1    ^noteAfter these events and this example of loyal conduct, Sennacherib king of Assyria invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, believing that he could attach them to himself. 2   When Hezekiah saw that he had come and was determined to attack Jerusalem, 3   he consulted his civil and military officers about blocking up the springs outside the city; and they encouraged him. 4   They gathered together a large number of people and blocked up all the springs and the stream which flowed through the land. ‘Why’, they said, ‘should Assyrian kings come here and find plenty of water?’ 5   Then the king acted boldly; he made good every breach in the city wall and erected towers on it; ^note he built another wall outside it and strengthened the Millo of the city of David; he also collected a great quantity of weapons and shields. 6   He appointed military commanders over the people and assembled them in the square by the city gate and spoke encouragingly to them in these words: 7   ‘Be strong; be brave. Do not let the king of Assyria or the rabble he has brought with him strike terror or panic into your hearts. We have more on our side than he has. 8   He has human strength; but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.’ So spoke Hezekiah king of Judah, and the people were buoyed up by his words.

The kings from Hezekiah to the exile

9   After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, while he and his high command were at Lachish, sent envoys to Jerusalem to deliver this message to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the Judaeans in Jerusalem: ‘Sennacherib king of Assyria says, 10   “What gives you confidence to stay in Jerusalem under siege? 11   Hezekiah is misleading you into risking death by famine or thirst where you are, when he tells you that the Lord your God will save you from the grip of the Assyrian king. 12   Was it not Hezekiah himself who suppressed the Lord's hill-shrines and altars and told the people of Judah and Jerusalem that they must prostrate themselves before one altar only and burn sacrifices there? 13   You know very well what I and my forefathers have done to all the peoples of the lands. Were the gods of these nations able to save their lands from me? 14   Not one of the gods of these nations, which my forefathers exterminated, was able to save his people from me. Much less will your god save you! 15   How, then, can Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this? How can you believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from me or my forefathers? Much less will your gods save you ^note!”’

16   The envoys of Sennacherib spoke still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17   And the king himself wrote a letter to defy the Lord the God of Israel, in these terms: ‘Just as the gods of other nations could not save their people from me, so the god of Hezekiah will not save his people from me.’ 18   Then they shouted in Hebrew at the top of their voices at the people of Jerusalem on the wall, to strike them with fear and terror, hoping thus to capture the city. 19   They described the god ^note of Jerusalem as being like the gods of the other peoples of the earth—things made by the hands of men.

20    ^noteIn this plight King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried to heaven in prayer. 21   So the Lord sent an angel who cut down all the fighting men, as well as the leaders and the commanders, in the camp of the king of Assyria, so that he went home disgraced to his own land. When he entered the temple of his god, certain of his own sons struck him down with their swords.

22   Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from Sennacherib king of Assyria and all their enemies; and he gave them respite on every side. 23   Many people brought to Jerusalem offerings for the Lord and costly gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was held in high honour by all the nations.

24   About this time Hezekiah fell dangerously ill and prayed to the Lord; the Lord said, ‘I will heal you’, ^note and granted him a sign. 25   But, being a proud man, he was not grateful for the good done to him,

The kings from Hezekiah to the exile and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it. 26   Then, proud as he was, Hezekiah submitted, and the people of Jerusalem with him, and the Lord's anger did not fall on them again in Hezekiah's time.

27   Hezekiah enjoyed great wealth and fame. ^noteHe built for himself treasuries for silver and gold, precious stones and spices, shields and other costly things; 28   and barns for the harvests of corn, new wine, and oil; and stalls for every kind of cattle, as well as sheepfolds. ^note 29   He amassed ^note a great many flocks and herds; God had indeed given him vast riches. 30   It was this same Hezekiah who blocked the upper outflow of the waters of Gihon and directed them downwards and westwards to the city of David. In fact, Hezekiah was successful in everything he attempted, 31   even in the affair of the envoys sent by the king ^note of Babylon—the envoys who came to inquire about the portent which had been seen in the land at the time when God left him to himself, to test him and to discover all that was in his heart.

32   The other events of Hezekiah's reign, and his works of piety, are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz and ^note in the annals of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33   So Hezekiah rested with his forefathers and was buried in the uppermost of the graves of David's sons; all Judah and the people of Jerusalem paid him honour when he died, and he was succeeded by his son Manasseh.

Previous section

Next section