Beginning

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery^(A)

20 During this time, Hezekiah became sick with a fatal illness, so Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, approached him and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your household in order, because you are dying. You will not survive.’”

² So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. ³ “Remember me, Lord,” he said, “how I have walked in your presence with integrity, with an undivided heart, and I have accomplished what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept deeply.

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle court, this message from the Lord came to him. ⁵ “Return to Hezekiah,” he said, “and tell the Commander-in-Chief^[a] of my people: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: “I’ve heard your prayer and I’ve observed your tears. Look! I’m healing you. Three days from now, you’ll go visit the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ Furthermore, I’ll add fifteen years to your life. I’ll deliver you and this city from domination by^[b] the king of Assyria, and I’ll defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”’”

⁷ Isaiah said, “Take a fig cake.” So some attendants^[c] took it, laid it on Hezekiah’s^[d] boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What is to be the sign that the Lord is healing me and that I’ll be going up to the Lord’s Temple three days from now?”

⁹ So Isaiah replied, “This will be your sign from the Lord that the Lord will do what he has promised. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It’s an easy thing for a shadow to lengthen ten steps. So let the shadow go backward ten steps.”

¹¹ So Isaiah cried out to the Lord, who brought the shadow back ten steps after it had gone down the stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows His Treasure to the Babylonian Envoys

¹² Some time later, Berodach-baladan,^[e] the son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to the entourage^[f] and showed them his entire treasury, including the silver, gold, and spices, the precious oil, his armory, and everything that was inventoried in his treasuries. There was nothing in his household or in his holdings that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men have to say, and where did they come from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country far away—from Babylon.”

¹⁵ He asked, “What did they see in your household?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything. In my household there is nothing in my treasuries that I haven’t shown them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah replied to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘Watch out! The days are coming when everything that’s in your house—everything that your ancestors have saved up right to this day—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ declares the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some of your descendants—your very own seed, whom you will father—will be carried away to become officials^[g] in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ At this, Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “What you’ve spoken from the Lord is good,” because he had been thinking, “Why not, as long as there’s peace and security^[h] in my lifetime…?”

²⁰ Now the rest of Hezekiah’s actions, as well as his glorious deeds, including how he constructed the pool and the conduit to bring water into the city, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²¹ Hezekiah died, as did^[i] his ancestors, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

21 Manasseh began to reign at the age of twelve, and he reigned for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Hephzibah. ² He did what the Lord considered to be evil, following the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord had expelled in full view of the people of Israel. ³ He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, crafted an Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done, and worshipped and served the stars of heaven. ⁴ He also built altars in the Lord’s Temple, about which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will place my Name.” ⁵ He built two altars to every star in the heavens in the two courts of the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ He made his son into a burnt offering, practiced witchcraft, used divination, and consorted with mediums and spirit-channelers.^[j] He practiced many things that the Lord considered to be evil and provoked him.

⁷ He also erected the carved image of Asherah that he had made inside the Temple about which the Lord had spoken to David and to his son Solomon, “I will put my Name forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel. ⁸ And I will not make Israel’s feet to wander anymore from the land that I have given to their ancestors, if they will only be careful to do everything that I have commanded them according to the entire Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they would not listen. Manasseh led them astray to practice more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed in the presence of the Israelis.

The Lord Rebukes Manasseh’s Idolatry

¹⁰ So the Lord announced through his prophets, ¹¹ “Because King Manasseh of Judah has committed these despicable things, acting more sinfully than did all of the Amorites who preceded him, including making Judah sin with its idols, ¹² therefore this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Look! I’m going to bring such a^[k] disaster to Jerusalem and Judah that both ears of those who hear about it will ring. ¹³ I’ll stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line that is Samaria and the plumb line that is Ahab’s dynasty. Then I’ll wipe Jerusalem like one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down! ¹⁴ I will abandon the survivors of my heritage and hand them over to their enemies. They will become war booty and spoil to all of their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done what I consider to be evil and they have provoked me from the day their ancestors left Egypt right up to this day!’”

¹⁶ In addition to this, Manasseh shed lots of innocent blood—until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another—besides his sin by which he caused Judah to sin by practicing what the Lord considered to be evil. ¹⁷ The rest of Manasseh’s deeds, including everything that he accomplished and the sin that he practiced, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ¹⁸ Manasseh died, as did^[l] his ancestors, and he was buried in the garden at his home in the Garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah

¹⁹ Amon began to reign at the age of 22, and ruled for two years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, just as his father Manasseh had done, ²¹ because he completely adopted his father’s lifestyle, serving the same idols his father had served and worshipped. ²² As a result, he abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors and did not walk in the Lord’s way. ²³ Later on, Amon’s staff conspired against him and killed the king inside his own home. ²⁴ But afterward, the people of the land executed everyone who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land installed his son Josiah to be king in his place.

²⁵ Now the rest of Amon’s activities that he undertook are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²⁶ He was buried in his own grave in the Garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

Josiah Succeeds Amon

22 Josiah was an eight year old child when he began to reign, and he reigned for 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother was named Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² He practiced what the Lord considered to be right, living the way his ancestor David had lived, turning neither to the right nor to the left.

³ Eighteen years after King Josiah had begun to reign, the king sent Azaliah’s son Shaphan, grandson of Meshullam the scribe, to the Lord’s Temple. He told him, ⁴ “Go to the high priest Hilkiah, so he can count the money that has been brought into the Lord’s Temple by the doorkeepers who have been gathering it from the people. ⁵ Have them deliver it to the workmen who are supervising the Lord’s Temple, so that they may pay it over to the workmen who serve in the Lord’s Temple to repair its damages, ⁶ including paying^[m] the carpenters, builders, and masons, as well as buying timber and pre-carved stone to repair the Temple. ⁷ But you won’t need to force them to be accountable for money already paid to them, since they’re faithful.”

Hilkiah Discovers an Ancient Archive

⁸ Later on, Hilkiah the high priest informed Shaphan the scribe, “I’ve discovered the Book of the Law in the Lord’s Temple.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he began to read it.

⁹ Shaphan the scribe reported to King Josiah, brought up the matter to him, and told him, “Your servants have distributed the money that was found in the Temple by giving it to the workmen who supervise the Lord’s Temple.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the scribe informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” Then Shaphan read from it in the king’s presence.

¹¹ When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes ¹² and issued these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan’s son Ahikam, Micaiah’s son Achbor, Shaphan the scribe, and the king’s servant Asaiah: ¹³ “Go ask the Lord for me, for the people, and for all of Judah about what’s written in this book that has been discovered, because the Lord’s anger is burning against us, since our ancestors have not listened to the words written in this book and have not lived according to everything that is written concerning us.”

Huldah Predicts Disaster

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophet Huldah, the wife of Tikvah’s son Shallum, the grandson of Harhas and supervisor of the royal wardrobe, who lived in the Second Quarter in Jerusalem. They spoke with her, ¹⁵ and she told them, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me: ¹⁶ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Look! I’m bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read— ¹⁷ because they have abandoned me, burned incense to other gods, and they have provoked me to anger with everything that they’ve done. Therefore my anger is kindled against this place and it won’t be quenched!’” ¹⁸ Nevertheless, tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask the Lord about this,^[n] “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Now about what you’ve heard, ¹⁹ because your heart was sensitive, and you humbled yourself in the Lord’s presence when you heard what I had to say against this place and against its inhabitants—that they would become a desolation and a curse—and you have torn your clothes and cried out before me, be assured that I have truly heard you,’ declares the Lord. ²⁰ ‘Therefore, look! I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be placed in your grave in peace. Your eyes will never see all the evil that I will bring on this place.’”’”