2 Kings 20

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

²⁴In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the Lord, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.

²⁵But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁷He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

⁴On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”

⁵And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.

²⁰Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

⁷At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

⁸But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.

¹⁵Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”

⁶But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

³⁰Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.

²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord,

³saying, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

¹⁴Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.

²²Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to Your abundant loving devotion.

³And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.

⁴He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

¹⁹Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.

³¹I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, with favor.

²¹Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,

²²and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.

⁸And the palace where Solomon would live, set further back, was of similar construction. He also made a palace like this hall for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married.

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went and spoke to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District.

¹⁹But God has surely heard; He has attended to the sound of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld from me His loving devotion!

⁵“Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

¹⁶“At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him ruler over My people Israel; he will save them from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”

¹²Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.

²⁰Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

⁵Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

³⁴I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”

²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord God of Hosts says: “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear Assyria, who strikes you with a rod and lifts his staff against you as the Egyptians did.

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

²²So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib of Assyria and all others, and He gave them rest on every side.

²¹Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

²⁰“Bring me a new bowl,” he replied, “and put some salt in it.” So they brought it to him,

²¹and Elisha went out to the spring, cast the salt into it, and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. No longer will it cause death or unfruitfulness.’”

⁴¹Then Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Pour it out for the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

¹¹“Ask for a sign from the Lord your God, whether from the depths of Sheol or the heights of heaven.”

¹⁷Gideon answered, “If I have found favor in Your sight, give me a sign that it is You speaking with me.

⁵“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the Lord.

²After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

²⁹And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

¹⁴Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.

⁷This will be a sign to you from the Lord that He will do what He has promised:

⁸I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.

¹Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.

²But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’

²⁹As the crowds were increasing, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

³⁰For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

¹¹Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.

¹²Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

¹⁰“You have requested a difficult thing,” said Elijah. “Nevertheless, if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be yours. But if not, then it will not be so.”

¹⁸This is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord, and He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.

¹²Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

⁶He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

²⁸After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”

⁸I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.

¹²On the day that the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

¹³So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”

²⁴In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the Lord, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.

⁴⁰Then Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down and prayed, and turning toward her body, he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up.

¹⁵Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.

²⁰Then he cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?”

²¹Then he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, “O Lord my God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”

³¹And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.

¹At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness and recovery.

²And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁰His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

⁹That is why it is called Babel, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.

⁴you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!

¹This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received:

²And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

⁵When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

²⁵But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.

¹⁵not including the revenue from the merchants, traders, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.

²⁵Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.

²⁰Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

¹⁸“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah or anyone else in Judah put him to death? Did Hezekiah not fear the Lord and seek His favor, and did not the Lord relent of the disaster He had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great harm on ourselves!”

⁹“Your servants have come from a very distant land,” they replied, “because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard the reports about Him: all that He did in Egypt,

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁸I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more.

⁵They are coming from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens—the Lord and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.

³Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”

⁴“What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

¹³And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

³³if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,

⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹³He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

¹⁹So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”

¹⁹Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.

¹Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”

¹⁶Now, therefore, hear the word of the Lord. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

¹³As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of the Lord and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord.

¹⁰In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the Lord. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.

²¹Yes, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the house of the Lord, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

²²‘They will be carried to Babylon and will remain there until the day I attend to them again,’ declares the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.’”

¹⁷Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the Lord, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon.

¹⁸They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.

¹³Moreover, the Chaldeans broke up the bronze pillars and stands and the bronze Sea in the house of the Lord, and they carried the bronze to Babylon.

¹⁴They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.

¹⁸who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord and of the king and his officials.

¹¹So the Lord brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

¹²Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.

³Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—

⁶The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.

¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him. “He is the Lord,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”

²¹saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

¹⁹“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

⁹I have become mute; I do not open my mouth because of what You have done.

³Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.

¹⁶Beyond him, Nehemiah son of Azbuk, ruler of a half-district of Beth-zur, made repairs up to a point opposite the tombs of David, as far as the artificial pool and the House of the Mighty.

³²As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of loving devotion, they are indeed written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

⁴Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.

³⁰It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.

⁹You saw that there were many breaches in the walls of the City of David. You collected water from the lower pool.

¹⁰You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall.

¹⁹As for the rest of the acts of Ahaz, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

³³And Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried in the upper tombs of David’s descendants. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. And his son Manasseh reigned in his place.

³¹And Rehoboam rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David; his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And his son Abijam reigned in his place.

¹⁸And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon reigned in his place.

²³And Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field of burial that belonged to the kings, for the people said, “He was a leper.” And his son Jotham reigned in his place.

¹⁰Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David.

⁴³And Solomon rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And his son Rehoboam reigned in his place.