2 Kings 20

1 In those days Ezechias was sick unto death: and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet came and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Give charge concerning thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live.

About that time, Hezekiah became very ill. [He thought that he] was about to die. Isaiah the prophet came to him and said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You should tell the people in your palace what you want them to do after you die, because you are not going to recover from this illness. You are going to die.’”

2 And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying:

Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed,

3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is pleasing before thee. And Ezechias wept with much weeping.

“Yahweh, do not forget that I have always served you faithfully, and I have done things that pleased you.” Then Hezekiah started to cry loudly.

4 And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

Isaiah left the king, but before he had crossed the middle courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave him a message

5 Go back, and tell Ezechias the captain of my people: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: and behold I have healed thee; on the third day thou shalt go up to the temple of the Lord.

which said, “Go back to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, and say to him, ‘I, Yahweh, the God whom your ancestor King David [worshiped], have heard what you prayed. And I have seen your tears. So, listen: I will heal you. Two days from now you will [be able to] go up to my temple.

6 And I will add to thy days fifteen years: and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect this city for my own sake, and for David my servant’s sake.

I will enable you to live for 15 more years. And I will rescue you and this city again from the power [MTY] of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well].’”

7 And Isaias said: Bring me a lump of figs. And when they had brought it, and laid it upon his boil. he was healed.

So Isaiah [returned to the palace and told Hezekiah what Yahweh had said. Then he] [to Hezekiah’s servants], “Bring a paste made of boiled figs. Put some of it on his boil, and he will get well.”

8 And Ezechias had said to Isaias: What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the temple of the Lord the third day?

Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “What will Yahweh do to prove that he will heal me and that two days from now I will be able to go up to the temple?”

9 And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken: Wilt thou that the shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees?

Isaiah replied, “Yahweh will do something that will prove to you that he will do what he promised. Do you want him to cause the shadow on the stairway/sundial to go back ten steps/degrees, or to go forward ten steps/degrees?”

10 And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the shadow to go forward ten lines: and I do not desire that this be done, but let it return back ten degrees.

Hezekiah replied, “It is easy to cause the shadow to move forward, [because that is what it always does]. Tell him to cause it to move backward ten steps/degrees.”

11 And Isaias the prophet called upon the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already gone down in the dial of Achaz.

So Isaiah prayed earnestly to Yahweh, and Yahweh caused the shadow to go backward ten steps/degrees on the stairway/sundial that King Ahaz had made (OR, that workers had built for King Ahaz).

12 At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.

At that time, King Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan the [previous] King of Babylonia, heard a report that King Hezekiah had been very sick. So he wrote some letters and gave them to some messengers to take to Hezekiah, along with a gift.

13 And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he showed them the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold and the silver, and divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all that he had in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions that Ezechias shewed them not.

[When the messengers arrived], Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. Then he showed them everything that was in his (treasure houses/places where very valuable things were stored)—the silver and gold, the spices, the nice-smelling olive oil, and all the weapons [for his soldiers]. He showed them all the [valuable] things in his storerooms and everywhere else in his kingdom [HYP]; he showed them everything.

14 And Isaias the prophet came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men? or from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said to him: From a far country they came to me out of Babylon.

Then the prophet Isaiah went to Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country very far from here. They came from Babylonia.”

15 And he said: What did they see in thy house? Ezechias said: They saw all the things that are in my house: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewn them.

Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They saw everything. I showed them absolutely everything that I own—all my valuable things.”

16 And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord.

[Isaiah knew that Hezekiah had done a very foolish thing]. So Isaiah said to him, “Listen to what Yahweh says to you.

17 Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

There will be a time when everything that is still in your palace, all the valuable things that were put there by you and your ancestors, will be carried away to Babylon. There will be nothing left here! [That is what] Yahweh says [to you]

18 And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Furthermore, some of your own descendants will be forced to go there, and they will be castrated in order that they may become servants in the palace of the King of Babylon.”

19 Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which thou hast spoken, is good: let peace and truth be in my days.

Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “That message from Yahweh that you have given to me is good.” He said that because he was thinking, “Even if that happens, there will be peace and security [in Israel] all the rest of my life.”

20 And the rest of the acts of Ezechias and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought waters into the city, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

[If you want to know more about] [RHQ] all the other things that Hezekiah did, about his brave deeds in battle, about his ordering a reservoir to be built in the city and a tunnel [to be dug] to bring water into the reservoir, they are all written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

21 And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses his son reigned in his stead.

Later Hezekiah died [EUP], and his son Manasseh became the king.