2 Kings 20
20
King Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
(Is 38.1–8, 21–22; 2 Chr 32.24–26)
1About this time King Hezekiah fell ill 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.”
2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: 3“Remember, LORD, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly.
4Isaiah left the king, but before he had passed through the central courtyard of the palace the LORD told him 5to go back to Hezekiah, ruler of the LORD's people, and say to him, “I, the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and in three days you will go to the Temple. 6I will let you live fifteen years longer. I will rescue you and this city of Jerusalem from the emperor of Assyria. I will defend this city, for the sake of my own honour and because of the promise I made to my servant David.”
7Then Isaiah told the king's attendants to put on his boil a paste made of figs, and he would get well.#20.7 One ancient translation (and see Is 38.21) figs, and he would get well; Hebrew figs. They did so, and he got well. 8King Hezekiah asked, “What is the sign to prove that the LORD will heal me and that three days later I will be able to go to the Temple?”
9Isaiah replied, “The LORD will give you a sign to prove that he will keep his promise. Now, would you prefer the shadow on the stairway to go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”#20.9 stairway… steps… steps; or sundial… divisions… divisions.
10Hezekiah answered, “It's easy to make the shadow go forward ten steps!#20.10; 20.11 steps; or divisions. Make it go back ten steps.”#20.10; 20.11 steps; or divisions.
11Isaiah prayed to the LORD, and the LORD made the shadow go back ten steps#20.11; 20.10 steps; or divisions. on the stairway#20.11 stairway; or sundial. Archaeological evidence suggests that the stairway referred to in this passage was one specially constructed to tell the time. set up by King Ahaz.
Messengers from Babylonia
(Is 39.1–8)
12About that same time the king of Babylonia, Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, heard that King Hezekiah had been ill, so he sent him a letter and a present. 13Hezekiah welcomed the messengers and showed them his wealth — his silver and gold, his spices and perfumes, and all his military equipment. There was nothing in his storerooms or anywhere in his kingdom that he did not show them. 14Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”
Hezekiah answered, “They came from a very distant country, from Babylonia.”
15“What did they see in the palace?”
“They saw everything. There is nothing in the storerooms that I didn't show them.”
16Isaiah then said to the king, “The LORD Almighty says that 17#2 Kgs 24.13; 2 Chr 36.10a time is coming when everything in your palace, everything that your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be carried off to Babylonia. Nothing will be left. 18#2 Kgs 24.14–15; Dan 1.1–7Some of your own direct descendants will be taken away and made eunuchs to serve in the palace of the king of Babylonia.”
19King Hezekiah understood this to mean that there would be peace and security during his lifetime, so he replied, “The message you have given me from the LORD is good.”
The End of Hezekiah's Reign
(2 Chr 32.32–33)
20Everything else that King Hezekiah did, his brave deeds, and an account of how he built a reservoir and dug a tunnel to bring water into the city, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 21Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
2 Kings 20
20
Hezekiah's Sickness
1In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying, 3I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 5Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 6And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 7And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? 9And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. 11And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.
Letters from Babylon
12At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
Isaiah's Prophecy
14Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. 15And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
16And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD. 17Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 19Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
20And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 21And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
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