Isaiah 39

¹²At 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.

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.

²³Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah, and from then on he was exalted in the eyes of all nations.

²And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

¹⁹And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.

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.

¹⁰he sent his son Joram to greet King David and bless him for fighting and defeating Hadadezer, who had been at war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver and gold and bronze,

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.

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.

³Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.

⁴When his spirit departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish.

²⁵if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much,

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

²⁷Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made treasuries for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuable articles.

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,

¹Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.

¹⁵Behold, I am bringing a distant nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord. “It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.

⁷At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

¹⁵Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”

¹This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,

²saying, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you and your officials and your people who enter these gates.

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

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.

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

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.”

¹⁶“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹³“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the Lord your God gave you; if you had, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

¹⁴But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler over His people, because you have not kept the command of the Lord.”

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.

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.

⁵I will give away all the wealth of this city—all its products and valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

²And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.

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.

¹In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

²And the Lord delivered into his hand Jehoiakim king of Judah, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He carried these off to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, where he put them in the treasury of his god.

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.

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.

²⁰Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

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

⁷And they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.

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.

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.

²⁸‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place and on its people.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.

⁶Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

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.”

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.”