The Daily Audio Bible

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(A)

32 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came to Judah and encamped against the fortified cities thinking that he would break through them for himself. ² When Hezekiah observed that Sennacherib had come and that he turned to war against Jerusalem, ³ he consulted with his officials and military men to stop up the waters of the springs that were outside the city, and they helped in this. ⁴ So, many people assembled and worked to stop up all the springs and the stream flowing through the area. They reasoned, “Why should the king of Assyria come and find a great amount of water?” ⁵ He then worked hard to build up all the walls that were broken down and to raise up towers. Then he built another wall outside that one and strengthened the Millo in the City of David. And he made weapons and shields in abundance.

⁶ And he designated commanders for fighting over the people, and he gathered them to himself at the open square of the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them saying, ⁷ “Be strong and brave. Do not fear or have terror before the king of Assyria or before all this army that is with him because there are more who are with us than with him. ⁸ With this king is a strong arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God who will help us and fight our battles.” So the people leaned on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹ After all this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem—while he was at Lachish with all his military force that was with him—to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah that was in Jerusalem stating,

¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: By what do you all trust that you remain in a besieged Jerusalem? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah leading you all astray to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he tells you, ‘The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria’? ¹² Has not Hezekiah himself taken down this god’s high places and altars by ordering Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You all will bow down at one altar and on it burn sacrifices’?

¹³ “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of these lands surely able to rescue their lands from my hand? ¹⁴ Who from among all the gods of these nations that my fathers utterly destroyed was able to rescue his people from my hand? For will your god be able to rescue you all from my hand? ¹⁵ Now do not let Hezekiah trick or lead you all astray in this. And do not believe him, for no god from any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?”

¹⁶ And his servants continued to speak against the Lord God and Hezekiah his servant. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, speaking against Him, “As the gods of the nations of other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.” ¹⁸ And they proclaimed it also in a loud voice in the Judean language against the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city. ¹⁹ They spoke about the God of Jerusalem like the gods of the other peoples of the earth, which are only objects made by men’s hands.

The Death of Sennacherib

²⁰ So Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz prayed concerning this. And they called out to heaven. ²¹ So the Lord sent an angel and destroyed the mighty army, leaders, and officials in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king returned in shame to his own land. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his sons fell on him there with the sword.

²² So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and gave them rest on every side. ²³ Many brought tribute to the Lord in Jerusalem and choice gifts to Hezekiah king of Judah so that he was lifted up before the eyes of all the nations from then on.

Hezekiah’s Pride

²⁴ In those days Hezekiah became ill even to the point of death, so he prayed to the Lord. He spoke to the king and gave him a sign. ²⁵ But Hezekiah did not make recompense for what was given to him because his heart was proud. So divine anger was on him, Judah, and Jerusalem. ²⁶ Then Hezekiah humbled himself from his arrogant heart, both he and those who lived in Jerusalem, and the anger of the Lord did not come over them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷ And Hezekiah had a vast amount of riches and honor, and he made treasures for himself from silver, gold, costly stones, spices, shields, and all types of precious items. ²⁸ He made storehouses for the produce of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all types of livestock and flocks. ²⁹ He also built cities for himself and acquired numbers of flocks and herds, for God had given to him a vast amount of possessions.

³⁰ And Hezekiah shut up the upper outlet of the waters of the Gihon and directed them downward to the western side of the City of David. And Hezekiah found success in all his works. ³¹ But the envoys came from the officials of Babylon who were sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been given in the land. God left him alone in order to test Hezekiah, to know what was in his heart.

The Death of Hezekiah^(B)

³² And the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah and his kind acts, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, 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 tombs of the sons of David. And all those from Judah and those living in Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Manasseh, King of Judah^(C)

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. ² But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord previously cast out before the sons of Israel. ³ And he turned again to build the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he set up altars to the Baals, and made Asherah poles, and worshipped the starry assembly of heaven and served them. ⁴ And he built altars in the house of the Lord where the Lord said, “In Jerusalem My name will be perpetual.” ⁵ And he built altars for the starry assembly of heaven in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. ⁶ He even made his sons pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom; and he had conjurers, and practitioners of divination and sorcery, and necromancers, and mediums. So he did a great amount of evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that God was provoked.

⁷ And he set the carved image of a statue that he made and put in the house of God where God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem where I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel, there I have set My name perpetually. ⁸ And I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the ground that I have designated to your fathers, if only they will keep on doing everything that I have commanded them, the whole law, statutes, and judgments from the hand of Moses.” ⁹ So Manasseh made Judah and those living in Jerusalem to wander and to perform more evil than the nations that the Lord destroyed from before Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not pay attention. ¹¹ So the Lord brought on them the officials of the army of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh with hooks, and they bound him in bronze chains and led him to Babylon. ¹² And when he was distressed, he entreated the face of the Lord his God, and he greatly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. ¹³ And he prayed to God, and He was moved and responded to his plea and returned him to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

²³ But now, no longer having a place in these regions, and having a great desire for many years to come to you, ²⁴ whenever I go to Spain, I shall come to you, for I hope to see you when I pass through and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a little while. ²⁵ But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. ²⁶ For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. ²⁷ It has pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, they also ought to minister to them in material things. ²⁸ Therefore, when I have completed this and have given this blessing to them, I shall come by way of you to Spain, ²⁹ and I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

³⁰ Now I ask you, brothers, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, ³¹ that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my ministry for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, ³² so that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. ³³ Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Personal Greetings

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant^[a] of the church at Cenchrea, ² that you welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may have need of you, for she has been a helper of many and of myself as well.

³ Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, ⁴ who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I, but also all the churches of the Gentiles, give thanks.

⁵ Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the first convert of Achaia for Christ.

⁶ Greet Mary, who labored much for us.

⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and fellow prisoners, who are noteworthy among the apostles, who also came to Christ before me.

⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.

⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.