2 Chronicles 32:9–24

SENNACHERIB’S SERVANT’S SPEECH

⁹After this,^t while King Sennacherib of Assyria with all his armed forces besieged^A Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem against King Hezekiah of Judah and against all those of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰“This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘What are you relying on that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹Isn’t Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he says, “The Lord our God will keep us from the grasp of the king of Assyria”? ¹²Didn’t Hezekiah himself remove his high places and his altars^u and say to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before one altar, and you must burn incense on it”?

¹³“ ‘Don’t you know^v what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have any of the national gods of the lands been able to rescue their land from my power? ¹⁴Who among all the gods of these nations that my predecessors completely destroyed was able to rescue his people from my power, that your God should be able to deliver you from my power?^{w 15}So now,^x don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, and don’t let him mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!’ ”

¹⁶His servants said more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷He also wrote letters to mock the Lord, the God of Israel, saying against him:

Just like the national gods of the lands that did not rescue their people from my power, so Hezekiah’s God will not rescue his people from my power.^a

¹⁸Then they called out loudly in Hebrew^B to the people of Jerusalem, who were on the wall, to frighten and discourage them in order that he might capture the city. ¹⁹They spoke against the God of Jerusalem like they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth, which were made by human hands.

DELIVERANCE FROM SENNACHERIB

²⁰King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven,^{b 21}and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated every valiant warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned in disgrace to his land. He went to the temple of his god, and there some of his own children struck him down with the sword.^c

²²So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from the power of all others. He gave them rest^d on every side. ²³Many were bringing an offering to the Lord to Jerusalem and valuable gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah, and he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations after that.^e

HEZEKIAH’S ILLNESS AND PRIDE

²⁴In those days Hezekiah became sick to the point of death, so he prayed to the Lord, who spoke to him and gave him a miraculous sign.^f