in abundance?”^{(CU) 5} Hezekiah^[g] strengthened himself and built up the entire wall that was broken down and raised towers on it,^[h] and outside it he built another wall; he also strengthened the Millo in the city of David and made weapons and shields in abundance.^{(CV) 6} He appointed combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying,^{(CW) 7} “Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there is one greater with us than with him.^{(CX) 8} With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.^(CY)

⁹ After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria was at Lachish with all his forces, he sent his servants to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus says King Sennacherib of Assyria: On what are you relying, that you undergo the siege of Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah misleading you, handing you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria’?^{(CZ) 12} Was it not this same Hezekiah who took away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, ‘Before one altar you shall worship, and upon it you shall make your offerings’?^{(DA) 13} Do you not know what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to save their lands out of my hand?^{(DB) 14} Who among all the gods of those nations that my ancestors utterly destroyed was able to save his people from my hand, that your God should be able to save you from my hand?^{(DC) 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 save his people from my hand or from the hand of my ancestors. How much less will your God save you out of my hand!”^(DD)

¹⁶ His servants said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters to throw contempt on the Lord the God of Israel and to speak against him, saying, “Just as the gods of the nations in other lands did not rescue their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”^{(DE) 18} 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.^{(DF) 19} They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as if he were like the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of human hands.^(DG)

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed because of this and cried to heaven.^{(DH) 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 in disgrace to his own land. When he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword.^{(DI) 22} So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies; he gave them rest^[i] on every side. ²³ Many brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious things to King Hezekiah of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.^(DJ)

Hezekiah’s Sickness

²⁴ In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign.^{(DK) 25} But Hezekiah did not respond according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.^{(DL) 26} Then Hezekiah 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.^(DM)

Hezekiah’s Prosperity and Achievements

²⁷ Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly objects; ²⁸ storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds.^{[j] 29} He likewise provided cities for himself and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions.^{(DN) 30} This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.^{(DO) 31} So also in the matter of the envoys of the officials of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.^(DP)

³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and they buried him on the ascent to the tombs of the descendants of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him.^(DQ)

Hezekiah’s Reign over Judah

18 In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign.^{(A) 2} He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah.^{(B) 3} He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole.^[a] He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan.^{(C) 5} He relied on the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after him or among those who were before him.^{(D) 6} For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the Lord had commanded Moses.^{(E) 7} The Lord was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.^{(F) 8} He attacked the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.^(G)

⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against Samaria, besieged it,^{(H) 10} and at the end of three years took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of King Hoshea of Israel, Samaria was taken.^{(I) 11} The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and settled them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,^{(J) 12} because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.^{(K) 14} King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.” The king of Assyria demanded of King Hezekiah of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house.^{(L) 16} At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that King Hezekiah of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. ¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the fuller’s field.^{(M) 18} When they called for the king, there came out to them Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebnah the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.^(N)

¹⁹ The Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you base this reliance of yours?^{(O) 20} Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ See, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.^{(P) 22} But if you say to me, ‘We rely on the Lord our God,’ is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?^{(Q) 23} 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. ²⁴ How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants when you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?^{(R) 25} Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”

²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, 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.”^{(S) 27} But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you and not to the people sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: ²⁹ Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand.^{(T) 30} Do not let Hezekiah make you rely on the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will eat from your own vine and your own fig tree and drink water from your own cistern,^{(U) 32} until 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, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’^{(V) 33} Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered its land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?^{(W) 34} Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?^{(X) 35} Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?”

³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.^(Y)

Hezekiah Consults Isaiah

19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.^{(Z) 2} And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^{(AA) 3} They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God heard all 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 the remnant that is left.”^{(AB) 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 servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me.^{(AC) 7} I myself will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”^(AD)

Sennacherib’s Threat

⁸ The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.^{(AE) 9} When the king^[b] heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “See, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.^{(AF) 11} See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? ¹² Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?^{(AG) 13} 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?”^(AH)

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.^{(AI) 15} And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.^{(AJ) 16} Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.^{(AK) 17} Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed.^{(AL) 19} So now, O Lord our God, save us, I pray you, from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.”^(AM)

²⁰ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.^{(AN) 21} This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

²⁹ “And this shall be the sign for you: This year you shall eat what grows of itself and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.^{(AV) 30} The surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward,^{(AW) 31} for from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.^(AX)

³² “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, shoot an arrow there, come before it with a shield, or cast up a siege ramp against it. ³³ By the way that he came, by the same he shall return; he shall not come into this city, says the Lord.^{(AY) 34} For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”^(AZ)

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death

³⁵ That very night the angel of the Lord set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies.^{(BA) 36} Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left, went home, and lived at Nineveh.^{(BB) 37} As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him.^(BC)

Hezekiah’s Illness

20 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.”^{(BD) 2} Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ “Remember now, O Lord, I implore you, how I have walked before you in faithfulness with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.^{(BE) 4} Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, ⁵ “Turn back and say to Hezekiah prince of my people: Thus says the Lord, the God of your ancestor David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; indeed, I will heal you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.^{(BF) 6} I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”^{(BG) 7} Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of figs. Let them take it and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.”^(BH)

⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance^[d] ten intervals, or shall it retreat ten intervals?” ¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It is normal for the shadow to lengthen ten intervals; rather, let the shadow retreat ten intervals.” ¹¹ The prophet Isaiah cried to the Lord, and he brought the shadow back the ten intervals, by which the sun^[e] had declined on the dial of Ahaz.^(BI)

Envoys from Babylon

¹² At that time King Merodach-baladan son of Baladan of Babylon sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.^{(BJ) 13} Hezekiah welcomed them;^[f] he showed them all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.^{(BK) 14} Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah answered, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”^(BL)

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ Days are coming when all that is in your house and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord.^{(BM) 18} Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”^{(BN) 19} Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”^(BO)

Death of Hezekiah

²⁰ The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power, how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah?^{(BP) 21} Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and his son Manasseh succeeded him.^(BQ)

1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years^[a] before the earthquake.^(A)

A Vision of God in the Temple

6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of his robe filled the temple.^(A)