The Daily Audio Bible

The Assyrians Threaten Jerusalem^(A)

32 After these events, in which King Hezekiah served the Lord faithfully, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities and gave orders for his army to break their way through the walls. ² When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib intended to attack Jerusalem also, ^3-4 he and his officials decided to cut off the supply of water outside the city in order to keep the Assyrians from having any water when they got near Jerusalem. The officials led a large number of people out and stopped up all the springs, so that no more water flowed out of them. ⁵ The king strengthened the city's defenses by repairing the wall, building towers on it,^[a] and building an outer wall. In addition, he repaired the defenses built on the land that was filled in on the east side of the old part of Jerusalem. He also had a large number of spears and shields made. ⁶ He placed all the men in the city under the command of army officers and had them assemble in the open square at the city gate. He said to them, ⁷ “Be determined and confident, and don't be afraid of the Assyrian emperor or of the army he is leading. We have more power on our side than he has on his. ⁸ He has human power, but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by these words of their king.

⁹ Some time later, while Sennacherib and his army were still at Lachish, he sent the following message to Hezekiah and the people of Judah who were with him in Jerusalem: ¹⁰ “I, Sennacherib, Emperor of Assyria, ask what gives you people the confidence to remain in Jerusalem under siege. ¹¹ Hezekiah tells you that the Lord your God will save you from our power, but Hezekiah is deceiving you and will let you die of hunger and thirst. ¹² He is the one who destroyed the Lord's shrines and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship and burn incense at one altar only. ¹³ Don't you know what my ancestors and I have done to the people of other nations? Did the gods of any other nation save their people from the emperor of Assyria? ¹⁴ When did any of the gods of all those countries ever save their country from us? Then what makes you think that your god can save you? ¹⁵ Now don't let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like that. Don't believe him! No god of any nation has ever been able to save his people from any Assyrian emperor. So certainly this god of yours can't save you!”

¹⁶ The Assyrian officials said even worse things about the Lord God and Hezekiah, the Lord's servant. ¹⁷ The letter that the emperor wrote defied the Lord, the God of Israel. It said, “The gods of the nations have not saved their people from my power, and neither will Hezekiah's god save his people from me.” ¹⁸ The officials shouted this in Hebrew in order to frighten and discourage the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall, so that it would be easier to capture the city. ¹⁹ They talked about the God of Jerusalem in the same way that they talked about the gods of the other peoples, idols made by human hands.

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed to God and cried out to him for help. ²¹ The Lord sent an angel that killed the soldiers and officers of the Assyrian army. So the emperor went back to Assyria disgraced. One day when he was in the temple of his god, some of his sons killed him with their swords.

²² In this way the Lord rescued King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the power of Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, and also from their other enemies. He let the people live in peace^[b] with all the neighboring countries. ²³ Many people came to Jerusalem, bringing offerings to the Lord and gifts to Hezekiah, so that from then on all the nations held Hezekiah in honor.

Hezekiah's Illness and Pride^(B)

²⁴ About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. He prayed, and the Lord gave him a sign that he would recover. ²⁵ But Hezekiah was too proud to show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him, and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it. ²⁶ Finally, however, Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves, and so the Lord did not punish the people until after Hezekiah's death.

Hezekiah's Wealth and Splendor

²⁷ King Hezekiah became very wealthy, and everyone held him in honor. He had storerooms built for his gold, silver, precious stones, spices, shields, and other valuable objects. ²⁸ In addition, he had storehouses built for his grain, wine, and olive oil; barns for his cattle; and pens for his sheep. ²⁹ Besides all this, God gave him sheep and cattle and so much other wealth that he built many cities. ³⁰ It was King Hezekiah who blocked the outlet for Gihon Spring and channeled the water to flow through a tunnel to a point inside the walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did, ³¹ and even when the Babylonian ambassadors came to inquire about the unusual event that had happened in the land, God let Hezekiah go his own way only in order to test his character.

The End of Hezekiah's Reign^(C)

³² Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz and in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ Hezekiah died and was buried in the upper section of the royal tombs. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem paid him great honor at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

King Manasseh of Judah^(D)

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. ^2 (E)Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord. ³ He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for the worship of Baal, made images of the goddess Asherah, and worshiped the stars. ^4 (F)He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped forever. ⁵ In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars. ⁶ He sacrificed his sons in Hinnom Valley as burnt offerings. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger. ^7 (G)He placed an image in the Temple, the place about which God had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped. ⁸ And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.” ⁹ Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.

Manasseh Repents

¹⁰ Although the Lord warned Manasseh and his people, they refused to listen. ¹¹ So the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon. ¹² In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. ¹³ God accepted Manasseh's prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem and rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God.

²³ But now that I have finished my work in these regions and since I have been wanting for so many years to come to see you, ²⁴ I hope to do so now. I would like to see you on my way to Spain, and be helped by you to go there, after I have enjoyed visiting you for a while. ^25 (A)Right now, however, I am going to Jerusalem in the service of God's people there. ²⁶ For the churches in Macedonia and Achaia have freely decided to give an offering to help the poor among God's people in Jerusalem. ^27 (B)That decision was their own; but, as a matter of fact, they have an obligation to help them. Since the Jews shared their spiritual blessings with the Gentiles, the Gentiles ought to use their material blessings to help the Jews. ²⁸ When I have finished this task and have turned over to them all the money that has been raised for them, I shall leave for Spain and visit you on my way there. ²⁹ When I come to you, I know that I shall come with a full measure of the blessing of Christ.

³⁰ I urge you, friends, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit gives: join me in praying fervently to God for me. ³¹ Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to God's people there. ³² And so I will come to you full of joy, if it is God's will, and enjoy a refreshing visit with you. ³³ May God, our source of peace, be with all of you. Amen.

Personal Greetings

16 I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who serves the church at Cenchreae. ² Receive her in the Lord's name, as God's people should, and give her any help she may need from you; for she herself has been a good friend to many people and also to me.

^3 (C)I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in the service of Christ Jesus; ⁴ they risked their lives for me. I am grateful to them—not only I, but all the Gentile churches as well. ⁵ Greetings also to the church that meets in their house.

Greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ. ⁶ Greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for you. ⁷ Greetings also to Andronicus and Junia,^[a] fellow Jews who were in prison with me; they are well known among the apostles, and they became Christians before I did.

⁸ My greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the fellowship of the Lord. ⁹ Greetings also to Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ's service, and to Stachys, my dear friend.

¹⁶ Anyone stupid enough to promise to be responsible for a stranger's debts ought to have their own property held to guarantee payment.

¹⁷ What you get by dishonesty you may enjoy like the finest food, but sooner or later it will be like a mouthful of sand.

¹⁸ Get good advice and you will succeed; don't go charging into battle without a plan.