Study Desk

Now it came about ^(a)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(b)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.

He was ^(c)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.

^(d)He did right in the sight of the Lord , according to all that his father David had done.

^(e)He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the ^[a]Asherah. He also broke in pieces ^(f)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called ^[b]Nehushtan.

^(g)He trusted in the Lord , the God of Israel; ^(h)so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.

For he ⁽ⁱ⁾clung to the Lord ; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

^(j)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^(k)he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

^(l)He ^[c]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(m)watchtower to fortified city.

Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ⁽ⁿ⁾Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.

At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(o)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured.

Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(p)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

because they ^(q)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

^(r)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "^(s)I have done wrong. ^[d]Withdraw from me; whatever you ^[e]impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria ^[f]required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

^(t)Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord , and in the treasuries of the king's house.

At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord , and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Then the king of Assyria sent ^(u)Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(v)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^[g]fuller's field.

When they called to the king, ^(w)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(x)Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

Then Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, "^(y)What is this confidence that you ^[h]have?

You say (but they are ^[i]only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.' Now on whom do you rely, ^(z)that you have rebelled against me?

Now behold, you ^[j](aa)rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[k]hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,' is it not He whose high places and ^(ab)whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?

Now therefore, ^[l]come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

How then can you ^[m]repulse one ^[n]official of the least of my master's servants, and ^[o]rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Have I now come up ^[p]without the Lord's approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'"

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, "Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ^[q]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[r](ac)Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?"

Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ^[s]saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Thus says the king, ‘^(ad)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ^[t]my hand;

nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord , saying, "The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, "^[u]Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^(ae)each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,

until I come and take you away ^(af)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die." But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, "The Lord will deliver us."

^(ag)Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

^(ah)Where are the gods of Hamath and ^(ai)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and ^[v](aj)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

Who among all the gods of the lands ^[w]have delivered their land from my hand, ^(ak)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'"

But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him."

Then ^(al)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(am)with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

^(a)And when King Hezekiah heard it, he ^(b)tore his clothes, ^(c)covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord .

Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(d)covered with sackcloth, to ^(e)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.

^(f)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(g)to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(h)the remnant that is left.'"

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord , "Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ⁽ⁱ⁾servants of the king of Assyria ^(j)have blasphemed Me.

Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^(k)he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ^(l)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land."'"

Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(m)Libnah, for he had heard that ^[a]the king had left ⁽ⁿ⁾Lachish.

When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ^[b]Cush, "Behold, he has come out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying,

"Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[c]Judah, ‘Do not ^(o)let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, "^(p)Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be ^[d]spared?

^(q)Did the gods of ^[e]those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even ^(r)Gozan and ^(s)Haran and Rezeph and ^(t)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

^(u)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?'"

Then ^(v)Hezekiah took the ^[f]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[g]spread it out before the Lord .

Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, "O Lord , the God of Israel, ^(w)who are ^[h]enthroned above the cherubim, ^(x)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

^(y)Incline Your ear, O Lord , and hear; ^(z)open Your eyes, O Lord , and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(aa)to reproach the living God.

Truly, O Lord , the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands

and have cast their gods into the fire, ^(ab)for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand ^(ac)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O ^(ad) Lord , are God."

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^(ae)I have heard you.'

This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She has despised you and mocked you, ^(af)The virgin daughter of Zion; She ^(ag)has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem!

‘Whom have you ^(ah)reproached and ^(ai)blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And ^[i]haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the ^(aj)Holy One of Israel!

‘^(ak)Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, "With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I ^[j]cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I ^[k]entered its farthest lodging place, its ^(al)thickest forest.

"I dug wells and drank foreign waters, And with the sole of my feet I ^[l](am)dried up All the rivers of ^[m]Egypt."

‘^(an)Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. ^(ao)Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were ^(ap)as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

‘But ^(aq)I know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me.

‘Because of your raging against Me, And because your ^[n]arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I ^(ar)will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And ^(as)I will turn you back by the way which you came.

‘Then this shall be ^(at)the sign for you: ^[o]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

^(au)The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and ^(av)out of Mount Zion ^[p]survivors. ^(aw)The zeal of ^[q]the Lord will perform this.

‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, "^(ax)He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it.

^(ay)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,"' declares the Lord .

‘^(az)For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and ^(ba)for My servant David's sake.'"

^(bb)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when ^[r]men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were ^[s]dead.

So ^(bc)Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at ^(bd)Nineveh.

It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[t](be)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into ^(bf)the land of Ararat. And ^(bg)Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

^(a)In those days Hezekiah became ^[a]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord , ‘^(b)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'"

Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord , saying,

"^(c)Remember now, O Lord , I beseech You, ^(d)how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight." And ^(e)Hezekiah wept ^[b]bitterly.

Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

"Return and say to ^(f)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of your father David, "^(g)I have heard your prayer, ^(h)I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord .

I will add fifteen years to your ^[c]life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ⁽ⁱ⁾I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake."'"

Then Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs." And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?"

Isaiah said, "^(j)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord , that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?"

So Hezekiah ^[d]answered, "It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps."

Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord , and ^(k)He brought the shadow on the ^[e]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[f]stairway of Ahaz.

^(l)At that time ^[g]Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them ^(m)all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, from Babylon."

He said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah ^[h]answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them."

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord .

‘Behold, the days are coming when ⁽ⁿ⁾all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the Lord .

‘Some ^(o)of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become ^(p)officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord which you have spoken is ^(q)good." For he ^[i]thought, "Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?"

^(r)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^(s)made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

^(t)So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.