The Daily Audio Bible

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.

¹⁸ And on the next day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ And after^[a] greeting them, he began to relate^[b] one after the other^[c] the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰ And when^[d] they heard this,^[e] they began to glorify^[f] God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ten thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealous adherents of the law. ²¹ And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles the abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their^[g] children or to live according to our^[h] customs. ²² What then is to be done?^[i] Doubtless they will all hear that you have come! ²³ Therefore do this that we tell you: we have^[j] four men who have taken a vow upon themselves.^{[k] 24} Take these men and^[l] purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses^[m] so that they can shave their^[n] heads, and everyone will know that the things which they had been informed about you are nothing, but you yourself also agree with observing the law. ²⁵ But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter after^[o] deciding they should avoid food sacrificed to idols and blood and what has been strangled and sexual immorality.” ²⁶ Then Paul took along the men on the next day, and^[p] after he^[q] had purified himself together with them, he entered into the temple courts,^[r] announcing the completion of the days of purification until the time^[s] the offering would be presented on behalf of each one of them.

Paul Arrested in the Temple Courts

²⁷ But when the seven days were about to be completed, the Jews from Asia^[t] who had seen him in the temple courts^[u] stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, ²⁸ shouting, “Israelite men, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place! And furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!” ²⁹ (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, whom they thought that Paul had brought into the temple.) ³⁰ And the whole city was stirred up, and the people came running together, and they seized Paul and^[v] dragged him outside of the temple courts,^[w] and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹ And as they^[x] were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the military tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³² He^[y] immediately took along soldiers and centurions and^[z] ran down to them. And when^[aa] they saw the military tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the military tribune came up and^[ab] arrested him and ordered him^[ac] to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what it was that he had done. ³⁴ But some in the crowd were shouting one thing and others another, and because^[ad] he was not able to find out the truth on account of the commotion, he gave orders to bring him into the barracks.^{[ae] 35} And when he came to the steps, it happened that he had to be carried by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd, ³⁶ for the crowd of people was following them,^[af] shouting, “Away with him!”

Let Everything Praise Yahweh