Historical
Hezekiah’s Illness(A)
20 At that time Hezekiah became so sick he ·almost died [was about to die]. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, “·This is what the Lord says [T Thus says the Lord]: ·Make arrangements [L Set your house in order] because you are going to die. You will not recover.”
2 Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Lord, please remember that I have always ·obeyed [L walked before] you. I have ·given myself completely to you [served you wholeheartedly] and have done ·what you said was right [L right in the eyes/sight of the Lord].” Then Hezekiah ·cried loudly [wept bitterly].
4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke his word to Isaiah: 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ·leader [ruler; prince] of my people: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ·ancestor [father] David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, so I will heal you. Three days from now you will go up to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will ·save [rescue; T deliver] you and this city from [L the hand of] the king of Assyria; I will ·protect [defend] the city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
7 Then Isaiah said, “Make a ·paste [ointment; poultice] from figs.” So they made it and put it on Hezekiah’s boil, and he got well.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord on the third day?”
9 Isaiah said, “The Lord will do what he ·says [promises]. This is the sign from the Lord to show you: Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or back ten steps?”
10 Hezekiah answered, “It’s ·easy [normal] for the shadow to ·go forward [lengthen] ten steps. Instead, let it go back ten steps.”
11 Then Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten steps back up the ·stairway [or dial; C the shadows moved either on outside stairs or on a sundial] of Ahaz that it had gone down.
Messengers from Babylon(B)
12 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan was king of Babylon. He sent ·letters [greetings] and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah ·was [had been] sick. 13 Hezekiah ·listened to [received] the messengers, ·so [and] he showed them what was in his storehouses: the silver, gold, spices, ·expensive perfumes [precious oils], his ·swords and shields [armory], and all his ·wealth [treasures]. He showed them everything in his ·palace [L house] and his kingdom.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?”
Hezekiah said, “They came from a faraway country—from Babylon.”
15 So Isaiah asked him, “What did they see in your ·palace [L house]?”
Hezekiah said, “They saw everything in my ·palace [L house]. I showed them all my ·wealth [L treasuries; store houses].”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the words of the Lord: 17 ‘·In the future to you [The time/day is coming when] everything in your ·palace [L house] and everything your ·ancestors [fathers] have stored up until this day will be ·taken away [carried off] to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘Some of your own ·children [sons], those ·who will be born to you [you will father], will be taken away. And they will become ·servants [eunuchs] in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
19 Hezekiah told Isaiah, “These words from the Lord that you have spoken are good.” He said this because he thought, “Why not? There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
20 Everything else Hezekiah did—all his ·victories [achievements; power], his work on the pool, his work on the tunnel to bring water into the city—·is [L is it not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 1:18] of the kings of Judah. 21 Then Hezekiah ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors], and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Manasseh King of Judah(C)
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he ·was king [reigned] fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. He did the ·hateful things [detestable/abominable practices] the other nations had done—the nations that the Lord had ·forced [driven] out of the land ahead of the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel]. 3 Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah, had destroyed the ·places where gods were worshiped [L high places; 12:3], but Manasseh rebuilt them. He built altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah ·idol [pole; C a sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6] as Ahab king of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped all the ·stars of the sky [hosts of heaven] and served them. 4 The Lord had said about the ·Temple [L house], “I will ·be worshiped [L put my name] in Jerusalem,” but Manasseh built altars [C pagan] in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 5 He built altars to worship the ·stars [hosts of heaven] in the two courtyards of the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 6 He ·made his own son pass through fire [sacrificed his son in the fire; 16:3]. He practiced ·magic [sorcery; soothsaying] and ·told the future by explaining signs and dreams [divination], and he ·got advice from [consulted] mediums and ·fortune-tellers [psychics; spiritualists]. He did ·many things the Lord said were wrong [L much evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], which ·made the Lord angry [aroused/provoked the Lord to anger].
7 Manasseh carved an Asherah ·idol [pole; C a sacred tree or pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah; 13:6] and put it in the ·Temple [L house]. The Lord had said to David and his son Solomon about the ·Temple [L house], “I will ·be worshiped [L put my name] forever in this ·Temple [L house] and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel. 8 I will never again make the ·Israelites [L feet of Israel to] wander out of the land I gave their ·ancestors [fathers]. But they must ·obey [observe; do] everything I have commanded them and all the ·teachings [law; L torah] my servant Moses gave them.” 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel].
10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets, 11 “Manasseh king of Judah has done these ·hateful things [detestable/abominable practices]. He has done more ·evil [wickedness] than the Amorites before him. He also has led Judah to sin with his idols. 12 So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will bring ·so much trouble [such disaster/calamity] on Jerusalem and Judah that anyone who hears about it will ·be shocked [L have tingling ears]. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used for Samaria , and the plumb line used against Ahab’s ·family [L house] will be used on Jerusalem. I will wipe out Jerusalem as a person wipes a dish and turns it upside down. 14 I will ·throw away the rest of my people who are left [abandon/forsake/reject the remnant of my inheritance/heritage]. I will ·give them [hand them over; deliver them] to their enemies, and they will be ·robbed by all [the plunder and spoil of] their enemies, 15 because my people did ·what I said was wrong [L evil in my eyes/sight]. They have ·made me angry [aroused/provoked my anger] from the day their ·ancestors [fathers] left Egypt until ·now [today].’”
16 Manasseh also ·killed [murdered] many innocent people, filling Jerusalem from one end to the other with their blood. This was besides the sin he led Judah to do; he led Judah to do ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord].
17 The other things Manasseh did as king, even the sin he did, ·are [L are they not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 1:18] of the kings of Judah. 18 Manasseh ·died [L lay down/T slept with his fathers/ancestors] and was buried in the garden of his own ·palace [L house], the garden of Uzza. Then Manasseh’s son Amon became king in his place.
Amon King of Judah(D)
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was king for two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz, who was from Jotbah. 20 Amon did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord], as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He ·lived [followed; L walked] in the same way his father had ·lived [followed; L walked]: he ·worshiped [served] the idols his father had ·worshiped [served], and he ·bowed down before [worshiped] them. 22 Amon ·rejected [abandoned; forsook] the Lord, the God of his ·ancestors [fathers], and did not ·follow [walk in] the ways of the Lord.
23 Amon’s officers ·made plans [conspired; plotted] against him and killed him in his ·palace [L house]. 24 Then the people of the land killed all those who had ·made plans [conspired; plotted] to kill King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
25 Everything else Amon did ·is [L is it not…?] written in the book of the ·history [chronicles; annals; 1:18] of the kings of Judah. 26 He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.
Josiah King of Judah(E)
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ·ruled [reigned] thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah, who was from Bozkath. 2 Josiah did ·what the Lord said was right [L right in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. He ·lived [L walked] as his ·ancestor [father] David had ·lived [L walked], and he did not ·stop doing what was right [turn aside/deviate to the right or to the left].
3 In Josiah’s eighteenth year as king, he sent Shaphan to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, was the royal secretary. Josiah said, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him ·empty [count] out the money the ·gatekeepers [doorkeepers] have ·gathered [collected] from the people. This is the money they have brought into the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. 5 Have him ·give [entrust] the money to the supervisors of the work on the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. They must pay the workers who ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord— 6 the carpenters, builders, and ·bricklayers [masons]. Also use the money to buy timber and ·cut [finished; dressed] stone to ·repair [restore] the ·Temple [L house]. 7 They do not need to ·report [account for] how they use the money given to them, because they are working ·honestly [faithfully; conscientiously; 12:15].”
The Book of the Teachings Is Found
8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve found the Book of the ·Teachings [Law; L torah] in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
9 Then Shaphan the royal secretary went to the king and reported to Josiah, “Your ·officers [officials] have ·paid [emptied] out the money that was in the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. They have ·given [entrusted] it to the workers and supervisors at the ·Temple [L house].” 10 Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a ·book [scroll].” And Shaphan read from the ·book [scroll] to the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the ·Teachings [Law; L torah], he tore his clothes [C a sign of mourning or distress]. 12 He gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant. These were the orders: 13 “Go and ·ask [inquire of] the Lord about the words in the ·book [scroll] that was found. Ask for me, for all the people, and for all Judah. The Lord’s anger is burning ·greatly [fiercely] against us, because our ·ancestors [fathers] did not ·obey [listen to] the words of this ·book [scroll]; they did not do all the things written ·for us to do [concerning us].”
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who took care of the king’s ·clothes [wardrobe]. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the ·new area [New Quarter] of the city.
15 She said to them, “·This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says [T Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel]: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring ·trouble to [disaster/evil on] this place and to the people living here, ·as it is written [L in accordance with the words] in the ·book [scroll] which the king of Judah has read. 17 The people of Judah have ·left [abandoned; forsaken] me and have burned incense to other gods. They have ·made me angry [aroused/provoked me to anger] by all that they have done. My anger burns against this place, and it will not be ·put out [quenched].’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ·ask [seek; inquire of] the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: 19 When you heard ·my words [what I spoke] against this place and its people, ·you became sorry for what you had done [your heart was touched/responsive/penitent/tender] and humbled yourself before me. I said they would be cursed and ·would be destroyed [desolated]. You tore your clothes [C a sign of mourning or distress], and you ·cried in my presence [wept before me]. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. 20 So I will ·let you die [L gather you to your fathers/ancestors], and you will be ·buried [L gathered to your grave] in peace. You won’t see all the ·trouble [disaster; evil] I will bring to this place.’”
So they took her message back to the king.
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