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.’”
About this time Hezekiah fell very sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your affairs in order, because you are going to die. You won't recover.”
2 Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed,
When Hezekiah heard this, he went to pray privately 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.
“Please remember Lord how I have followed you faithfully with all my heart. I have done what is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah cried and cried.
4 Isaiah left the king, but before he had crossed the middle courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave him a message
Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke 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.
“Go back in and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, This is what the Lord, the God of your forefather David, says: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Look! I am going to heal you. In three days time you will go to the Lord's Temple.
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].’”
I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my 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.”
Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a dressing from figs.” Hezekiah's servants did so and put it on the skin sores, and Hezekiah got better.
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?”
Hezekiah had previously asked Isaiah, “What is the sign to confirm that the Lord is going heal me and that I will go to the Lord's Temple in three days time?”
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?”
Isaiah replied, “This is the sign from the Lord to you that the Lord will do what he promised: Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”
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.”
“It's easy enough for the shadow to go forward ten steps, but not to go back ten steps,” Hezekiah answered.
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).
So Isaiah the prophet asked the Lord, and he moved the shadow back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
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 the same time Merodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah was sick.
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.
Hezekiah welcomed the visitors and showed them everything in his treasury—all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the expensive oils. He also showed them his armory and all that he had in his storehouses. In fact there wasn't anything in his palace or in the whole of his kingdom that Hezekiah didn't show 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 went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did those men come from, and what did they tell you?” “They came from a long way away, from Babylon,” Hezekiah replied.
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.”
“What did they see in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They saw everything in my palace,” replied Hezekiah. “There wasn't anything in all my storehouses I didn't show them.”
16 [Isaiah knew that Hezekiah had done a very foolish thing]. So Isaiah said to him, “Listen to what Yahweh says to you.
Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Listen to what the Lord says:
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]
You can be certain that the time is coming when everything in your palace, and everything that your forefathers have saved up until now, will be taken away to Babylon. There will be nothing left, 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.”
Some of your sons, your own offspring, will be taken to serve as 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 message from the Lord that you have told me is fine.” For he said to himself, “Why not, if there'll be peace and safety in my lifetime.”
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’.
The rest of what happened in Hezekiah's reign, all he did, and how he made the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.
21 Later Hezekiah died [EUP], and his son Manasseh became the king.
Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
