2 Kings 20

1 About this time Hezekiah fell very sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your affairs in order, because you are going to die. You won't recover.”

In those days, was Hezekiah sick, unto death, —and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came unto him, and said unto him—Thus, saith Yahweh Set in order thy house, for, about to die, thou, art, and shalt not recover.

2 When Hezekiah heard this, he went to pray privately to the Lord, saying

Then he turned his face unto the wall, —and prayed unto Yahweh, saying:

3 “Please remember Lord how I have followed you faithfully with all my heart. I have done what is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah cried and cried.

I beseech thee, O Yahweh, remember, I pray thee, how I have walked before thee, in truth, and with a whole heart, and, that which is good in thine eyes, have I done! And Hezekiah wept aloud.

4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke to him, saying,

And it came to pass that Isaiah, had not gone out into the middle court, when the word of Yahweh came unto him, saying:

5 “Go back in and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, This is what the Lord, the God of your forefather David, says: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Look! I am going to heal you. In three days time you will go to the Lord's Temple.

Return, and thou shalt say unto Hezekiah the leader of my people—Thus, saith Yahweh, God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, —Behold me! about to heal thee, On the third day, shalt thou go up unto the house of Yahweh;

6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

And I will add unto thy days, fifteen years, and, out of the hand of the king of Assyria, will I deliver thee, and this city, —and will throw a covering over this city, for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a dressing from figs.” Hezekiah's servants did so and put it on the skin sores, and Hezekiah got better.

And Isaiah said—Take ye a cake of figs. So they took and laid it upon the boil, and he recovered,

8 Hezekiah had previously asked Isaiah, “What is the sign to confirm that the Lord is going heal me and that I will go to the Lord's Temple in three days time?”

Now Hezekiah had said unto Isaiah, What sign is there, that Yahweh will heal me, —and that I shall go up on the third day, to the house of Yahweh?

9 Isaiah replied, “This is the sign from the Lord to you that the Lord will do what he promised: Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”

And Isaiah said, —This unto thee, is the sign from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing which he hath spoken, The shadow hath gone forward ten steps, shall it return ten steps?

10 “It's easy enough for the shadow to go forward ten steps, but not to go back ten steps,” Hezekiah answered.

And Hezekiah said—It is, a light thing, for the shadow, to decline ten steps, —Nay, but let the shadow go back ten steps.

11 So Isaiah the prophet asked the Lord, and he moved the shadow back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

And Isaiah the prophet cried unto Yahweh, and he caused the shadow on the steps by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz to go back, ten steps.

12 At the same time Merodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah was sick.

At that time, Berodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present, unto Hezekiah, —for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13 Hezekiah welcomed the visitors and showed them everything in his treasury—all the silver, the gold, the spices, and the expensive oils. He also showed them his armory and all that he had in his storehouses. In fact there wasn't anything in his palace or in the whole of his kingdom that Hezekiah didn't show them.

And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all his house of precious things—the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and his armoury, and all that was found among his treasures, —there was, nothing, that Hezekiah shewed them not, in his house or in all his dominion.

14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did those men come from, and what did they tell you?” “They came from a long way away, from Babylon,” Hezekiah replied.

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, From a land far off, came they—from Babylon.

15 “What did they see in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They saw everything in my palace,” replied Hezekiah. “There wasn't anything in all my storehouses I didn't show them.”

And he said—What have they seen in thy house? Then said Hezekiah—All that is in my house, have they seen, there was, nothing, that I shewed them not, among my treasures.

16 Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Listen to what the Lord says:

Then said Isaiah unto Hezekiah, —Hear thou the word of Yahweh:

17 You can be certain that the time is coming when everything in your palace, and everything that your forefathers have saved up until now, will be taken away to Babylon. There will be nothing left, says the Lord.

Lo! days are coming, when all that is in thine house, and that thy fathers have treasured up, unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon, —nothing shall be left, saith Yahweh;

18 Some of your sons, your own offspring, will be taken to serve as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

and, of thy sons who shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away, —and they shall become eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon.

19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The message from the Lord that you have told me is fine.” For he said to himself, “Why not, if there'll be peace and safety in my lifetime.”

And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah—Good, is the word of Yahweh, which thou hast spoken. And he said—Is it not, that, peace and stability, there shall be in my days?

20 The rest of what happened in Hezekiah's reign, all he did, and how he made the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah.

Now, the rest of the story of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool and an aqueduct, and brought water into the city, are, they, not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

21 Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and, Manasseh his son, reigned, in his stead.