2 Kings 20:12-21

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

12 ¹At that time ²Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, ³sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13 And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them ⁴all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, from Babylon."

15 He said, "What have they seen in your house?" And Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them."

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD:

17 Behold, the days are coming, when ⁵all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the LORD.

18 ⁶And some of your own sons, who shall be born to you, shall be taken away, ⁷and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

19 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, ⁸"The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?"

20 ⁹The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made ¹⁰the pool and the conduit ¹¹and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

21 ¹²And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

2 Kings 20:12-21 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.

Cross References

• 1. For ver. 12-19, see Isaiah 39:1-8
• 2. [Isaiah 39:1]
• 3. [2 Chronicles 32:31]
• 4. [2 Chronicles 32:27]
• 5. 2 Kings 24:13; Jeremiah 20:5; [2 Kings 25:13]; See Jeremiah 27:19-22
• 6. 2 Kings 24:12; 2 Chronicles 33:11
• 7. [Daniel 1:3]
• 8. 1 Samuel 3:18; [2 Chronicles 32:25, 26]
• 9. [2 Chronicles 32:32]
• 10. 2 Kings 18:17; Nehemiah 2:14; Nehemiah 3:16
• 11. 2 Chronicles 32:30; [Isaiah 22:9, 11]
• 12. 2 Chronicles 32:33