Study Desk

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the commander, "Please speak to us in Aramaic. We understand that language. Don't speak to us in the language of Judah because the people on the wall will understand you."

But the people were silent. They did not say a word to the commander, because King Hezekiah had commanded them, "Don't say anything to him."

That is because a few people will come out of Jerusalem alive. There will be survivors coming from Mount Zion. The strong love of the Lord All-Powerful will do this.

I will add 15 years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will protect this city. I will do this for myself and because of the promise I made to my servant David.'"

Then Hezekiah told Isaiah, "This message from the Lord is good." (Hezekiah said this because he thought, "There will be real peace and security during my lifetime.")

"King Manasseh of Judah has done these hated things and has done more evil than the Amorites before him. He also has caused Judah to sin because of his idols.

This is because my people did what I said was wrong. They have made me angry with them since the day their ancestors came up out of Egypt.

King Josiah said, "Go and ask the Lord what we should do. Ask for me, for the people, and for all Judah. Ask about the words of this book that was found. The Lord is angry with us, because our ancestors did not listen to the words of this book. They did not obey all the commands that were written for us."

The Lord commanded this to happen to Judah. In this way he would remove them from his sight. He did this because of all the sins that Manasseh committed.

He did this because Manasseh killed many innocent people and filled Jerusalem with their blood. The Lord would not forgive these sins.

Then the army officers and all the people ran away to Egypt. Everyone, from the least important to the most important, ran away because they were afraid of the Babylonians.

Eber had two sons. One son was named Peleg, because the people on the earth were divided into different languages during his lifetime. Peleg's brother was named Joktan.

Judah's sons were Er, Onan, and Shelah. Bathshua from Canaan was their mother. The Lord killed Er, the first son, because he saw that he was evil.

Jabez was a very good man, who was better than his brothers. His mother said, "I have named him Jabez because I was in much pain when I had him."

Meonothai was Ophrah's father. And Seraiah was Joab's father. Joab was the founder of the Ge Harashim. The people used that name because they were skilled workers.

This happened during the time that Hezekiah was king of Judah. These men came to Gedor and fought against the Hamites. They destroyed the tents of the Hamites. They also fought against the Meunites who lived there. These men destroyed all the Meunites. There are no Meunites in this place even today. So these men began to live there. They lived there because the land had grass for their sheep.

Bela's people lived to the east as far as the edge of the desert, near the Euphrates River. They lived there because they had many cattle in the land of Gilead.

The men from the tribes of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad prayed to God during the war. They asked God to help them because they trusted him, so God helped them. He allowed them to defeat the Hagrites and those who were with the Hagrites.

Many Hagrites were killed because God helped the people of Reuben win the war. Then the tribes of Manasseh, Reuben, and Gad settled in the land of the Hagrites. They lived there until the time when the Israelites were taken into captivity.

Their family history shows they had 36,000 soldiers ready for war. They had a large family because they had many wives and children.