covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.
^13Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 14And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: 'I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear.' And the king of Assyria 1 That as, A. thing of brass.
SECOND KINGS appointed unto Hezekiah king of in Jerusalem? MNow therefore, I Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 16And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house. 16At that time did Heze- kiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the door-posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17And the king of Assyria sent aTartan and bRab-saris and °Rab- shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army unto Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jeru- salem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fullers' field. 18And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the re- corder.
"And Rab-shakeh said unto them: 'Say ye now to Hezekiah: Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 20Sayest thou that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for the war? Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast re- belled against me? ^Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt • where- on if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh kjng of Egypt unto all that trust on hi™. ^But if ye say unto me: We trust in the LORD our God; is not that He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem: Ye shall worship before this altar pray thee, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 24How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain, even of the least of my master's servants? and yet thou puttest thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen! ^Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said unto me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.'
^hen said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh: 'Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Aramean lan- guage; for we understand it; and speak not with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.' 27But Rab-shakeh said unto them: 'Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?' 28Then Rab- shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying: ' Hear ye the word of the great king, the long of Assyria. 29Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah be- guile you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand; 30neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying: The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 31Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make your' peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; ^until I come and take you away to a L That is, Commander-in-chief.
*> That is, chief of the eunuchs.
°That is, chief butler.
SECOND KINGS land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying: The LORD win deliver us. ^Hath any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Iwah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'
36But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, say- ing: 'Answer him not.' 37Then came EHaMm the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
-| Q And it came to pass, when king -1- ^ Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah 'the prophet the son of Amoz. 3And' they said unto him: 'Thus saith Hezekiah- This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4Itmaybethe LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of As- syria his master hath sent to taunt the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD thy God hath heard; wherefore make prayer for the rem- nant that is left.' 5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6And Isaiah said unto them: 'Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith the LORD: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.'
8So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia: 'Behold, he is come out to fight against thee'; he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying: 10'Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Let not thy God in whom thou trustest beguile thee, say- ing: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. "Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? ^Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Go- zan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telas- sar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Iwah?'
14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: '0 LORD, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, Thou art the God, SECOND KINGS SECOND KINGS even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; Thou hast made heaven and earth. "Incline Thine ear, 0 LORD, and hear; jpen Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to taunt the living God. 170f a truth^ LORD, the kings of As- syria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have de- stroyed them. 19Now therefore, O LORD our God, save Thou us, I be- seech^ Thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the LORD God, even Thou only.'
20Then>Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying: 'Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to Me against Sen- nacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. 21This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion Hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Hath shaken her head at thee. ^Whom hast thou taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice?
Yea, thou hast lifted up thine eyes on high, Even against the Holy One of Israel! ^By thy messengers thou hast taunted the Lord, And hast said: With the multitude of my chariots Am I come up to the height of the mountains, To the innermost parts of Lebanon; And I have cut down the tall cedars thereof, And the choice cypresses thereof; And I have entered into his farthest lodge, The forest of his fruitful field. **! have digged and drunk Strange waters, And with the sole of my feet have I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.
thou not heard? Long ago I made it, In ancient times I fashioned it; Now have I brought it to pass, Yea, it is done; that fortified cities Should be laid waste into ruinous heaps. 26Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field, And as the green herb, As the grass on the housetops, And as corn blasted before it is grown up.
27But I know thy sitting down, and thy going put, and thy coming in, And thy raging against Me. 28Because of thy raging against Me, And for that thy tumult is come up into Mine ears, Therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And I will turn thee back by the way By which thou earnest. 29And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that _ which springeth of the same; and in the third ^ year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. 30And the rem- nant that is escaped of the house of SECOND KINGS Judah shall again take root down- ward, and bear fruit upward. 3lFor out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape; the zeal of the LORD of hosts 'shall perform this. ^Therefore thus saith the LORD con- cerning the Mng of Assyria: He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mound against it. ^By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith the LORD. ^For I will defend this city to save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.'
s5And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. ^So Sennach- erib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroeh his god, that Adrammelech and Sarezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. Of) In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the LORD: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live/ 2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying: 3* Remember now, O LORD, I beseech Thee, how I have walked before Thee in truth and with^ a whole'heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight/ And Hezekiah I wept sore.^ 4And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone out of the inner court of the city, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying: 5' Return, and say to Hezekiah the prince of My people: Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD. 6And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for Mine own sake, and for My servant David's sake.' 7And Isaiah said: 'Take a cake of figs.' And they took and laicf it on the boil, and he recovered.
8And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah: 'What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of the LORD the third day?' *And Isaiah said: 'This shall be the sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?' ioAnd Hezekiah answered: 'It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten degrees; nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.' uAnd Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD; and he brought the shadow- ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.
"At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present unto Heze- kiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13And Hezekiah heark- ened unto them, and showed them all his treasure-house, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his ar- mour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his SECOND -KINGS SECOND -KINGS house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not. 14Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him: 'What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee?' And Heze- kiah said: 'They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.' 15And he said: 'What have they seen in thy house?' And Hezekiah an- swered: 'All that is in my house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.'
16And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah: 'Hear the word of the LORD. 17Be- hold, the days come, that all that is in thy house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 18And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon.' 19Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah: ' Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken.' He said moreover: 'Is it not so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?'
20Now the rest of the acts of Heze- kiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chron- icles of the kings of Judah? aAnd Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
O "1 Manasseh was twelve years old A when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. 2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the nations, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 3Fpr he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab long of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD said: ' In Jerusalem will I put My name.' 6And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORB. 6And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised soothsaying,, and used enchantments, and ap- pointed them that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to pro- yoke Him. 7And he set the graven image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son: 1 In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put My name for ever; 8neither will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; if only they will observe to do according to aU that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.' &But they hearkened not; and Ma- nasseh'seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations, whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
10And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying: "'Be- cause Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols; iatherefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, 1 bring such evil upon Jerusalem and SECOND KINGS Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jeru- salem as a man wipeth a dish, wipi it and turning it upside down. 14Ai__ I will cast off the remnant of Mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become 'a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 16because they have done that which is evil in My sight, and have provoked Me, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.'
"Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. 17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
19Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father. ^And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them. ^And he forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. ^And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house, j 24But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead. ^Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? t ^And he was buried in his sepulchre hi the garden of Uzza; and Josiah his son reigned in his stead. OO Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2And he did that which was right in^the eyes of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
3And it came to pass in the eight- eenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the LORD, saying: 4<Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people; 5and let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen that have the oversight of the house of the LORD; and let them give it to the workmen that are in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house; 6unto the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons; and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house/ — 7Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully!
8And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe: 'I have found the book of the Law in the house of the LORD.' And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
SECOND KINGS 9And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought back word unto the king, and said: "Thy serv- ants have poured out the money that was found m the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the work- men that have the oversight of the house of the LORD/ 10And Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying: 'Hilkiah. the priest hath delivered me a book.' And Shaphan read it before the king. ^ "And it came to pas when the king had heard the words of the book of the Law, that he rent his clothes. 12And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying: 13'Go ye, inquire of the LOBD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LOBD that is kindled against us, be- cause our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to dp ac- cording unto all that which is written concerning us.'
14So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the ward- robe— now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter — and they spoke with her. 1BAnd she said unto them: 'Thus saifch the LORD, the God of Israel: Tell ye the man that sent you unto me: 16Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants there- of, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read; 17because they have forsaken Me, and have offered unto other gods, that they might provoke Me with all the work of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched. l8But unto the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: As touching the words which thou hast heard, "because thy heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spoke against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become an astonishment and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me, I also have heard thee, saith the LORD, there- fore, behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered toothy grave in peace, _ neither shaU thine eyes see all the evil which I will bring upon this place.' And they brought back word unto the king. OQ And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2And the king went up to the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the in habitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both smaU and great; and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. 8And the king stood on the platform, and made 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 all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book; and all the people stood to the covenant. 4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were SECOND KINGS made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he btirned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron. and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. 8And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to offer in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusa- lem; them also that offered unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kadron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder there- of upon the graves of the common people. 7And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah. 8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beer-sheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand as he entered the gate of the city. ^Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LOKD in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their breth- ren. 10And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hirrnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. nAnd he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nethan-melech the officer, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. ^And the altars that were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king break down, and beat them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of cor- ruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the detestation of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. 14And he broke in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men.