2 Kings 20

1 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.’”

In those days, Hezekiah was sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, came and said to him: “Thus says the Lord God: Instruct your house, for you will die, and not live.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed,

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

3 “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.

“I beg you, O Lord, I beseech you, remember how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and how I have done what is pleasing before you.” And then Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.

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

And before Isaiah departed from the middle part of the atrium, the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

5 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.

“Return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. And behold, I have healed you. On the third day, you shall ascend to the temple of the Lord.

6 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].’”

And I will add fifteen years to your days. Then too, I will free you and this city from the hand of the king of the Assyrians. And I will protect this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.”

7 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.”

And Isaiah said, “Bring me a mass of figs.” And when they had brought it, and they had placed it on his sore, he was healed.

8 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?”

But Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will ascend to the temple of the Lord on the third day?”

9 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?”

And Isaiah said to him: “This will be the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do the word that he has spoken: Do you wish that the shadow may ascend ten lines, or that it may turn back for the same number of degrees?”

10 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.”

And Hezekiah said: “It is easy for the shadow to increase for ten lines. And so I do not wish that this be done. Instead, let it turn back for ten degrees.”

11 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).

And so the prophet Isaiah called upon the Lord. And he led back the shadow, along the lines by which it had already descended on the sundial of Ahaz, in reverse for ten degrees.

12 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.

At that time, Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, the king of the Babylonians, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah. For he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill.

13 [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.

Now Hezekiah rejoiced at their arrival, and so he revealed to them the house of aromatic spices, and the gold and silver, and the various pigments and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all that he was able to have in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions, that Hezekiah did not show to them.

14 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.”

Then the prophet Isaiah came to king Hezekiah, and said to him: “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said to him, “They came to me from Babylon, from a far away land.”

15 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.”

And he responded, “What did they see in your house?” And Hezekiah said: “They saw all things whatsoever that are in my house. There is nothing in my treasuries that I did not show to them.”

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

And so Isaiah said to Hezekiah: “Listen to the word of the Lord.

17 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]

Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have stored up even to this day, will be carried away to Babylon. Nothing at all shall remain, says the Lord.

18 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.”

Then too, they will take from your sons, who will go forth from you, whom you will conceive. And they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

19 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.”

Hezekiah said to Isaiah: “The word of the Lord, which you have spoken, is good. Let peace and truth be in my days.”

20 [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’.

Now the rest of the words of Hezekiah, and all his strength, and how he made a pool, and an aqueduct, and how he brought waters into the city, have these not been written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Judah?

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

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