2 Paralipomenon 32
32
1After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them.
2And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,
3He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city. And as they were all of this mind,
4He gathered together a very great multitude and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and find abundance of water.
5He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without. And he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields.
6And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army. And he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying:
7Behave like men, and take courage: Be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: For there are many more with us than with him.
8For with him is an arm of flesh: with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and fighteth for us. And the people were encouraged with these words of Ezechias king of Juda.
9After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants to Jerusalem (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis), to Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city, saying:
10Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem?
11Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by hunger and thirst, affirming that the Lord your God shall deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
12Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying: You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense?
13Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the lands? Have the gods of any nations and lands been able to deliver their country out of my hand?
14Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand?
15Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand.
16And many other things did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant.
17He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the God of Israel. And he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand.
18Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews' tongue, to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten them, and take the city.
19And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men.
20And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the prophet, the son of Amos, prayed against this blasphemy, and cried out to heaven.
21And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the stout men and the warriors, and the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians. And he returned with disgrace into his own country. And when he was come into the house of his god, his sons that came out of his bowels slew him with the sword.
22And the Lord saved Ezechias and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of the hand of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and out of the hand of all, and gave them treasures on every side.
23Many also brought victims, and sacrifices to the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Ezechias king of Juda. And he was magnified thenceforth in the sight of all nations.
24In those days Ezechias was sick even to death; and he prayed to the Lord. And he heard him, and gave him a sign.
25But he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up: and wrath was enkindled against him, and against Juda and Jerusalem.
26And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Ezechias.
27And Ezechias was rich, and very glorious; and he gathered himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of spices, and of arms of all kinds, and of vessels of great price.
28Storehouses also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all beasts, and folds for cattle.
29And he built himself cities. For he had flocks of sheep, and herds without number: for the Lord had given him very much substance.
30This same Ezechias was he that stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the west of the city of David. In all his works he did prosperously what he would.
31But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be made known that were in his heart.
32Now the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and of his mercies, are written in the vision of Isais the son of Amos the prophet and in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
33And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and they buried him above the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral. And Manasses his son reigned in his stead.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
2 Chronicles 32
32
1And then, after this exemplary track record, this: Sennacherib king of Assyria came and attacked Judah. He put the fortified cities under siege, determined to take them.
2-4When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib’s strategy was to take Jerusalem, he talked to his advisors and military leaders about eliminating all the water supplies outside the city; they thought it was a good idea. There was a great turnout of people to plug the springs and tear down the aqueduct. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria march in and be furnished with running water?”
5-6a Hezekiah also went to work repairing every part of the city wall that was damaged, built defensive towers on it, built another wall of defense further out, and reinforced the defensive rampart (the Millo) of the old City of David. He also built up a large store of armaments—spears and shields. He then appointed military officers to be responsible for the people and got them all together at the public square in front of the city gate.
6b-8 Hezekiah rallied the people, saying, “Be strong! Take courage! Don’t be intimidated by the king of Assyria and his troops—there are more on our side than on their side. He only has a bunch of mere men; we have our God to help us and fight for us!”
Morale surged. Hezekiah’s words put steel in their spines.
9-15Later on, Sennacherib, who had set up camp a few miles away at Lachish, sent messengers to Jerusalem, addressing Judah through Hezekiah: “A proclamation of Sennacherib king of Assyria: You poor people—do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid—Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying—you’re all going to end up dead. Wasn’t it Hezekiah who cleared out all the neighborhood worship shrines and told you, ‘There is only one legitimate place to worship’? Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him. No god of any country or kingdom ever has been one bit of help against me or my ancestors—what kind of odds does that give your god?”
16The messengers felt free to throw in their personal comments, putting down both God and God’s servant Hezekiah.
17Sennacherib continued to send letters insulting the God of Israel: “The gods of the nations were powerless to help their people; the god of Hezekiah is no better, probably worse.”
18-19The messengers would come up to the wall of Jerusalem and shout up to the people standing on the wall, shouting their propaganda in Hebrew, trying to scare them into demoralized submission. They contemptuously lumped the God of Jerusalem in with the handmade gods of other peoples.
20-21King Hezekiah, joined by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, responded by praying, calling up to heaven. God answered by sending an angel who wiped out everyone in the Assyrian camp, both warriors and officers. Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace, tail between his legs. When he went into the temple of his god, his own sons killed him.
22-23 God saved Hezekiah and the citizens of Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and everyone else. And he continued to take good care of them. People streamed into Jerusalem bringing offerings for the worship of God and expensive presents to Hezekiah king of Judah. All the surrounding nations were impressed—Hezekiah’s stock soared.
* * *
24Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to God and was given a reassuring sign.
25-26But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah, and Jerusalem with him, repented of his arrogance, and God withdrew his anger while Hezekiah lived.
27-31Hezekiah ended up very wealthy and much honored. He built treasuries for all his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and valuables, barns for the grain, new wine, and olive oil, stalls for his various breeds of cattle, and pens for his flocks. He founded royal cities for himself and built up huge stocks of sheep and cattle. God saw to it that he was extravagantly rich. Hezekiah was also responsible for diverting the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and rerouting the water to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did. But when the rulers of Babylon sent emissaries to find out about the sign from God that had taken place earlier, God left him on his own to see what he would do; he wanted to test his heart.
* * *
32-33The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his life of loyal service, you can read for yourself—it’s written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Judah and Israel. When Hezekiah died, they buried him in the upper part of the King David cemetery. Everyone in Judah and Jerusalem came to the funeral. He was buried in great honor.
Manasseh his son was the next king.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.