Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
1 In those daysHezekiah became terminally ill.The prophet Isaiahson of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what theLordsays: ‘Put your affairs in order,for you are about to die; you will not recover.’ ”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the walland prayed to theLord,
3 “PleaseLord, rememberhow I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases You.”And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Isaiah had not yet gone out of the inner courtyard when the word of theLordcame to him:
5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leaderof My people, ‘This is what theLordGod of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer;I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to theLord’s temple.
6 I will add 15 years to your life. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’ ”
7 Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of pressed figs.” So they brought it and applied it to his infected skin, and he recovered.
8 Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What is the signthat theLordwill heal me and that I will go up to theLord’s temple on the third day? ”
9 Isaiah said, “This is the signto you from theLordthat He will do what He has promised: Should the shadow go ahead 10 steps or go back 10 steps? ”
10 Then Hezekiah answered, “It’s easy for the shadow to lengthen 10 steps. No, let the shadow go back 10 steps.”
11 So Isaiah the prophet called out to theLord, and He brought the shadowback the 10 steps it had descended on Ahaz’s stairway.
Hezekiah’s Folly
12 At that timeMerodach-baladanson of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick.
13 Hezekiah gave them a hearing and showed them his whole treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil — and his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you? ”
Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant country, from Babylon.”
15 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace? ”
Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of theLord:
17 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’says theLord.
18 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away,and they will become eunuchsin the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of theLordthat you have spoken is good,”for he thought: Why not, if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?
Hezekiah’s Death
20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, along with all his might and how he made the pooland the tunnel and brought water into the city,are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.
21 Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.
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