THE SECOND BOOK OF
THE KINGS,
2 Kings 20 ©
Hezekiah, being sick, is threatened of God by Isaiah with death, v. 1, etc. But having prayed to the Lord, he has fifteen years more added to his life, 2. Of which he is assured by a miracle, 8. Berodach-baladan visits Hezekiah by ambassadors, who shows them all his treasures, 12. Upon which Isaiah foretells him the Babylonian captivity, 14. He dies, and Manasseh becomes king, 20.
IN 1those days wasa Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, 2Set thine house in order; for 3thou shalt die, and not live.
Then he 4turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee 5in truth and with a 6perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah 7wept sore.
And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the 8middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
And I will 9add unto thy days fifteen years; and I 10will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city 11for mine own sake, and 12for my servant David's sake.
And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he 13recovered.
¶And Hezekiah 14said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: 15shall the 16shadow go 17forward ten 18degrees, or go 19back ten degrees?
And Hezekiah answered, It is a 20light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the 21dial of Ahaz.
¶At that time Berodach-baladan,22 the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, 23sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
And Hezekiah 24hearkened unto 25them, and shewed them all the 26house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oint-ment, and all the 27house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was noth-ing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.
¶Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word 28of the LORD.
Behold, the days come, 29that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, 30shall they take away; and they shall be 31eunuchsb in the palace of the king of Babylon.
Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. And he said, 32Is it not good, if peace and truth be in my days?
¶And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a 33pool, and a conduit,c and 34brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.