Beginning

Hezekiah’s Life Extended^(A)

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was near 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 and not live.”

² Then he turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with an undivided heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Now before Isaiah had come out of the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Turn back and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people: Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ I will add to your days fifteen years, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” So they took it and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I should 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 spoken: Should the shadow walk forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to stretch ten steps, so let it go back ten steps.”

¹¹ Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and He made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.

Envoys From Babylon^(B)

¹² At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them all the treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, all the armory, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?”

Hezekiah said, “They came from a distant land, from Babylon.”

¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?”

Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

¹⁶ Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ The days are coming when everything that is in your house and that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸ Some of your sons who go out from you, who will be born to you, will be taken away. They will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” And he said, “Why not, if there is peace and security in my days?”

The Death of Hezekiah

²⁰ The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah, all his power, how he made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Manasseh, King of Judah^(C)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel. ³ He went back and rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, made an Asherah pole as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, was conjuring and seeking omens, and dealt with mediums and soothsayers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

⁷ He put a carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. ⁸ I will not make the feet of Israel to wander homeless from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” ⁹ But they did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, things more evil than all that the Amorites did, and has also caused Judah to sin with his idols, ¹² therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: I am bringing evil on Jerusalem and Judah, such evil that the ears of whoever hears about it will tingle. ¹³ I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ I will disregard the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become plunder and spoil for all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other; besides his sin he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁷ Now the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, all that he did, and his sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon, King of Judah^(D)

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He walked in all the ways that his father walked, served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them. ²² He abandoned the Lord God of his fathers, and he did not walk in the way of the Lord.

²³ The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his house. ²⁴ But the people of the land struck all those who conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

²⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Amon that he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁶ And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah, King of Judah^(E)

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. ² He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of David his father. He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

The Book of the Law Found

³ In the eighteenth year of King Josiah the king sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him prepare the money that has been brought to the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered from the people. ⁵ Let them deliver it to the hand of the appointed workers of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workers who are in the house of the Lord to repair the damages to the house, ⁶ that is, to the carpenters, the builders, and the masons to buy timber and cut stone to repair the house. ⁷ But there need be no settling of accounts with them concerning the money that was given to their hand, because they are behaving honestly.”

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king a report. He said, “Your servants have emptied the money that was found in the house and have given it into the hand of the appointed workers of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” So Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ When the king had heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, a servant of the king, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing according to all that is written concerning us.”

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter), and they spoke with her.

¹⁵ She said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to Me, ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord: See, I will bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken Me and have made offerings to other gods, so that they have provoked Me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. ¹⁸ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel with regard to the words you have heard: ¹⁹ Because your heart was timid, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the evil which I am about to bring upon this place.”

Then they brought the king a report.