Chapter 32

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 After these 1acts of faithfulness aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and 2thought to break into them for himself.

2 Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that 1he intended to make war on Jerusalem,

3 he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.

4 So many people assembled aand stopped up all the springs and bthe stream which flowed 1through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?”

5 And he took courage and arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and 1erected towers on it, and built banother outside wall and strengthened the cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.

6 He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and aspoke 1encouragingly to them, saying,

7 “aBe strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; bfor the one with us is greater than the one with him.

8 “With him is only aan arm of flesh, but bwith us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

9 After this aSennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was 1besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

11 ‘Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the 1hand of the king of Assyria”?

12 ‘aHas not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and 1Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall 2burn incense”?

13 ‘Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? aWere the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand?

14 ‘aWho was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?

15 ‘Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ano god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”

16 His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.

17 He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “aAs the gods of the nations of the lands 1have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”

18 aThey called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.

19 They spoke 1of the God of Jerusalem as of athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

20 But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven.

21 And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned 1in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.

22 So the Lord asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and 1guided them on every side.

23 And amany were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that bhe was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.

24 aIn those days Hezekiah became 1mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and 2the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.

25 But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit 1he received, abecause his heart was 2proud; btherefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

26 However, aHezekiah 1humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

27 Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles,

28 storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and 1sheepfolds for the flocks.

29 He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for aGod had given him very great 1wealth.

30 It was Hezekiah who astopped the upper outlet of the waters of bGihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.

31 Even in the matter of athe envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of bthe wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only cto test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

33 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the 1upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ahonored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Chapter 33

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah in Judah

1 aManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

2 aHe did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

3 For ahe rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; bhe also erected altars for the Baals and made 1Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

4 aHe built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be bin Jerusalem forever.”

5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in athe two courts of the house of the Lord.

6 aHe made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and bdealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

7 Then he put athe carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “bIn this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land awhich I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.”

9 Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh’s Idolatry Rebuked

10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but athey paid no attention.

11 aTherefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with 1hooks, bbound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

12 When ahe was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and bhumbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

13 When he prayed to Him, aHe was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh bknew that the Lord was God.

14 Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of aGihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the bFish Gate; and he encircled the cOphel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

15 He also aremoved the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.

16 He set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed apeace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

17 Nevertheless athe people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the Lord their God.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh even ahis prayer to his God, and the words of bthe seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of cIsrael.

19 His prayer also and ahow God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and bthe sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the 1Hozai.

20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place.

Amon Becomes King in Judah

21 aAmon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

22 He did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh his father ahad done, and Amon sacrificed to all bthe carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them.

23 Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord aas his father Manasseh had 1done, but Amon multiplied guilt.

24 Finally ahis servants conspired against him and put him to death in his own house.

25 But the people of the land 1killed all the conspirators against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

Chapter 34

Josiah Succeeds Amon in Judah

1 aJosiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

2 aHe did right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

3 For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to aseek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began bto purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.

4 They tore down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and athe incense altars that were high above them he chopped down; also the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images he broke in pieces and bground to powder and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

5 Then ahe burned the bones of the priests on their altars and purged Judah and Jerusalem.

6 aIn the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, even as far as Naphtali, in their surrounding ruins,

7 he also tore down the altars and abeat the Asherim and the carved images into powder, and chopped down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

Josiah Repairs the Temple

8 aNow in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah ban official of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.

9 They came to aHilkiah the high priest and delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the 1doorkeepers, had collected 2from bManasseh and Ephraim, and from all the remnant of Israel, and from all Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

10 Then they gave it into the hands of the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and the workmen who were working in the house of the Lord 1used it to restore and repair the house.

11 They in turn gave it to the carpenters and to the builders to buy quarried stone and timber for couplings and to make beams for the houses awhich the kings of Judah had let go to ruin.

12 aThe men did the work faithfully with foremen over them to supervise: Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites of the sons of Merari, Zechariah and Meshullam of the sons of the Kohathites, and bthe Levites, all who were skillful with musical instruments.

13 They were also over athe burden bearers, and supervised all the workmen from job to job; and some of the Levites were scribes and officials and gatekeepers.

Hilkiah Discovers Lost Book of the Law

14 When they were bringing out the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, aHilkiah the priest found the book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.

15 Hilkiah responded and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan.

16 Then Shaphan brought the book to the king and 1reported further word to the king, saying, “Everything that was 2entrusted to your servants they are doing.

17 “They have also emptied out the money which was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hands of the supervisors and the workmen.”

18 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

19 When the king heard athe words of the law, bhe tore his clothes.

20 Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, 1Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying,

21 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for agreat is the wrath of the Lord which is poured out on us because our fathers have not observed the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”

Huldah, the Prophetess, Speaks

22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king 1had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of 2Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, the keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her regarding this.

23 She said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me,

24 thus says the Lord, “Behold, aI am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all bthe curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah.

25 “aBecause they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched.” ’

26 “But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus you will say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard,

27 “aBecause your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord.

28 “Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants.” ’ ” And they brought back word to the king.

29 aThen the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

30 The king went up to the house of the Lord and aall the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites and all the people, from the greatest to the least; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.

Josiah’s Good Reign

31 Then the king astood in his place and bmade a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.

32 Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

33 Josiah aremoved all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout his 1lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers.