Beginning
Sennacherib Invades Judah
32 After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them.[a] 2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had invaded and intended to attack Jerusalem,[b] 3 he consulted with his advisers and military officers about stopping up the springs[c] outside the city, and they supported him. 4 A large number of people gathered together and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the district.[d] They reasoned,[e] “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” 5 Hezekiah[f] energetically rebuilt[g] every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall[h] and fortified the terrace of the City of David.[i] He made many weapons and shields.
6 He appointed military officers over the army[j] and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them,[k] saying, 7 “Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic[l] because of the king of Assyria and this huge army that is with him. We have with us one who is stronger than those who are with him.[m] 8 He has with him mere human strength,[n] but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!” The army[o] was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.
9 Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers[p] to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of[q] Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read: 10 “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege?[r] 11 Hezekiah says, “The Lord our God will rescue us from the power[s] of the king of Assyria.” But he is misleading you, and you will die of hunger and thirst![t] 12 Hezekiah is the one who eliminated[u] the Lord’s[v] high places and altars and then told Judah and Jerusalem, “At one altar you must worship and offer sacrifices.” 13 Are you not aware of what I and my predecessors[w] have done to all the nations of the surrounding lands? Have the gods of the surrounding lands actually been able to rescue their lands from my power?[x] 14 Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power, that your God would be able to rescue you from my power?[y] 15 Now don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. So how[z] can your gods rescue[aa] you from my power?’”
16 Sennacherib’s[ab] servants further insulted[ac] the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. 17 He wrote letters mocking the Lord God of Israel and insulting him with these words:[ad] “The gods of the surrounding nations could not rescue their people from my power. Neither can Hezekiah’s god rescue his people from my power.”[ae] 18 They called out loudly in the Judahite dialect to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, trying to scare and terrify them so they could seize the city. 19 They talked about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the man-made gods of the nations of the earth.
20 King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 21 The Lord sent a messenger[af] and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib[ag] returned home humiliated.[ah] When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons[ai] struck him down with the sword. 22 The Lord delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations.[aj] He made them secure on every side.[ak] 23 Many were bringing presents[al] to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by[am] all the nations.
Hezekiah’s Shortcomings and Accomplishments
24 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.[an] He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a sign confirming that he would be healed.[ao] 25 But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem.[ap] 26 But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the Lord was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign.[aq]
27 Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all his other valuable possessions. 28 He made storerooms for the harvest of grain, wine, and olive oil, and stalls for all his various kinds of livestock and his flocks.[ar] 29 He built royal cities[as] and owned a large number of sheep and cattle, for God gave him a huge amount of possessions.
30 Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the City of David.[at] Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did. 31 So when the envoys arrived from the Babylonian officials to visit him and inquire about the sign that occurred in the land,[au] God left him alone to test him, in order to know his true motives.[av]
32 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, including his faithful deeds, are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, included in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.[aw] 33 Hezekiah passed away[ax] and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor.[ay] His son Manasseh replaced him as king.
Manasseh’s Reign
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 He did evil in the sight of[az] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations[ba] whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky[bb] and worshiped[bc] them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my permanent home.”[bd] 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his sons through the fire[be] in the Valley of Ben Hinnom and practiced divination, omen reading, and sorcery. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.[bf] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord and angered him.[bg] 7 He put an idolatrous image he had made in God’s temple, about which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.[bh] 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,[bi] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given through Moses.” 9 But Manasseh misled the people of[bj] Judah and the residents of Jerusalem so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
10 The Lord confronted[bk] Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized Manasseh, put hooks in his nose,[bl] bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon. 12 In his pain[bm] Manasseh[bn] asked the Lord his God for mercy[bo] and truly[bp] humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.[bq] 13 When he prayed to the Lord,[br] the Lord[bs] responded to him[bt] and answered favorably[bu] his cry for mercy. The Lord[bv] brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh realized that the Lord is the true God.
14 After this Manasseh[bw] built up the outer wall of the City of David[bx] on the west side of the Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate and all around the terrace; he made it much higher. He placed army officers in all the fortified cities in Judah.
15 He removed the foreign gods and images from the Lord’s temple and all the altars he had built on the hill of the Lord’s temple and in Jerusalem; he threw them outside the city. 16 He erected the altar of the Lord and offered on it peace offerings and thank offerings. He told the people of[by] Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. 17 However, the people continued to offer sacrifices at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
18 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the prophets[bz] spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, are recorded[ca] in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 19 The Annals of the Prophets include his prayer, give an account of how the Lord responded to it, record all his sins and unfaithful acts, and identify the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself.[cb] 20 Manasseh passed away[cc] and was buried in his palace. His son Amon replaced him as king.
Amon’s Reign
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. 22 He did evil in the sight of[cd] the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon offered sacrifices to all the idols his father Manasseh had made, and worshiped[ce] them. 23 He did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done.[cf] Amon was guilty of great sin.[cg] 24 His servants conspired against him and killed him in his palace. 25 The people of the land executed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they[ch] made his son Josiah king in his place.
Josiah Institutes Religious Reforms
34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what the Lord approved[ci] and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps;[cj] he did not deviate to the right or the left.
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor[ck] David. In his twelfth year he began ridding[cl] Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, Asherah poles, idols, and images. 4 He ordered the altars of the Baals to be torn down,[cm] and broke the incense altars that were above them. He smashed the Asherah poles, idols, and images, crushed them, and sprinkled the dust over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of the pagan priests[cn] on their altars; he purified Judah and Jerusalem. 6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins[co] around them, 7 he tore down the altars and Asherah poles, demolished the idols, and smashed all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, he continued his policy of purifying the land and the temple.[cp] He sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the city official, and Joah son of Joahaz the secretary to repair the temple of the Lord his God. 9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought to God’s temple. The Levites who guarded the door had collected it from the people of[cq] Manasseh and Ephraim and from all who were left in Israel, as well as from all the people of[cr] Judah and Benjamin and the residents of[cs] Jerusalem. 10 They handed it over to the construction foremen[ct] assigned to the Lord’s temple. They in turn paid the temple workers to restore and repair it.[cu] 11 They gave money to the craftsmen and builders to buy chiseled stone and wood for the braces and rafters of the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into disrepair.[cv] 12 The men worked faithfully. Their supervisors were Jahath and Obadiah (Levites descended from Merari), as well as Zechariah and Meshullam (descendants of Kohath). The Levites, all of whom were skilled musicians, 13 supervised the laborers and all the foremen on their various jobs.[cw] Some of the Levites were scribes, officials, and guards.
14 When they took out the silver that had been brought to the Lord’s temple, Hilkiah the priest found the law scroll the Lord had given to Moses. 15 Hilkiah informed Shaphan the scribe, “I found the law scroll in the Lord’s temple.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan. 16 Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and reported,[cx] “Your servants are doing everything assigned to them. 17 They melted down the silver in the Lord’s temple[cy] and handed it over to the supervisors and the construction foremen.” 18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it out loud before the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes. 20 The king ordered Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,[cz] Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 21 “Go, ask the Lord[da] for me and for those who remain in Israel and Judah about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the Lord’s great fury has been ignited[db] against us, because our ancestors did not obey the word of the Lord by living[dc] according to all that is written in this scroll.”
22 So Hilkiah and the others sent by the king[dd] went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah,[de] the supervisor of the wardrobe.[df] (She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh[dg] district.) They stated their business,[dh] 23 and she said to them: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Say this to the man who sent you to me: 24 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, all the curses that are recorded in the scroll which they read before the king of Judah. 25 This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices[di] to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made.[dj] My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!’” 26 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the Lord: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard: 27 ‘You displayed a sensitive spirit[dk] and humbled yourself before God when you heard his words concerning this place and its residents. You humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and wept before me, and I have heard you,’ says the Lord. 28 ‘Therefore I will allow you to die and be buried in peace.[dl] You will not have to witness all the disaster I will bring on this place and its residents.’”’” Then they reported back to the king.
29 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem.[dm] 30 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the Levites. All the people were there, from the oldest to the youngest. He read aloud all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 31 The king stood by his pillar[dn] and renewed[do] the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow[dp] the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being,[dq] by carrying out the terms[dr] of this covenant recorded on this scroll. 32 He made all who were in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it.[ds] The residents of Jerusalem acted in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors. 33 Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the areas belonging to the Israelites and encouraged[dt] all who were in Israel to worship the Lord their God. Throughout the rest of his reign[du] they did not turn aside from following the Lord God of their ancestors.
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