Beginning

Hezekiah’s Illness^(A)

20 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came to him and said, “This is what Yahweh says: Give final instructions to your household, because you’re about to die. You won’t get well.”

² Hezekiah turned to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, ³ “Please, Yahweh, remember how I’ve lived faithfully and sincerely in your presence. I’ve done what you consider right.” And he cried bitterly.

⁴ Isaiah hadn’t gone as far as the middle courtyard when Yahweh spoke his word to him: ⁵ “Go back and say to Hezekiah, leader of my people, ‘This is what Yahweh Elohim of your ancestor David says: I’ve heard your prayer. I’ve seen your tears. Now I’m going to heal you. The day after tomorrow you will go to Yahweh’s temple. ⁶ I’ll give you 15 more years to live. I’ll rescue you and defend this city from the control of the king of Assyria for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Get a fig cake, and put it on the boil so that the king will get well.”

⁸ Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me and that I’ll go to Yahweh’s temple the day after tomorrow?”

⁹ Isaiah said, “This is your sign from Yahweh that Yahweh will do what he promises. Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or come back ten steps?”

¹⁰ Hezekiah replied, “It’s easy for the shadow to extend ten more steps forward. No, let it come back ten steps.”

¹¹ Then the prophet Isaiah called on Yahweh, and Yahweh made the shadow that had gone down on Ahaz’s stairway go back up ten steps.

Hezekiah Shows the Babylonians His Treasures^(B)

¹² At that time Baladan’s son, King Merodach Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah was so happy with them that he showed the messengers his warehouse: the silver, gold, balsam, fine olive oil, his entire armory, and everything in his treasury. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and every corner of his kingdom.

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

Hezekiah answered, “They came to me from the distant country of Babylon.”

¹⁵ Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

Hezekiah answered, “They saw everything in my palace, and I showed them everything in my treasury.”

¹⁶ Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh! ¹⁷ Yahweh says, ‘The days are going to come when everything in your palace, everything your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be taken away to Babylon. Nothing will be left. ¹⁸ Some of your own descendants will be taken away. They will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Yahweh’s word that you have spoken is good.” He added, “Isn’t it enough if there is peace and security as long as I live?”

²⁰ Isn’t everything else about Hezekiah, all his heroic acts and how he made the pool and tunnel to bring water into the city, written in the official records of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Hezekiah lay down in death with his ancestors. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

King Manasseh of Judah^(C)

21 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

² He did what Yahweh considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that Yahweh had forced out of the Israelites’ way. ³ He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He set up altars dedicated to Baal and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven. ⁴ He built altars in Yahweh’s temple, where Yahweh had said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.” ⁵ In the two courtyards of Yahweh’s temple, he built altars for the entire army of heaven. ⁶ He burned his son as a sacrifice, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, and appointed royal mediums and psychics. He did many things that made Yahweh furious. ⁷ Manasseh had an idol of Asherah made. Then he set it up in the temple, where Yahweh had said to David and his son Solomon, “I have chosen this temple and Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. I will put my name here forever. ⁸ I will never again make Israel’s feet wander from the land that I gave to their ancestors if they will obey all the commands and all the Teachings that my servant Moses gave them.” ⁹ (But they wouldn’t obey.) Manasseh misled Israel so that they did more evil things than the nations that Yahweh had destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land.

¹⁰ Then Yahweh spoke through his servants the prophets: ¹¹ “King Manasseh of Judah has done disgusting things, things more evil than what the Amorites who were here before him had done. Manasseh has also made Judah sin by worshiping his idols. ¹² So this is what I, Yahweh Elohim of Israel, said: I’m going to bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring. ¹³ I will measure Jerusalem with the measuring line used for Samaria and the plumb line used for Ahab’s dynasty. I will wipe out Jerusalem in the same way that a dish is wiped out and turned upside down. ¹⁴ I will abandon the rest of my people. I will put them under the control of their enemies, and they will become property that their enemies capture. ¹⁵ I will do this because they have done what I consider evil and have been making me furious from the time their ancestors left Egypt until this day.”

¹⁶ In addition to his sin that he led Judah to commit in front of Yahweh, Manasseh also killed a lot of innocent people from one end of Jerusalem to the other. ¹⁷ Isn’t everything else about Manasseh—everything he did, the sins he committed—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Manasseh lay down in death with his ancestors. He was buried in the garden of his own palace, in the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Amon of Judah^(D)

¹⁹ Amon was 22 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 2 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. ²⁰ He did what Yahweh considered evil, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He lived like his father in every way and worshiped and prayed to the idols his father had worshiped. ²² He abandoned Yahweh Elohim of his ancestors and didn’t live Yahweh’s way. ²³ Amon’s officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁴ Then the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king in his place. ²⁵ Isn’t everything else about Amon—the things he did—written in the official record of the kings of Judah? ²⁶ He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. His son Josiah succeeded him as king.

King Josiah of Judah^(E)

22 Josiah was 8 years old when he began to rule, and he was king for 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. ² Josiah did what Yahweh considered right. He lived in the ways of his ancestor David and never stopped.

The Book of the Lord’s Teachings Found in the Temple^(F)

³ In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king of Judah, he sent the scribe Shaphan, son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to Yahweh’s temple with these instructions: ⁴ “Go to the chief priest Hilkiah. Have him count the money that has been brought into Yahweh’s temple, the money that the doorkeepers have collected from the people. ⁵ Give some of it to the foremen who are in charge of Yahweh’s temple. They should give it to the workmen who are making repairs on Yahweh’s temple. ⁶ (These workers include the carpenters, builders, and masons.) Also, use the rest of the money to buy lumber and quarried stones to repair the temple. ⁷ Since the workmen are honest, don’t require them to account for the money you give them.”

⁸ The chief priest Hilkiah told the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the Book of Moses’ Teachings in Yahweh’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who then read it.

⁹ The scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, “We have taken the money donated in the temple and have given it to the workmen who are in charge of Yahweh’s temple.” ¹⁰ Then the scribe Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it to the king.

¹¹ When the king heard what the book of the Teachings said, he tore his clothes in distress. ¹² Then the king gave an order to the priest Hilkiah, to Ahikam (son of Shaphan), Achbor (son of Micaiah), the scribe Shaphan, and the royal official Asaiah. He said, ¹³ “On behalf of the people, all of Judah, and me, ask Yahweh about the words in this book that has been found. Yahweh’s fierce anger is directed towards us because our ancestors did not obey the things in this book or do everything written in it.”^[a]

¹⁴ So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem.

¹⁵ She told them, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ ‘This is what Yahweh says: I’m going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here according to everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ I will do this because they have abandoned me and sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my burning anger directed at this place will never be extinguished.’”

¹⁸ Huldah added, “But tell Judah’s king who sent you to me to ask Yahweh a question, ‘This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says about the words you heard: ¹⁹ You had a change of heart and humbled yourself in front of Yahweh when you heard my words against this place and those who live here. I had said that those who live here will be destroyed and cursed. You also tore your clothes in distress and cried in front of me. So I will listen to you, declares Yahweh. ²⁰ That is why I’m going to bring you to your ancestors. I’m going to bring you to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see any of the disaster I’m going to bring on this place.’”

So they reported this to the king.