2 Kings 20; 2 Kings 21; 2 Kings 22

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2 Kings 20

1 At that time Hezekiah became so sick he almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, "This is what the Lord says: Make arrangements because you are not going to live, but die."
2 Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed to the Lord,
3 "Lord, please remember that I have always obeyed you. I have given myself completely to you and have done what you said was right." Then Hezekiah cried loudly.
4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke his word to Isaiah:
5 "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: 'This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, so I will heal you. Three days from now you will go up to the Temple of the Lord.
6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria; I will protect the city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"
7 Then Isaiah said, "Make a paste from figs." So they made it and put it on Hezekiah's boil, and he got well.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Temple of the Lord on the third day?"
9 Isaiah said, "The Lord will do what he says. This is the sign from the Lord to show you: Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or back ten steps?"
10 Hezekiah answered, "It's easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps. Instead, let it go back ten steps."
11 Then Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten steps back up the stairway of Ahaz that it had gone down.
12 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan was king of Babylon. He sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah was sick.
13 Hezekiah listened to the messengers, so he showed them what was in his storehouses: the silver, gold, spices, expensive perfumes, his swords and shields, and all his wealth. He showed them everything in his palace and his kingdom.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men say? Where did they come from?" Hezekiah said, "They came from a faraway country -- from Babylon."
15 So Isaiah asked him, "What did they see in your palace?" Hezekiah said, "They saw everything in my palace. I showed them all my wealth."
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Listen to the words of the Lord:
17 'In the future everything in your palace and everything your ancestors have stored up until this day will be taken away to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says the Lord.
18 'Some of your own children, those who will be born to you, will be taken away. And they will become servants in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"
19 Hezekiah told Isaiah, "These words from the Lord are good." He said this because he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."
20 Everything else Hezekiah did -- all his victories, his work on the pool, his work on the tunnel to bring water into the city -- is written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.
21 Then Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he was king fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.
2 He did what the Lord said was wrong. He did the hateful things the other nations had done -- the nations that the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of the Israelites.
3 Manasseh's father, Hezekiah, had destroyed the places where gods were worshiped, but Manasseh rebuilt them. He built altars for Baal, and he made an Asherah idol as Ahab king of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped all the stars of the sky and served them.
4 The Lord had said about the Temple, "I will be worshiped in Jerusalem," but Manasseh built altars in the Temple of the Lord.
5 He built altars to worship the stars in the two courtyards of the Temple of the Lord.
6 He made his own son pass through fire. He practiced magic and told the future by explaining signs and dreams, and he got advice from mediums and fortune-tellers. He did many things the Lord said were wrong, which made the Lord angry.
7 Manasseh carved an Asherah idol and put it in the Temple. The Lord had said to David and his son Solomon about the Temple, "I will be worshiped forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.
8 I will never again make the Israelites wander out of the land I gave their ancestors. But they must obey everything I have commanded them and all the teachings my servant Moses gave them."
9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed ahead of the Israelites.
10 The Lord said through his servants the prophets,
11 "Manasseh king of Judah has done these hateful things. He has done more evil than the Amorites before him. He also has led Judah to sin with his idols.
12 So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I will bring so much trouble on Jerusalem and Judah that anyone who hears about it will be shocked.
13 I will stretch the measuring line of Samaria over Jerusalem, and the plumb line used against Ahab's family will be used on Jerusalem. I will wipe out Jerusalem as a person wipes a dish and turns it upside down.
14 I will throw away the rest of my people who are left. I will give them to their enemies, and they will be robbed by all their enemies,
15 because my people did what I said was wrong. They have made me angry from the day their ancestors left Egypt until now.'"
16 Manasseh also killed many innocent people, filling Jerusalem from one end to the other with their blood. This was besides the sin he led Judah to do; he led Judah to do what the Lord said was wrong.
17 The other things Manasseh did as king, even the sin he did, are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.
18 Manasseh died and was buried in the garden of his own palace, the garden of Uzza. Then Manasseh's son Amon became king in his place.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he was king for two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz, who was from Jotbah.
20 Amon did what the Lord said was wrong, as his father Manasseh had done.
21 He lived in the same way his father had lived: he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped, and he bowed down before them.
22 Amon rejected the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not follow the ways of the Lord.
23 Amon's officers made plans against him and killed him in his palace.
24 Then the people of the land killed all those who had made plans to kill King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.
25 Everything else Amon did is written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.
26 He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2 Kings 22

1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ruled thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah, who was from Bozkath.
2 Josiah did what the Lord said was right. He lived as his ancestor David had lived, and he did not stop doing what was right.
3 In Josiah's eighteenth year as king, he sent Shaphan to the Temple of the Lord. Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, was the royal secretary. Josiah said,
4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him empty out the money the gatekeepers have gathered from the people. This is the money they have brought into the Temple of the Lord.
5 Have him give the money to the supervisors of the work on the Temple of the Lord. They must pay the workers who repair the Temple of the Lord --
6 the carpenters, builders, and bricklayers. Also use the money to buy timber and cut stone to repair the Temple.
7 They do not need to report how they use the money given to them, because they are working honestly."
8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the royal secretary, "I've found the Book of the Teachings in the Temple of the Lord." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it.
9 Then Shaphan the royal secretary went to the king and reported to Josiah, "Your officers have paid out the money that was in the Temple of the Lord. They have given it to the workers and supervisors at the Temple."
10 Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from the book to the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Teachings, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was.
12 He gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the royal secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant. These were the orders:
13 "Go and ask the Lord about the words in the book that was found. Ask for me, for all the people, and for all Judah. The Lord's anger is burning against us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book; they did not do all the things written for us to do."
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who took care of the king's clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.
15 She said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me,
16 'This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here, as it is written in the book which the king of Judah has read.
17 The people of Judah have left me and have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all that they have done. My anger burns against this place like a fire, and it will not be put out.'
18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the Lord, 'This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard:
19 When you heard my words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done and humbled yourself before me. I said they would be cursed and would be destroyed. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were, and you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord.
20 So I will let you die, and you will be buried in peace. You won't see all the trouble I will bring to this place.'" So they took her message back to the king.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.