1
After these things and
after this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities and thought to break them up.
2
And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,
3
he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which
were outside the city, and they helped him.
4
So many people gathered together, and they stopped up all the fountains and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?
5
Also he strengthened himself and built up all the wall that was broken and caused the towers to be raised up, and another wall outside, and repaired Millo
in the city of David, and made swords and shields in abundance.
6
And he set captains of war over the people and gathered them together to him in the plaza of the gate of the city and spoke unto their heart, saying,
7
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria nor for all the multitude that
is with him, for
there are more with us than with him.
8
With him
is an arm of flesh, but with us
is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people were upheld by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
9
After this Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent his slaves to Jerusalem (but he
himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that
were at Jerusalem, saying,
10
Thus hath said Sennacherib, king of Assyria, In whom do ye trust that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?
11
Does not Hezekiah deceive you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
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Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar and burn incense upon it?
13
Have ye not known what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of
other lands? Could peradventure the gods of the Gentiles of those lands deliver their lands out of my hand?
14
Who
was there among all the gods of those Gentiles that my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people out of my hands? Why should your God be able to deliver you out of my hand?
15
Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you nor persuade you in this matter neither believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hands and out of the hands of my fathers; how much less shall your God deliver you out of my hand?
16
And his slaves spoke yet
more against the LORD God and against his slave Hezekiah.
17
In addition to this, he wrote letters that blasphemed the LORD God of Israel and spoke against him, saying, As the gods of the Gentiles of
other lands could not deliver their people out of my hand, neither shall the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of my hand.
18
Then they cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ speech unto the people of Jerusalem that
were on the wall, to make them afraid and to trouble them, that they might take the city.
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And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the earth,
which were the work of the hands of man.
20
And for this
cause Hezekiah, the king, and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
21
And the LORD sent an angel who cut off all the mighty men of valour and the captains and the princes in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And as he entered into the house of his god, those that had come forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
22
Thus, the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hands of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and from the hands of all
others and guided them concerning everything.
23
And many brought a present unto the LORD to Jerusalem and precious gifts unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, so that he was magnified in the sight of all the Gentiles from then on.
24
In those days Hezekiah was sick unto the death and prayed to the LORD, who responded to him and gave him a sign.
25
But Hezekiah did not render again according to the benefit
done unto him, for his heart lifted itself up; therefore there was wrath against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.
26
Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart,
both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
27
And Hezekiah had exceedingly great riches and honour, and he made himself treasures of silver and of gold and of precious stones and of spices and of shields and of all manner of pleasant vessels,
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storehouses also for the increase of grain and wine and oil and stalls for all manner of beasts and places for cattle.
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Moreover, he made himself cities and possessions of sheep and cows in abundance, for God had given him great substance.
30
This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah was prospered in all that he did.
31
However, because of the ambassadors {Heb. scorners} of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all
that was in his heart.
32
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his mercy, behold, they
are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz,
and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.
33
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh, his son, reigned in his stead.