2 Kings 20

1 About that time, Hezekiah became very ill. [He thought that he] was about to die. Isaiah the prophet came to him and said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You should tell the people in your palace what you want them to do after you die, because you are not going to recover from this illness. You are going to die.’”

In those days Hezekiah was sick to the point of dying. So Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet came to him, and said to him, “Yahweh says, 'Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.'”

2 Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed,

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying,

3 “Yahweh, do not forget that I have always served you faithfully, and I have done things that pleased you.” Then Hezekiah started to cry loudly.

“Please, Yahweh, call to mind how I have faithfully walked before you with my whole heart, and how I have done what was good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept loudly.

4 Isaiah left the king, but before he had crossed the middle courtyard of the palace, Yahweh gave him a message

Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle courtyard, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying,

5 which said, “Go back to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, and say to him, ‘I, Yahweh, the God whom your ancestor King David [worshiped], have heard what you prayed. And I have seen your tears. So, listen: I will heal you. Two days from now you will [be able to] go up to my temple.

“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor, says: “I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. I am about to heal you on the third day, and you will go up to the house of Yahweh.

6 I will enable you to live for 15 more years. And I will rescue you and this city again from the power [MTY] of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well].’”

I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.”'”

7 So Isaiah [returned to the palace and told Hezekiah what Yahweh had said. Then he] [to Hezekiah’s servants], “Bring a paste made of boiled figs. Put some of it on his boil, and he will get well.”

So Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” They did so and put it on his boil, and he recovered.

8 Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “What will Yahweh do to prove that he will heal me and that two days from now I will be able to go up to the temple?”

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I should go up to the temple of Yahweh on the third day?”

9 Isaiah replied, “Yahweh will do something that will prove to you that he will do what he promised. Do you want him to cause the shadow on the stairway/sundial to go back ten steps/degrees, or to go forward ten steps/degrees?”

Isaiah replied, “This will be the sign for you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”

10 Hezekiah replied, “It is easy to cause the shadow to move forward, [because that is what it always does]. Tell him to cause it to move backward ten steps/degrees.”

Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, let the shadow go backward ten steps.”

11 So Isaiah prayed earnestly to Yahweh, and Yahweh caused the shadow to go backward ten steps/degrees on the stairway/sundial that King Ahaz had made (OR, that workers had built for King Ahaz).

So Isaiah the prophet cried out to Yahweh, and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, from where it had moved on the stairway of Ahaz.

12 At that time, King Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan the [previous] King of Babylonia, heard a report that King Hezekiah had been very sick. So he wrote some letters and gave them to some messengers to take to Hezekiah, along with a gift.

At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

13 [When the messengers arrived], Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. Then he showed them everything that was in his (treasure houses/places where very valuable things were stored)—the silver and gold, the spices, the nice-smelling olive oil, and all the weapons [for his soldiers]. He showed them all the [valuable] things in his storerooms and everywhere else in his kingdom [HYP]; he showed them everything.

Hezekiah listened to those letters, and then showed the messengers all the palace and his valuable things, the silver, the gold, the spices and precious oil, and the storehouse of his weapons, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his kingdom, that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country very far from here. They came from Babylonia.”

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say to you? Where did they come from?” Hezekiah said, “They came from the distant country of Babylon.”

15 Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They saw everything. I showed them absolutely everything that I own—all my valuable things.”

Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing among my valuable things that I have not shown them.”

16 [Isaiah knew that Hezekiah had done a very foolish thing]. So Isaiah said to him, “Listen to what Yahweh says to you.

So Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of Yahweh:

17 There will be a time when everything that is still in your palace, all the valuable things that were put there by you and your ancestors, will be carried away to Babylon. There will be nothing left here! [That is what] Yahweh says [to you]

'Look, the days are about to come when everything in your palace, the things that your ancestors stored away until this present day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says Yahweh.

18 Furthermore, some of your own descendants will be forced to go there, and they will be castrated in order that they may become servants in the palace of the King of Babylon.”

The sons born from you, whom you yourself have fathered—they will take them away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'”

19 Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “That message from Yahweh that you have given to me is good.” He said that because he was thinking, “Even if that happens, there will be peace and security [in Israel] all the rest of my life.”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not be peace and stability in my days?”

20 [If you want to know more about] [RHQ] all the other things that Hezekiah did, about his brave deeds in battle, about his ordering a reservoir to be built in the city and a tunnel [to be dug] to bring water into the reservoir, they are all written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’.

As for the other matters concerning Hezekiah, and all his power, and how he constructed the pool and the conduit, and how he brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the events of the kings of Judah?

21 Later Hezekiah died [EUP], and his son Manasseh became the king.

Hezekiah slept with his ancestors, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.