Study Desk

About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, "The Lord tells you that you are to put everything in order, because you will not recover. Get ready to die."

I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David."

I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day."

"Go and consult the Lord for me and for all the people of Judah about the teachings of this book. The Lord is angry with us because our ancestors have not done what this book says must be done."

This happened at the Lord 's command, in order to banish the people of Judah from his sight because of all the sins that King Manasseh had committed,

and especially because of all the innocent people he had killed. The Lord could not forgive Manasseh for that.

The king of Egypt and his army never marched out of Egypt again, because the king of Babylonia now controlled all the territory that had belonged to Egypt, from the Euphrates River to the northern border of Egypt.

Then all the Israelites, rich and poor alike, together with the army officers, left and went to Egypt, because they were afraid of the Babylonians.

Eber had two sons; one was named Peleg, because during his time the people of the world were divided, and the other was named Joktan.

There was a man named Jabez, who was the most respected member of his family. His mother had given him the name Jabez, because his birth had been very painful.

The following men were the heads of their clans: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu (the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel), Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, Ziza (the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, a descendant of Jedaiah, Shimri, and Shemaiah). Because their families continued to grow,

In the time of King Hezekiah of Judah, the men named above went to Gerar and destroyed the tents and huts of the people who lived there. They drove the people out and settled there permanently because there was plenty of pasture for their sheep.

These are the descendants of Reuben, the oldest of Jacob's sons. (Because he had sex with one of his father's concubines, he lost the rights belonging to the first-born son, and those rights were given to Joseph.

They killed many of the enemy, because the war was God's will. And they went on living in that territory until the exile.

Then he had intercourse with his wife again, and she became pregnant and had a son. They named him Beriah, because of the trouble that had come to their family.

They lived near the Temple, because it was their duty to guard it and to open the gates every morning.

Some Levite families were responsible for the Temple music. The heads of these families lived in some of the Temple buildings and were free from other duties, because they were on call day and night.

Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord . He disobeyed the Lord 's commands; he tried to find guidance by consulting the spirits of the dead

Because David went to live in the fortress, it came to be called "David's City."

David grew stronger and stronger, because the Lord Almighty was with him.