Beginning

Assyrian’s Failed Seige of Jerusalem

32 After these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He encamped against the fortified cities, intending to break into them for himself. ² When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to wage war against Jerusalem, ³ he consulted with his officers and warriors about blocking the waters of the springs outside the city, and they supported him. ⁴ Many people assembled and blocked off all the springs and the raging wadi in the land saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” ⁵ Then he took courage and rebuilt the entire wall that had been broken down, raised up the towers, added another outer wall, fortified the Millo in the city of David, and made plenty of weapons and shields.

⁶ He also appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate, and encouraged them saying, ⁷ “Chazak! Be courageous! Do not be afraid or dismayed by the king of Assyria and the whole horde that is with him—for we have more with us than he has with him! ⁸ With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is Adonai Eloheinu to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

⁹ After this, when King Sennacherib of Assyria, while he and all his forces with him were besieging Lachish, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying:

¹⁰ “Thus says King Sennacherib of Assyria, ‘What are you relying on that you would stay in Jerusalem, under siege? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah misleading you, to let you die by famine and thirst, saying, “Adonai Eloheinu will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria?” ¹² Has not the same Hezekiah removed His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem saying, “You shall worship before one altar and upon it you shall burn incense?” ¹³ Do not you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands ever able to deliver their land out of my hand? ¹⁴ Who among all the gods of these nations—which my fathers utterly destroyed—could deliver his people from my hand? How then is your God able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵ So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or any kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand and from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!’”

¹⁶ His servants spoke further against Adonai Elohim and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ Sennacharib also wrote letters reviling Adonai, the God of Israel, speaking against Him saying, “Just as the gods of the nations of the lands have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah shall not deliver His people from my hand.” ¹⁸ Then they cried out loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall to terrify and frighten them, in order to capture the city. ¹⁹ They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth made by human hands.

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven.

²¹ Then Adonai sent an angel who annihilated every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew in disgrace to his own land. When he entered the house of his god some of his own children struck him down with the sword. ²² Thus Adonai delivered Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all, and helped them in every way. ²³ Many brought offerings to Adonai in Jerusalem and valuable gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded in the eyes of all the nations.

Hezekiah’s Pride and Humility

²⁴ In those days Hezekiah became deathly ill, but he prayed to Adonai who responded to him and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah did not respond according to the favor done to him. His heart became haughty, so wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride in his heart—both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of Adonai did not fall upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ Now Hezekiah had very abundant riches and honor. He even made treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and for all kinds of valuables, ²⁸ and storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine and oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds for the flocks. ²⁹ Moreover, he built towns and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very many possessions.

³⁰ It was also Hezekiah who stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon and channeled them downward to the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did. ³¹ But when the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, to know all that was in his heart.

Hezekiah’s Death and Honor

³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ So Hezekiah slept with his fathers and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. His son Manasseh became king in his place.

King Manasseh’s Transgressions

33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. ² He did evil in the sight of Adonai, just like the abominations of the nations that Adonai had driven out before Bnei-Yisrael. ³ For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had demolished, he reerected altars for the Baalim, made Asherah poles, and bowed down to all the host of heaven and worshipped them. ⁴ He built altars in the House of Adonai—of which Adonai had said, “My Name will be in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ He also built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courtyards of the House of Adonai. ⁶ Furthermore, he made his children pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom and practiced witchcraft, divination and sorcery, and consulted ghosts and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of Adonai, provoking Him to anger.

⁷ Then he placed the carved image of the idol that he had made in the House of God—of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this House and in Jerusalem that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My Name forever. ⁸ I will never again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for their fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them—all the Torah, the statutes, and the ordinances delivered by the hand of Moses.”

⁹ But Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations whom Adonai destroyed before Bnei-Yisrael. ¹⁰ Adonai spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

Assyrians Sent to Chasten Manasseh

¹¹ Therefore, Adonai brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze shackles, and led him to Babylon.

¹² In his distress, he entreated Adonai his God and greatly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. ¹³ When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty, heard his plea and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Adonai, He is God.

¹⁴ Afterward he built an outer wall to the city of David west of Gihon in the valley, as far as the entrance to the Fish Gate, and encircling the Ophel; he also raised it up much higher. He stationed military officers in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵ He also removed the foreign gods and idols from the House of Adonai, as well as all the altars that he had built on the mount of the House of Adonai and in Jerusalem and threw them outside the city. ¹⁶ He rebuilt the altar of Adonai and sacrificed on it sacrifices of fellowship and thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Adonai the God of Israel. ¹⁷ Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed in the high places, but only to Adonai their God.

¹⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the Name of Adonai the God of Israel, behold, they are written in the records of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹ His prayer also, and how God was moved by his entreaty, all his sin and his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherah poles and the carved images before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of Hozai. ²⁰ Manasseh slept with his fathers and they buried him in his own house. His son Amon became king in his place.

Wicked King Amon Assassinated

²¹ Amon was 22 years old when he became king and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. ²² He did what was evil in the sight of Adonai just as his father Manasseh had done. Amon sacrificed to all the carved images that Manasseh his father had made, and worshipped them. ²³ He did not humble himself before Adonai as his father Manasseh had humbled himself. Instead Amon increased his guilt. ²⁴ So his servants conspired against him and assassinated him in his own house. ²⁵ Then the people of the land struck down all who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Josiah Restores the Temple

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. ² He did right in the eyes of Adonai, and walked in the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right or to the left. ³ In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek after the God of his father David. In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, and the carved and molten images. ⁴ They tore down the altars of the Baal in his presence and chopped down the sun-images that were above them. Also the Asherah poles and the carved and molten images he smashed into pieces, ground into dust, and scattered upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. ⁵ Then he burned the bones of the priests on their altars—so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. ⁶ In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, with their surrounding ruins, ⁷ he broke down the altars, the Asherah poles, crushed the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the sun-images throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

⁸ Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, after purging the land and the House, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the House of Adonai his God. ⁹ They came to Hilkiah the kohen gadol and handed over the silver money that was brought into the House of God, which the Levites, the gatekeepers, had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim and all the remnant of Israel, as well as from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Then they put it in the hands of the workmen who were in charge of the House of Adonai. The workmen who were working in the House of Adonai spent it on repairing and restoring the House. ¹¹ They in turn gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stone as well as timber—for joining and making beams—for the buildings that the kings of Judah had let fall into ruin. ¹² The men did the work faithfully. Over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites from the sons of Merari, along with Zechariah and Meshullam from the sons of Kohath, to supervise, while other Levites—all skilled musicians— ¹³ were over the burden-bearers and supervised all who worked from task to task. Some of the Levites were also scribes, overseers and gatekeepers.

Torah Scroll Found in the Temple

¹⁴ While they were bringing out the silver that had been brought into the House of Adonai, Hilkiah the kohen found a Torah scroll of Adonai given by Moses. ¹⁵ Hilkiah responded by telling Shaphan the scribe, “I have found a scroll of the Torah in the House of Adonai.” Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan.

¹⁶ Then Shaphan brought the scroll to the king and moreover returned a report to the king, saying, “Your servants are doing everything that was committed to them. ¹⁷ They have melted down the silver that was found in the House of Adonai and handed it over to the overseers and into the hand of the workmen.” ¹⁸ Shaphan the scribe also said to the king, “Hilkiah the kohen has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

¹⁹ When the king heard the words of the Torah, he tore his clothes. ²⁰ The king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ²¹ “Go! Inquire of Adonai for me and for the remnant in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of Adonai that will be poured out upon us—because our fathers did not observe the word of Adonai to do according to all that is written in this scroll.”

Huldah the Prophetess

²² So Hilkiah, and those whom the king commanded, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tokahath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe—now she was living in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter—and spoke to her about this.

²³ She said to them, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ²⁴ “Thus says Adonai, ‘Behold, I am bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—all the curses that are written in the book that they have read before the king of Judah. ²⁵ For they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods in order to provoke Me with all the works of their hands. Therefore, My wrath will be poured out upon this place and it will not be quenched.’” ²⁶ But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Adonai, thus you will say to him, “Thus says Adonai the God of Israel, ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, ²⁷ because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against the inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes, and wept before Me, I have heard you,’ says Adonai. ²⁸ ‘Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you will be buried in your grave in shalom. Your eyes will not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place and upon the inhabitants.’”

So they brought her word back to the king.

²⁹ Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ The king went up to the House of Adonai with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the kohanim, the Levites, and all the people from the oldest to the youngest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the House of Adonai.

³¹ Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before Adonai—to follow Adonai and to observe His mitzvot, His regulations and His decrees with all his heart and with all his soul and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. ³² Moreover, he made all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand with him. The inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. ³³ Josiah removed all the abominations from the whole territory of Bnei-Yisrael and made all who were found in Israel to worship Adonai their God. All his days they did not turn away from following Adonai, the God of their fathers.