2Kings 18
18Hezekiah son of Ahaz began to rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshea's reign in Israel.H7969H8141H1954H1121H425H4428H3478H2396H1121H271H4428H3063H44272He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.H6242H2568H8141H1121H4427H4427H6242H8672H8141H3389H517H8034H21H1323H21483He did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight, just as his ancestor David had done.H6213H3477H5869H3068H1732H1H62134He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan.H5493H1116H7665H4676H3772H842H3807H5178H5175H4872H6213H3117H1121H3478H6999H7121H51805Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.H982H3068H430H3478H310H4428H3063H64406He remained faithful to the LORD in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the LORD had given Moses.H1692H3068H5493H310H8104H4687H3068H6680H48727So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute.H3068H7919H3318H4775H4428H804H56478He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory, from their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.H5221H6430H5804H1366H4026H5341H4013H58929During the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea's reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege against it.H7243H8141H4428H2396H7637H8141H1954H1121H425H4428H3478H8022H4428H804H5927H8111H669610Three years later, during the sixth year of King Hezekiah's reign and the ninth year of King Hoshea's reign in Israel, Samaria fell.H7097H7969H8141H3920H8337H8141H2396H8672H8141H1954H4428H3478H8111H392011At that time the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.H4428H804H1540H3478H804H5148H2477H2249H5104H1470H5892H407412For they refused to listen to the LORD their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—all the laws that Moses the LORD's servant had commanded them to obey.H8085H6963H3068H430H5674H1285H4872H5650H3068H6680H8085H621313In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.H702H6240H8141H4428H2396H5576H4428H804H5927H1219H5892H3063H861014King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw." The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold.H2396H4428H3063H7971H4428H804H3923H559H2398H7725H5414H5375H4428H804H7760H2396H4428H3063H7969H3967H3603H3701H7970H3603H209115To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the LORD and in the palace treasury.H2396H5414H3701H4672H1004H3068H214H4428H100416Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the LORD's Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.H6256H2396H7112H1817H1964H3068H547H2396H4428H3063H6823H5414H4428H80417Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.H4428H804H7971H8661H7249H7262H3923H4428H2396H3515H2426H3389H5927H935H3389H5927H935H5975H8585H5945H1295H4546H3526H770418They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.H7121H4428H3318H471H1121H2518H1004H7644H5608H3098H1121H623H214219Then the Assyrian king's chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?H7262H559H559H2396H559H1419H4428H4428H804H986H98220Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?H559H8193H1697H6098H1369H4421H982H477521On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!H982H4938H7533H7070H4714H376H5564H935H3709H5344H6547H4428H4714H98222"But perhaps you will say to me, 'We are trusting in the LORD our God!' But isn't he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn't Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?H559H982H3068H430H1116H4196H2396H5493H559H3063H3389H7812H6440H4196H338923"I'll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!H6148H113H4428H804H5414H505H5483H3201H5414H739224With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master's troops, even with the help of Egypt's chariots and charioteers?H7725H6440H259H6346H6996H113H5650H982H4714H7393H657125What's more, do you think we have invaded your land without the LORD's direction? The LORD himself told us, 'Attack this land and destroy it!'"H5927H1107H3068H4725H7843H3068H559H5927H776H784326Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, "Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don't speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear."H559H471H1121H2518H7644H3098H7262H1696H5650H762H8085H1696H3066H241H5971H234627But Sennacherib's chief of staff replied, "Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine."H7262H559H113H7971H113H1696H1697H582H3427H2346H398H6675H2755H8354H4325H7272H789028Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, "Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!H7262H5975H7121H1419H6963H3066H1696H559H8085H1697H1419H4428H4428H80429This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you from my power.H559H4428H2396H5377H3201H5337H302730Don't let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, 'The LORD will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!'H2396H982H3068H559H3068H5337H5337H5892H5414H3027H4428H80431"Don't listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.H8085H2396H559H4428H804H6213H1293H3318H398H376H1612H376H8384H8354H376H4325H95332Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olive groves and honey. Choose life instead of death! "Don't listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us!'H935H3947H776H776H776H1715H8492H776H3899H3754H776H3323H2132H1706H2421H4191H8085H2396H5496H559H3068H533733Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?H376H430H1471H5337H5337H776H3027H4428H80434What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?H430H2574H774H430H5617H2012H5755H5337H8111H302735What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the LORD can rescue Jerusalem from me?"H430H776H5337H776H3027H3068H5337H3389H302736But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, "Do not answer him."H5971H2790H6030H1697H4428H4687H559H603037Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.H935H471H1121H2518H1004H7644H5608H3098H1121H623H2142H2396H899H7167H5046H1697H7262
2Kings 19
19When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on burlap and went into the Temple of the LORD.H4428H2396H8085H7167H899H3680H8242H935H1004H30682And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, all dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.H7971H471H1004H7644H5608H2205H3548H3680H8242H3470H5030H1121H5313They told him, "This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby.H559H559H2396H3117H3117H6869H8433H5007H1121H935H4866H3581H32054But perhaps the LORD your God has heard the Assyrian chief of staff, sent by the king to defy the living God, and will punish him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who are left!"H194H3068H430H8085H1697H7262H4428H804H113H7971H2778H2416H430H3198H1697H3068H430H8085H5375H8605H7611H46725After King Hezekiah's officials delivered the king's message to Isaiah,H5650H4428H2396H935H34706the prophet replied, "Say to your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king's messengers.H3470H559H559H113H559H3068H3372H6440H1697H8085H5288H4428H804H14427Listen! I myself will move against him, and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.'"H5414H7307H8085H8052H7725H776H5307H2719H7768Meanwhile, the Assyrian chief of staff left Jerusalem and went to consult the king of Assyria, who had left Lachish and was attacking Libnah.H7262H7725H4672H4428H804H3898H3841H8085H5265H39239Soon afterward King Sennacherib received word that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading an army to fight against him. Before leaving to meet the attack, he sent messengers back to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with this message.H8085H559H8640H4428H3568H3318H3898H7971H4397H7725H2396H55910"This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don't let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria.H559H2396H4428H3063H559H430H982H5377H559H3389H5414H3027H4428H80411You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different?H8085H4428H804H6213H776H2763H533712Have the gods of other nations rescued them—such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? My predecessors destroyed them all!H430H1471H5337H1H7843H1470H2771H7530H1121H5729H851513What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?"H4428H2574H4428H774H4428H5892H5617H2012H575514After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the LORD's Temple and spread it out before the LORD.H2396H3947H5612H3027H4397H7121H2396H5927H1004H3068H6566H6440H306815And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth.H2396H6419H6440H3068H559H3068H430H3478H3427H3742H430H4467H776H6213H8064H77616Bend down, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Listen to Sennacherib's words of defiance against the living God.H3068H5186H241H8085H6491H3068H5869H7200H8085H1697H5576H7971H2778H2416H43017"It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations.H551H3068H4428H804H2717H1471H77618And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands.H5414H430H784H430H4639H120H3027H6086H68H619Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O LORD, are God."H3068H430H3467H3027H4467H776H3045H3068H43020Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about King Sennacherib of Assyria.H3470H1121H531H7971H2396H559H559H3068H430H3478H6419H5576H4428H804H808521And the LORD has spoken this word against him: "The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs at you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head in derision as you flee.H1697H3068H1696H1330H1323H6726H959H3932H1323H3389H5128H7218H31022"Whom have you been defying and ridiculing? Against whom did you raise your voice? At whom did you look with such haughty eyes? It was the Holy One of Israel!H2778H1442H7311H6963H5375H5869H4791H6918H347823By your messengers you have defied the Lord. You have said, 'With my many chariots I have conquered the highest mountains—yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypress trees. I have reached its farthest corners and explored its deepest forests.H3027H4397H2778H136H559H7230H7393H7393H5927H4791H2022H3411H3844H3772H6967H730H4004H1265H935H4411H7093H3293H376024I have dug wells in many foreign lands and refreshed myself with their water. With the sole of my foot I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!'H6979H8354H2114H4325H3709H6471H2717H2975H469325"But have you not heard? I decided this long ago. Long ago I planned it, and now I am making it happen. I planned for you to crush fortified cities into heaps of rubble.H8085H7350H6213H6924H3117H3335H935H7582H1219H5892H5327H153026That is why their people have so little power and are so frightened and confused. They are as weak as grass, as easily trampled as tender green shoots. They are like grass sprouting on a housetop, scorched before it can grow lush and tall.H3427H7116H3027H2865H954H6212H7704H3419H1877H2682H1406H7711H6440H705427"But I know you well—where you stay and when you come and go. I know the way you have raged against me.H3045H3427H3318H935H726428And because of your raging against me and your arrogance, which I have heard for myself, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you return by the same road on which you came."H7264H7600H5927H241H7760H2397H639H4964H8193H7725H1870H93529Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Here is the proof that what I say is true: "This year you will eat only what grows up by itself, and next year you will eat what springs up from that. But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them; you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit.H226H398H8141H5599H8145H8141H7823H7992H8141H2232H7114H5193H3754H398H652930And you who are left in Judah, who have escaped the ravages of the siege, will put roots down in your own soil and will grow up and flourish.H7604H6413H1004H3063H3254H8328H4295H6213H6529H460531For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem, a group of survivors from Mount Zion. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven's Armies will make this happen!H3389H3318H7611H6413H2022H6726H7068H3068H6635H621332"And this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: "His armies will not enter Jerusalem. They will not even shoot an arrow at it. They will not march outside its gates with their shields nor build banks of earth against its walls.H559H3068H4428H804H935H5892H3384H2671H6923H4043H8210H555033The king will return to his own country by the same road on which he came. He will not enter this city, says the LORD.H1870H935H7725H935H5892H5002H306834For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it."H1598H5892H3467H5650H173235That night the angel of the LORD went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere.H3915H4397H3068H3318H5221H4264H804H3967H8084H2568H505H7925H1242H4191H629736Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.H5576H4428H804H5265H3212H7725H3427H521037One day while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria.H7812H1004H5268H430H152H8272H1121H5221H2719H4422H776H780H634H1121H4427
Psalms 106
106Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.H1984H3050H3034H3068H2896H2617H57692Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?H4448H1369H3068H8085H84163There is joy for those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.H835H8104H4941H6213H6666H62564Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people; come near and rescue me.H2142H3068H7522H5971H6485H34445Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.H7200H2896H972H8055H8057H1471H1984H51596Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!H2398H1H5753H75617Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.H1H7919H6381H4714H2142H7230H2617H4784H3220H5488H32208Even so, he saved them—to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power.H3467H8034H1369H30459He commanded the Red Sea to dry up. He led Israel across the sea as if it were a desert.H1605H5488H3220H2717H3212H8415H405710So he rescued them from their enemies and redeemed them from their foes.H3467H3027H8130H1350H3027H34111Then the water returned and covered their enemies; not one of them survived.H4325H3680H6862H259H349812Then his people believed his promises. Then they sang his praise.H539H1697H7891H841613Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! They wouldn’t wait for his counsel!H4116H7911H4639H2442H609814In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland.H183H8378H4057H5254H410H345215So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.H5414H7596H7971H7332H531516The people in the camp were jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.H7065H4872H4264H175H6918H306817Because of this, the earth opened up; it swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and the other rebels.H776H6605H1104H1885H3680H5712H4818Fire fell upon their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.H784H1197H5712H3852H3857H756319The people made a calf at Mount Sinai; they bowed before an image made of gold.H6213H5695H2722H7812H454120They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating bull.H4171H3519H8403H7794H398H621221They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt—H7911H410H3467H6213H1419H471422such wonderful things in the land of Ham, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.H6381H776H2526H3372H5488H322023So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the Lord and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.H559H8045H3884H4872H972H5975H6440H6556H7725H2534H784324The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.H3988H2532H776H539H169725Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the Lord.H7279H168H8085H6963H306826Therefore, he solemnly swore that he would kill them in the wilderness,H5375H3027H5307H405727that he would scatter their descendants among the nations, exiling them to distant lands.H5307H2233H1471H2219H77628Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!H6775H1187H398H2077H419129They angered the Lord with all these things, so a plague broke out among them.H3707H4611H4046H655530But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped.H5975H6372H6419H4046H611331So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.H2803H6666H1755H1755H5704H576932At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trouble.H7107H4325H4808H4809H3415H487233They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.H4784H7307H981H819334Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them.H8045H5971H3068H55935Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.H6148H1471H3925H463936They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall.H5647H6091H417037They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.H2076H1121H1323H770038They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.H8210H5355H1818H1818H1121H1323H2076H6091H3667H776H2610H181839They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.H2930H4639H2181H461140That is why the Lord’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.H639H3068H2734H5971H8581H515941He handed them over to pagan nations, and they were ruled by those who hated them.H5414H3027H1471H8130H491042Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power.H341H3905H3665H302743Again and again he rescued them, but they chose to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.H7227H6471H5337H4784H6098H4355H577144Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.H7200H6862H8085H744045He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.H2142H1285H5162H7230H261746He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.H5414H7356H6440H761747Save us, O Lord our God! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.H3467H3068H430H6908H1471H3034H6944H8034H7623H841648Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!H1288H3068H430H3478H5769H5769H5971H559H543H1984H3050
Dublin, OH
, the daughter of Zechariah.H6242
