2 Kings 20:11-21

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.

2 Kings 20:11-21 Meaning and Commentary

In this chapter is an account of Hezekiah's sickness, and of the means of his recovery, and of the sign given of it, 2 Kings 20:1 of the king of Babylon's congratulatory letter to him upon it, when he showed to the messengers that brought it his treasures, in the pride and vanity of his heart, 2 Kings 20:12 for which he was reproved by the prophet Isaiah, and was humbled, and submitted to the sentence pronounced on his house, 2 Kings 20:14, and the chapter is concluded with his reign and death, 2 Kings 20:20.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.