One Story That Leads to Jesus, Day 107
2Kings 20
20About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: "This is what the LORD says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness."H3117H2396H2470H4191H5030H3470H1121H531H935H559H559H3068H1004H6680H4191H24212When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,H5437H6440H7023H6419H3068H5593"Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you." Then he broke down and wept bitterly.H577H3068H2142H1980H6440H571H8003H3824H6213H2896H5869H2396H1058H1065H14194But before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, this message came to him from the LORD.H3470H3318H8484H2691H5892H1697H3068H5595"Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the LORD.H7725H559H2396H5057H5971H559H3068H430H1732H1H8085H8605H7200H1832H7495H7992H3117H5927H1004H30686I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David.'"H3254H3117H2568H6240H8141H5337H5892H3709H4428H804H1598H5892H5650H17327Then Isaiah said, "Make an ointment from figs." So Hezekiah's servants spread the ointment over the boil, and Hezekiah recovered!H3470H559H3947H1690H8384H3947H7760H7822H24218Meanwhile, Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, "What sign will the LORD give to prove that he will heal me and that I will go to the Temple of the LORD three days from now?"H2396H559H3470H226H3068H7495H5927H1004H3068H7992H31179Isaiah replied, "This is the sign from the LORD to prove that he will do as he promised. Would you like the shadow on the sundial to go forward ten steps or backward ten steps?"H3470H559H226H3068H3068H6213H1697H1696H6738H1980H6235H4609H7725H6235H460910"The shadow always moves forward," Hezekiah replied, "so that would be easy. Make it go ten steps backward instead."H3169H559H7043H6738H5186H6235H4609H6738H7725H322H6235H460911So Isaiah the prophet asked the LORD to do this, and he caused the shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz!H3470H5030H7121H3068H7725H6738H6235H4609H322H4609H3381H4609H27112Soon after this, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent Hezekiah his best wishes and a gift, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick.H6256H1255H1121H1081H4428H894H7971H5612H4503H2396H8085H2396H247013Hezekiah received the Babylonian envoys and showed them everything in his treasure-houses—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the aromatic oils. He also took them to see his armory and showed them everything in his royal treasuries! There was nothing in his palace or kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.H2396H8085H7200H1004H5238H3701H2091H1314H2896H8081H1004H3627H4672H214H1697H1004H4475H2396H720014Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did those men want? Where were they from?" Hezekiah replied, "They came from the distant land of Babylon."H935H3470H5030H4428H2396H559H559H582H370H935H2396H559H935H7350H776H89415"What did they see in your palace?" Isaiah asked."They saw everything," Hezekiah replied. "I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries."H559H7200H1004H2396H559H1004H7200H1697H214H720016Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Listen to this message from the LORD.H3470H559H2396H8085H1697H306817The time is coming when everything in your palace—all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.H3117H935H1004H1H686H3117H5375H894H1697H3498H559H306818Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon's king."H1121H3318H3205H3947H5631H1964H4428H89419Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "This message you have given me from the LORD is good." For the king was thinking, "At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime."H559H2396H3470H2896H1697H3068H1696H559H7965H571H311720The rest of the events in Hezekiah's reign, including the extent of his power and how he built a pool and dug a tunnel to bring water into the city, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H2396H1369H6213H1295H8585H935H4325H5892H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H306321Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh became the next king.H2396H7901H1H4519H1121H4427
2Kings 21
21Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah.H4519H8147H6240H8141H1121H4427H4427H2572H2568H8141H3389H517H8034H26572He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.H6213H7451H5869H3068H8441H1471H3068H3423H6440H1121H34783He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal and set up an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.H1129H7725H1116H2396H1H6H6965H4196H1168H6213H842H6213H256H4428H3478H7812H6635H8064H56474He built pagan altars in the Temple of the LORD, the place where the LORD had said, "My name will remain in Jerusalem forever."H1129H4196H1004H3068H3068H559H3389H7760H80345He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the LORD's Temple.H1129H4196H6635H8064H8147H2691H1004H30686Manasseh also sacrificed his own son in the fire. He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the LORD's sight, arousing his anger.H1121H5674H784H6049H5172H6213H178H3049H6213H7235H7451H5869H3068H37077Manasseh even made a carved image of Asherah and set it up in the Temple, the very place where the LORD had told David and his son Solomon: "My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.H7760H6459H842H6213H1004H3068H559H1732H8010H1121H1004H3389H977H7626H3478H7760H8034H57698If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands—all the laws my servant Moses gave them—I will not send them into exile from this land that I gave their ancestors."H7272H3478H5110H3254H127H5414H1H8104H6213H6680H8451H5650H4872H66809But the people refused to listen, and Manasseh led them to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the LORD had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.H8085H4519H8582H6213H7451H1471H3068H8045H6440H1121H347810Then the LORD said through his servants the prophets.H3068H1696H3027H5650H5030H55911"King Manasseh of Judah has done many detestable things. He is even more wicked than the Amorites, who lived in this land before Israel. He has caused the people of Judah to sin with his idols.H4519H4428H3063H6213H8441H7489H567H6213H6440H3063H2398H154412So this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror.H559H3068H430H3478H935H7451H3389H3063H8085H8147H241H675013I will judge Jerusalem by the same standard I used for Samaria and the same measure I used for the family of Ahab. I will wipe away the people of Jerusalem as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down.H5186H3389H6957H8111H4949H1004H256H4229H3389H4229H6747H4229H2015H644014Then I will reject even the remnant of my own people who are left, and I will hand them over as plunder for their enemies.H5203H7611H5159H5414H3027H341H957H4933H34115For they have done great evil in my sight and have angered me ever since their ancestors came out of Egypt."H6213H7451H5869H4480H3707H3117H1H3318H4714H311716Manasseh also murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other with innocent blood. This was in addition to the sin that he caused the people of Judah to commit, leading them to do evil in the LORD's sight.H4519H8210H5355H1818H3966H7235H4390H3389H6310H6310H2403H3063H2398H6213H7451H5869H306817The rest of the events in Manasseh's reign and everything he did, including the sins he committed, are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H4519H6213H2403H2398H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H306318When Manasseh died, he was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon became the next king.H4519H7901H1H6912H1588H1004H1588H5798H526H1121H442719Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz from Jotbah.H526H6242H8147H8141H1121H4427H4427H8147H8141H3389H517H8034H4922H1323H2743H319220He did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as his father, Manasseh, had done.H6213H7451H5869H3068H1H4519H621321He followed the example of his father, worshiping the same idols his father had worshiped.H3212H1870H1H1980H5647H1544H1H5647H781222He abandoned the LORD, the God of his ancestors, and he refused to follow the LORD's ways.H5800H3068H430H1H1980H1870H306823Then Amon's own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.H5650H526H7194H4191H4428H100424But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.H5971H776H5221H7194H4428H526H5971H776H2977H1121H442725The rest of the events in Amon's reign and what he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.H3499H1697H526H6213H3789H5612H1697H3117H4428H306326He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Josiah became the next king.H6912H6900H1588H5798H2977H1121H4427
2Kings 22
22Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath.H2977H8083H8141H1121H4427H4427H7970H259H8141H3389H517H8034H3040H1323H5718H1218 2He did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.H6213H3477H5869H3068H3212H1870H1732H1H5493H3225H8040 3In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, the court secretary, to the Temple of the LORD. He told him,H8083H6240H8141H4428H2977H4428H7971H8227H1121H683H1121H4918H5608H1004H3068H559 4"Go to Hilkiah the high priest and have him count the money the gatekeepers have collected from the people at the LORD's Temple.H5927H2518H1419H3548H8552H3701H935H1004H3068H8104H5592H622H5971 5Entrust this money to the men assigned to supervise the Temple's restoration. Then they can use it to pay workers to repair the Temple of the LORD.H5414H3027H6213H4399H6485H1004H3068H5414H6213H4399H1004H3068H2388H919H1004 6They will need to hire carpenters, builders, and masons. Also have them buy the timber and the finished stone needed to repair the Temple.H2796H1129H1443H7069H6086H4274H68H2388H1004 7But don't require the construction supervisors to keep account of the money they receive, for they are honest and trustworthy men."H2803H3701H5414H3027H6213H530 8Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the LORD's Temple!" Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it.H2518H1419H3548H559H8227H5608H4672H5612H8451H1004H3068H2518H5414H5612H8227H7121 9Shaphan went to the king and reported, "Your officials have turned over the money collected at the Temple of the LORD to the workers and supervisors at the Temple."H8227H5608H935H4428H7725H4428H1697H7725H559H5650H5413H3701H4672H1004H5414H3027H6213H4399H6485H1004H3068 10Shaphan also told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll." So Shaphan read it to the king.H8227H5608H5046H4428H559H2518H3548H5414H5612H8227H7121H6440H4428 11When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair.H4428H8085H1697H5612H8451H7167H899 12Then he gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and Asaiah the king's personal adviser.H4428H6680H2518H3548H296H1121H8227H5907H1121H4320H8227H5608H6222H5650H4428H559 13"Go to the Temple and speak to the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the LORD's great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do."H3212H1875H3068H5971H3063H1697H5612H4672H1419H2534H3068H3341H1H8085H1697H5612H6213H3789 14So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.H2518H3548H296H5907H8227H6222H3212H2468H5031H802H7967H1121H8616H1121H2745H8104H899H3427H3389H4932H1696 15She said to them, "The LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken! Go back and tell the man who sent you,H559H559H3068H430H3478H559H376H7971 16'This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this city and its people. All the words written in the scroll that the king of Judah has read will come true.H559H3068H935H7451H4725H3427H1697H5612H4428H3063H7121 17For my people have abandoned me and offered sacrifices to pagan gods, and I am very angry with them for everything they have done. My anger will burn against this place, and it will not be quenched.'H5800H6999H312H430H3707H4639H3027H2534H3341H4725H3518 18"But go to the king of Judah who sent you to seek the LORD and tell him: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the message you have just heard.H4428H3063H7971H1875H3068H559H559H3068H430H3478H1697H8085 19You were sorry and humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I said against this city and its people—that this land would be cursed and become desolate. You tore your clothing in despair and wept before me in repentance. And I have indeed heard you, says the LORD.H3824H7401H3665H6440H3068H8085H1696H4725H3427H8047H7045H7167H899H1058H6440H8085H5002H3068 20So I will not send the promised disaster until after you have died and been buried in peace. You will not see the disaster I am going to bring on this city.'" So they took her message back to the king.H622H1H622H6913H7965H5869H7200H7451H935H4725H7725H4428H1697H7725
Psalms 107
107Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.H3034H3068H2896H2617H57692Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.H1350H3068H559H1350H3027H68623For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.H6908H776H4217H4628H6828H32204Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.H8582H4057H3452H1870H4672H5892H41865Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died.H7457H6771H5315H58486“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.H6817H3068H6862H5337H46917He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.H1869H3477H1870H3212H5892H41868Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.H3034H3068H2617H6381H1121H1209For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.H7646H8264H5315H4390H7457H5315H289610Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.H3427H2822H6757H615H6040H127011They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High.H4784H561H410H5006H6098H594512That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them.H3665H3820H5999H3782H582613“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.H2199H3068H6862H3467H469114He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.H3318H2822H6757H5423H4147H542315Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.H3034H3068H2617H6381H1121H12016For he broke down their prison gates of bronze; he cut apart their bars of iron.H7665H1817H5178H1438H1280H1270H143817Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their sins.H191H1870H6588H5771H603118They couldn’t stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on death’s door.H5315H8581H400H5060H8179H419419“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.H2199H3068H6862H3467H469120He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.H7971H1697H7495H4422H782521Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.H3034H3068H2617H6381H1121H12022Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.H2076H2077H8426H5608H4639H744023Some went off to sea in ships, plying the trade routes of the world.H3381H3220H591H6213H4399H7227H432524They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action, his impressive works on the deepest seas.H7200H4639H3068H6381H468825He spoke, and the winds rose, stirring up the waves.H559H5975H5591H7307H7311H153026Their ships were tossed to the heavens and plunged again to the depths; the sailors cringed in terror.H5927H8064H3381H8415H5315H4127H745127They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end.H2287H5128H7910H2451H110428“Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.H6817H3068H6862H3318H469129He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves.H6965H5591H1827H1530H281430What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them safely into harbor!H8055H8367H5148H2656H423131Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.H3034H3068H2617H6381H1121H12032Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.H7311H6951H5971H1984H4186H220533He changes rivers into deserts, and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.H7760H5104H4057H4325H4161H677434He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there.H6529H776H4420H7451H342735But he also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of water.H7760H4057H98H4325H6723H776H4325H416136He brings the hungry to settle there and to build their cities.H7457H3427H3559H5892H418637They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest their bumper crops.H2232H7704H5193H3754H6213H6529H839338How he blesses them! They raise large families there, and their herds of livestock increase.H1288H7235H3966H4591H929H459139When they decrease in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,H4591H7817H6115H7451H301540the Lord pours contempt on their princes, causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.H8210H937H5081H8582H8414H187041But he rescues the poor from trouble and increases their families like flocks of sheep.H34H7682H6040H7760H4940H662942The godly will see these things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent.H3477H7200H8055H5766H7092H631043Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.H2450H8104H995H2617H3068
Dublin, OH
, this message came to him from the LORD.H3470
