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Hezekiah Loses Health and Regains It through Prayer

20 In those days Hezekiah became deathly ill,^[a] and Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Command your house, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³ “O Yahweh, please remember how I went about before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and remember the good that I have done in your eyes.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.^{[b] 4} Isaiah had not gone out from the middle of the city when the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return; you must say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of David your ancestor,^[c] “I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Look, I am about to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ I will add to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria I will deliver you and this city. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”’” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of figs,” so they took and put it on the skin sores, and he lived.

⁸ Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me that I shall go up on the third day to the temple of Yahweh?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “This is the sign for you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing that he has promised: Shall the shadow advance ten steps or shall it return ten steps?” ¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backwards ten steps.” ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet called to Yahweh, and he brought back the shadow on the steps where it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz, backwards ten steps.

Hezekiah Reveals Too Much to a Babylonian Envoy

¹² At that time, Berodak-Baladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon^[d] sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah heard about them and showed them all of the house of his treasure, both the silver and the gold, the spices, the good olive oil, the room of his weapons, and all that could be found in his treasuries. There was nothing that he did not show them in his palace and in all of his kingdom. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “From a far land; they have come from Babylon.” ¹⁵ Then he asked, “What did they see in your palace?” And Hezekiah said, “All that is in my palace they have seen; there is nothing that I did not show them in my treasuries.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh! ¹⁷ ‘Look, days are coming when all that is in your palace will be carried off; even all that your ancestors^[e] have stored up until this day, to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh. ¹⁸ ‘Your sons who went out from you, whom you brought forth, will be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the temple of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh which you have spoken is good,” and he thought, “Is it not that peace and security shall be in my days?” ²⁰ Now the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah, all of his powerful deeds, and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought the water into the city, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Then Hezekiah slept with his ancestors,^[f] and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Evil Manasseh Reigns after Godly Hezekiah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, according to the detestable things of the nations that Yahweh had driven out from the presence of the Israelites.^{[g] 3} He returned and rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal and made a pole of Asherah worship just as Ahab king of Israel had made, and he bowed down to all of the host of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of Yahweh about which Yahweh had said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.” ⁵ He built an altar to all of the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the temple of Yahweh. ⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ⁷ He put the image of the Asherah that he had made in the temple which Yahweh had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this temple and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all of the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. ⁸ I will not again make the feet of Israel wander from the land which I have given to their ancestors,^[h] if they only observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, as far as the law that Moses my servant commanded them.” ⁹ But Manasseh did not listen and tempted them to do evil more than the nations that Yahweh destroyed before the presence of the Israelites.^[i]

Yahweh Sends a Rebuke to Manasseh

¹⁰ So Yahweh spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹ “Because Manasseh the king of Judah committed these detestable things and did evil more than the Amorites did who were before him and caused even Judah to sin with his idols, ¹² therefore, thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Look, I am bringing disaster upon Jerusalem and Judah about which the two ears of all who hear it will tingle. ¹³ I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes the dish; he wipes it and turns it on its face. ¹⁴ I will give up the remainder of my inheritance, and I will give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become as prey and as spoil for all their enemies, ¹⁵ because they have done evil in my eyes and were provoking me from the day that their ancestors^[j] came out from Egypt up to this day.’”

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he filled Jerusalem from one end to another,^[k] apart from his sin which he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh. ¹⁷ The remainder of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin that he committed, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Then Manasseh slept with his ancestors^[l] and was buried in the garden of his palace, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Reigns in Judah Only Two Years

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh as Manasseh his father had done. ²¹ He walked in all of the way which his father had walked, and he served the idols which his father had served and bowed down to them. ²² He abandoned Yahweh the God of his ancestors^[m] and did not walk in the way of Yahweh. ²³ The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. ²⁴ But the people of the land killed all who conspired against the king and made Josiah his son king in his place. ²⁵ The remainder of the acts of Amon that he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? ²⁶ They buried him in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in place of him.

Josiah Becomes King in Judah

22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. ² He did right in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in all of the way of David his ancestor^[n] and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

³ It happened in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent word to Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam, the secretary of the temple of Yahweh, saying, ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and let them count the money being brought to the temple of Yahweh which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people, ⁵ and let them give it into the hand of those appointed doers of the work at the temple of Yahweh. Let them give it to the doers of the work who are at the temple of Yahweh to repair the breach of the temple: ⁶ to the skilled craftsmen, to the builders, to the masons, and to buy timber and hewing stones to repair the temple. ⁷ Only the money being given to them is not to be accounted for by them, for they are dealing with honesty.”

A Scroll of the Torah Discovered in the Temple

⁸ Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the scroll of the Torah in the temple of Yahweh,” and Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan and he read it. ⁹ Shaphan the secretary came to the king and returned the king a word, and he said, “Your servant poured out the money found in the temple, and they have given it into the hand of the doers of the work appointed over the temple of Yahweh.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Then Shaphan read before the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the scroll of the Torah, he tore his clothes. ¹² Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Acbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the servant of the king, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and for the people and for all of Judah concerning the words of this scroll that was found. For the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us is great because our ancestors^[o] did not listen to the words of this scroll to do according to all that is written concerning us!”

The Prophetess Huldah Predicts Doom for Judah

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she was living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her, ¹⁵ and she said to them, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Say to the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Look I am bringing evil to this place and upon its inhabitants, according to all of the words of that scroll that the king of Judah has read ¹⁷ because they have abandoned me and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all of the works of their hands. My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.’” ¹⁸ And to the king of Judah who sent all of you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘Concerning the words that you have heard, ¹⁹ because you have a responsive heart, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants to become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before my face, I have also heard, declares Yahweh. ²⁰ Therefore look, I am gathering you to your ancestors,^[p] and you shall be gathered to your tombs in peace. Your eyes will not see all of the disaster that I am bringing onto this place.’”’” Then they reported the word^[q] to the king.