Beginning

Assyria Troubles Hezekiah

32 Hezekiah did all these things to serve the Lord. Sennacherib king of Assyria came to attack Judah. He and his army surrounded and attacked the strong, walled cities. He wanted to take them for himself. ² Hezekiah knew that Sennacherib had come to Jerusalem to attack it. ³ So Hezekiah talked to his officers and army commanders. They decided to cut off the waters from the springs outside the city. So the officers and commanders helped Hezekiah. ⁴ Many people came to help. They cut off all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. They said, “The king of Assyria will not find much water when he comes here.” ⁵ Then Hezekiah made Jerusalem stronger. He rebuilt all the broken parts of the wall. And he built towers on the wall. He also built another wall outside the first one. And he made the area that was filled in on the east side of the old part of Jerusalem stronger. He made many weapons and shields.

⁶ Hezekiah put army commanders over the people. He met with these commanders at the open place near the city gate. Hezekiah encouraged them, saying, ⁷ “Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid or worried because of the king of Assyria or his large army. There is a greater power with us than with him. ⁸ He only has men, but we have the Lord our God. He will help us. He will fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹ King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his army surrounded and attacked Lachish. Then he sent his officers to Jerusalem with a message. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah in Jerusalem. This was the message:

¹⁶ Sennacherib’s officers said worse things against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ King Sennacherib also wrote letters insulting the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what his letters said: “The gods of the other nations could not save their people from me. In the same way Hezekiah’s god won’t be able to save his people from me.” ¹⁸ Then the king’s officers shouted out in Hebrew. They called out to the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall. The officers wanted to scare the people away so they could capture Jerusalem. ¹⁹ They said evil things about the gods the people of the world worshiped. They are only things people have made with their hands. In the same way the officers said evil things about the God of Jerusalem.

²⁰ King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed to heaven about this. ²¹ Then the Lord sent an angel to the king of Assyria’s camp. That angel killed all the soldiers, leaders and officers of the Assyrian army. So the king of Assyria returned to his own country in disgrace. He went into the temple of his god. There some of his own sons killed him with a sword.

²² So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people in Jerusalem. He saved them from Sennacherib king of Assyria and from all other people. The Lord took care of Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. ²³ Many people brought gifts for the Lord to Jerusalem. They also brought valuable gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From then on all the nations respected Hezekiah.

Hezekiah Dies

²⁴ At that time Hezekiah became very sick. He was almost dead. He prayed to the Lord. And the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.^{[a] 25} But Hezekiah was proud. So he did not thank God for his kindness. So the Lord was angry with him and the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But later Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem were sorry and stopped being proud. So the Lord did not punish them while Hezekiah was alive.

²⁷ Hezekiah had many riches and much honor. He made treasuries for his silver, gold, gems, spices, shields and other valuable things. ²⁸ Hezekiah built storage buildings for grain, new wine and oil. He built stalls for all the cattle and pens for the sheep. ²⁹ He also built many towns. He had many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. God gave Hezekiah much wealth.

³⁰ It was Hezekiah who cut off the upper pool of the Gihon spring. He made those waters flow straight down on the west side of the older part of Jerusalem. And Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. ³¹ But one time the leaders of Babylon sent messengers to Hezekiah. They asked him about a strange sign^[b] that had happened in the land. When they came, God left Hezekiah alone to test him. He wanted to know everything that was in Hezekiah’s heart.^[c]

³² Hezekiah’s love for the Lord and the other things he did as king are recorded. They are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. This is in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah died and was buried on a hill. It is where the graves of David’s ancestors are. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem honored Hezekiah when he died. And Hezekiah’s son Manasseh became king in his place.

Manasseh King of Judah

33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king of Judah. And he was king for 55 years in Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the hated things the other nations had done. And the Lord had forced these nations out of the land ahead of Israel. ³ Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had torn down the places where false gods were worshiped. But Manasseh rebuilt them. Manasseh also built altars for the Baal gods and made Asherah idols. He bowed down to the stars and worshiped them. ⁴ The Lord had said about the Temple, “I will be worshiped in Jerusalem forever.” But Manasseh built altars for false gods in the Temple of the Lord. ⁵ He built altars to worship the stars in the two courtyards of the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ He burned his sons as sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced magic and witchcraft. He told the future by explaining signs and dreams. He got advice from mediums and fortune-tellers. He did many things the Lord said were wrong. And this made the Lord angry.

⁷ He carved an idol and put it in the Temple of God. God had spoken to David and his son Solomon about the Temple. He had said, “I will be worshiped in this Temple and in Jerusalem forever. I have chosen Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. ⁸ I will never again make the Israelites leave the land I gave to their ancestors. But they must obey everything I commanded them. They must obey all the teachings, rules and commands I gave them through Moses.” ⁹ But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do wrong. They did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. ¹¹ So the Lord brought the king of Assyria’s army commanders to attack Judah. They captured Manasseh and put hooks in him. They put bronze chains on his hands. They made him their prisoner and took him to Babylon. ¹² As Manasseh suffered, he begged the Lord his God for help. He became very sorry for what he had done before the God of his ancestors. ¹³ When Manasseh prayed, the Lord heard him and had pity for him. So the Lord let him return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.

¹⁴ After that happened, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall for Jerusalem. It was in the valley on the west side of the Gihon spring. It went to the entrance of the Fish Gate and around the hill of Ophel. He also made the wall higher. Then he put commanders in all the strong, walled cities in Judah.

¹⁵ Manasseh removed the idols of other nations. And he took the idol out of the Temple of the Lord. He removed all the altars he had built on the Temple hill and in Jerusalem. And he threw them out of the city. ¹⁶ Then he set up the Lord’s altar. And he sacrificed on it fellowship offerings and offerings to show thanks to the Lord. Manasseh commanded all the people of Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁷ The people continued to offer sacrifices at the places of worship. But their sacrifices were only to the Lord their God. ¹⁸ The other things Manasseh did as king are written down. His prayer to his God is recorded. And what the seers said to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, is recorded. They are all in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ Manasseh’s prayer and God’s pity for him are written down. Also all of Manasseh’s sins and how he was unfaithful to the Lord are recorded. The places he built for worshiping false gods and for the Asherah idols are recorded. He did all these things but later became sorry for them. They are all in the book of the seers. ²⁰ Manasseh died and was buried in his palace. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became king in his place.

Amon King of Judah

²¹ Amon was 22 years old when he became king. And he was king for two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the carved idols Manasseh had made. ²³ Amon was not sorry for what he did wrong before the Lord. He was not sorry as his father Manasseh had been. Instead, Amon sinned even more.

²⁴ Amon’s officers made plans against him and killed him in his palace. ²⁵ But the people of Judah killed all those who had made plans to kill King Amon. And they made his son Josiah to be king in his place.

Josiah King of Judah

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled 31 years in Jerusalem. ² He did what the Lord said was right. He did good things as his ancestor David had done. Josiah did not stop doing what was right.

³ In his eighth year as king, Josiah began to obey the God his ancestor David had followed. This was while Josiah was still young. In his twelfth year as king, Josiah began to remove the false gods from Judah and Jerusalem. He destroyed the places for worshiping false gods. He removed the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols. ⁴ The people tore down the altars for the Baal gods as Josiah directed. Then Josiah cut down the incense altars that were above them. He broke up the Asherah idols and the wooden and metal idols. He beat them into powder. Then he sprinkled the powder on the graves of the people who had offered sacrifices to these gods. ⁵ He burned the bones of their priests on their own altars. So Josiah removed idol worship from Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ He did the same for the towns in the areas of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon. He did this all the way to Naphtali. And he did the same for the ruins near these towns. ⁷ Josiah broke down the altars and Asherah idols. Then he beat the idols into powder. He cut down all the incense altars in all of Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

⁸ In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he made Judah and the Temple pure again. He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city leader and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder. They were to repair the Temple of the Lord, the God of Josiah. ⁹ These men went to Hilkiah the high priest. They gave him the money the people had given for the Temple of God. The Levite doorkeepers had collected this money from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and all the Israelites who were left alive. They also collected this money from all the people of Judah, Benjamin and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then the Levites gave it to the men who directed the work on the Temple of the Lord. And these supervisors paid the workers that rebuilt and repaired the Temple. ¹¹ They gave money to carpenters and builders to buy cut rocks and wood. The wood was used to rebuild the buildings and to make beams for them. The kings of Judah had let the buildings become ruins. ¹² The men did their work well. Their supervisors were Jahath, Obadiah, Zechariah and Meshullam. Jahath and Obadiah were Levites from the family of Merari. Zechariah and Meshullam were from the family of Kohath. These Levites were all skilled musicians. ¹³ They were in charge of the workers who carried things and all the other workers. Some Levites worked as secretaries, officers and doorkeepers.

The Law Is Found

¹⁴ The Levites brought out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. As they were doing this, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Lord’s Teachings. These teachings had been given through Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah said to Shaphan the royal assistant, “I’ve found the Book of the Teachings. It was in the Temple of the Lord!” He gave it to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to Josiah: “Your officers are doing everything you told them to do. ¹⁷ They have paid out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. They have given it to the supervisors and the workers.” ¹⁸ Then Shaphan the royal assistant told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from the book to the king.

¹⁹ The king heard the words of the Teachings. Then he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. ²⁰ He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan. He also gave them to Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan and Asaiah. Shaphan was the royal assistant. And Asaiah was the king’s servant. These were the orders: ²¹ “Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that was found. Ask for me and for the people who are left alive in Israel and Judah. The Lord is very angry with us because our ancestors did not obey the Lord’s word. They did not do everything this book says to do.”

²² So Hilkiah and those the king sent with him left. They went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas. Harhas took care of the king’s clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.

²³ She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here. I will bring all the curses that are written in the book that was read to the king of Judah. ²⁵ The people of Judah have left me. They have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all the bad things they have made. So I will punish them in my anger. My anger will not be stopped.’ ²⁶ Tell the king of Judah who sent you to ask the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: ²⁷ You heard my words against this place and its people. And you became sorry for what you had done. You became sorry in my presence. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were. And you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. ²⁸ So I will let you die. You will be buried in peace. You won’t see all the trouble that I will bring to this place and the people living here.’”

So they took her message back to the king.

²⁹ Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. ³⁰ He went up to the Temple of the Lord. All the men from Judah and the people from Jerusalem went with him. The priests and the Levites and all the people—from the most important to the least important—went with him. He read to them all the words in the Book of the Agreement. That book was found in the Temple of the Lord. ³¹ Then the king stood by his pillar. He made an agreement in the presence of the Lord. He agreed to follow the Lord and to obey his commands, rules and laws with his whole being. And he agreed to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. ³² Then Josiah made all the people in Jerusalem and Benjamin promise to accept the agreement. The people of Jerusalem obeyed the agreement of God, the God their ancestors obeyed.

³³ And Josiah threw out the hated idols from all the land that belonged to the Israelites. He led everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God. While Josiah lived, the people obeyed the Lord, the God their ancestors obeyed.