Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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2Kings
2Kings 1
¶1. Now, Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab.
2. And Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and he was ill. And he sent messengers and said to them,”Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this wound.”
3. But an angel of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise and go up to meet the messengers of the King of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it not because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?
4.Therefore, thus says Jehovah: You shall not come down from the bed on which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So, Elijah went.
5. And the messengers returned to him, and he said to them, “What is this? You have come back!”
6. And they said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and he said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and you tell him, Thus says Jehovah: Is it not because there is no in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baalzebub, god of Ekron? Therefore, you will not come down from the bed to which you are gone up, but you shall surely die.’”
7. Then he said to them, “What sort of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”
8. And they said to him, “The man was very hairy, with a leather belt girt about his waist.” And he said to them, “This is the Tishbite.”
9. Then he sent to him a captain of fifty with his fifty, and he went up to him. And behold, he was sitting on top of a hill. And he said to him, “Man of God, the king says to come down!”
10. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of the fifty, “If I am really a man if God, fire will come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” And fire came down out of heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
11. And again, he sent to him another captain of fifty with his fifty, and he answered and said to him, “Man of God, thus says the king: Come down immediately!”
12. But Elijah answered and said to them, “If I am a man of God, fire will come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
13. And again, he sent the captain of a third fifty, with his fifty. And the captain of the third fifty went up, and came, and fell to his knees before Elijah, and begged him, and said to him, “O man of God, I beg you, let my life and the life of your servants, these fifty men, be precious in your eyes.
14.Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the captains of the former fifties with their fifties, but now, let my life be precious in your eyes.
15. Then an angel of Jehovah said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not fear him, but rise up and go on down with him to the king.”
16. And he said to him, “Thus says Jehovah: Forasmuch as you sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, god of Ekron – is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? – therefore, you shall not come down from the bed upon which you have gone up, but you will surely die.”
17. So, he died, according to the word of Jehovah which Elijah spoke, and in his stead, in the second year of Jehoram ben-Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, Jehoram began to reign, since he[1] had no son.
18. And the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, which he did, are they not written in the Book of Events of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
2Kings 2
¶1. Now, it came to pass that Jehovah would take Elijah up to heaven in a storm-wind. And Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, if you want, because Jehovah has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “I swear by the life of Jehovah, and by your life, I will not leave you!” And so, they went down to Bethel.
3. And the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel went out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today, Jehovah is going to take your lord away from your head?” And he said, “I know it, too. Hush.”
4. And Elijah said to him, Elisha, “Stay here, if you want, for Jehovah has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “I swear by the life of Jehovah, and by your life, I will not leave you!” And so, they went to Jericho.
5. And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today, Jehovah is going to take your lord away from your head?” And he said, “I know it, too. Hush.”
6. Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, if you want, because Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “I swear by the life of Jehovah, and by your life, I will not leave you!” And so, the two of them went.
7. And fifty men from the sons of the prophets went, and they stood within sight, at a distance. But the two of them stood by the Jordan.
8. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it up, and struck the waters, and they parted, this way and that. And they two crossed over on dry ground.
9. And it came to pass when they had crossed over that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I will do for you beforeI am taken away from you.” And Elisha said, “If you will, let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”
10. And he said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me taken away from you, as you have asked, so shall it be for you, but if not, it will not be.
11. And it came to pass as they walked along and talked that, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire caused a separation between the two, and Elijah went up in a whirlwind from heaven.
12. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father! My father! The chariot of Israel and his horsemen!” And he did not see him any more. And he grabbed his garments and ripped them apart.
13. And he picked up Elijah’s mantle which had fallen from off him, and returned and stood upon the bank of the Jordan.
14. And he took Elijah’s mantle that had fallen from off him and struck the waters, saying, “Where is Jehovah, Elijah’s God?” He, too, struck the waters, and they parted this way and that, and Elisha crossed over.
15. And the sons of the prophets who lived in Jericho were opposite Elisha, watching, the spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha! And they came to meet him, and they bowed before him on the ground.
16. And they said to him, “Behold now, there are fifty of your servants, stout men. They will go, if you will, and look for your great lord, lest the Spirit of Jehovah has taken him up and thrown him on one of the mountains or into one of the valleys.” But he said, “Do not send them.”
17. But they pressed him until he was exasperated and said, “Send them!” And they sent fifty men, and they searched three days, but did not find him.
18. Then they returned to him (and he was staying in Jericho), and he said to them, “Didn’t I say to you not to go?”
19. Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, now, the city’s location is good, as my lord sees, but the water is bad and the land unfruitful.”
20. And he said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” And they brought it to him.
21. And he went out to the spring of water and threw the salt in, and then he said, “Thus says Jehovah: I have healed these waters. There shall no longer be death or bereavement because of them!”
22. And the waters were healed until this day, according to the word of Elisha that he spoke.
23. And he went up from there to Bethel. And as he was going up along the road, young boys came out from the city, and they mocked him and said to him, “Go up, Baldy! Go up, Baldy!”
24. And he turned behind him and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And two bears came out of the woods and ripped to pieces forty-two of the boys.
25. And he went on from there to Mount Carmel, and from there, he returned to Samaria.
2Kings 3
¶1. Now, Jehoram ben-Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah. And he reigned twelve years.
2. And he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, only not like this father or like his mother, for he removed the pillar of Baal which his father had made.
3. Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam ben-Nebat who caused Israel to sin; he would not depart from it.
¶4. And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep-dealer, and he rendered to the king of Israel one hundred thousand he-lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.
5. And it came to pass at the death of Ahab that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6. And so, King Jehoram went forth on that day from Samaria, and he mustered all Israel.
7. When he went, he sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to Moab to the battle?” And he said, “I will go. I am as you are. My people are as your people. My horses are as your horses.”
8. And he said, “Which way shall we go?” And he said, “By way of the wilderness of Edom.”
9. So, the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And they took the circuitous route seven days, and there was no water for the army or the animals that were following them.
10. Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! For Jehovah has summoned these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab!”
11. But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we might inquire of Jehovah by him?” And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elishah ben-Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”
12. Then Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to him.
13. And Elishah said to the king of Israel, “What have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother!” But the king of Israel said to him, “No! For Jehovah has summoned these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab!”
14. And Elisha said, “As the Lord of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not acknowledge you or even look at you!
15.But now, bring me a minstrel.” And it came to pass as the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him.
16. And he said, “Thus says the Lord: Make this valley full of trenches!
17.For thus says the Lord: You will not see wind, and you will not see rain, but that valley shall be filled with water. And you will drink, you and your livestock and your beasts.
18.But this is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; He will also give Moab into your hand.
19.And you shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and you shall fell every good tree, and stop up all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.”
20. And it came to pass in the morning while they were making an offering, that, behold, water started coming from the way toward Edom, and the water filled the country.
21. And all Moab heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, and they were summoned, from all who girded on a belt and upwards, and they stood along the border.
22. And when they rose up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water, and at a distance, Moab saw the water was red like blood.
23. And they said, “This is blood! The kings have surely fought among themselves and each had killed his fellow! So, now to the spoil, Moab!”
24. But when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel arose and struck Moab so that they fled before them. And they came into Moab’s land, slaughtering the Moabites.
25. And they overthrew the cities, and every man threw his stone onto every good piece of land and filled it, and stopped up every spring of water, and felled every good tree, until in Kir-Hareseth alone stones were left; however, slingers surrounded and attacked it.
26. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was strong against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to cut through to the king of Edom, but they could not.
27. Then he took his firstborn son, who would have reigned in his stead, and offered him on the wall as a burnt offering. And there was great wrath against Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
2Kings 4
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42. And a man came from Baal-Shalishah, and he brought to the man of God bread of firstfruits, twenty barley loaves, and garden produce in his sack.[2] And he said, “Give this to the people, that they may eat.”
43. But his servant said, “What? I am to give this to a hundred men?” Again he said, “Give this to the people, and they shall eat, for thus said the Lord: Let them eat, and they shall leave some.”
44. And so, he set it before them, and they ate, and they had leftovers, according to the word of the Lord.
2Kings 5
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18.Yet, in this matter, Jehovah pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship, he supports himself on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. Jehovah forgive your servant in this matter, I pray you, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon.”
19a. And he said to him, “Go in peace.” And when he had gone from him a kibrah of land,
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2Kings 16
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10. When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pilesar, king of Assyria, he saw an altar that was in Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to Uriah the priest a pattern of the altar, and its design, with all the workmanship of it.
11. And Uriah the priest built the altar. In accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz came from Damascus.
12. And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar, and the king drew near the altar and went up on it.
13. And he offered his own burnt offering and his own meal offering, and he poured out his own libation. Then the blood of the peace offerings which were his, he tossed against the altar.
14. And he removed the bronze altar that was before the Lord from in front of the temple, from between the new altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the new altar.
15. Then King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “Offer upon the great altar the morning burnt offering, and the evening meal offering, and the king’s burnt offering, and his meal offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meal offering and their drink offerings. And upon it toss all the blood of burnt offering and all the blood of sacrifice. But the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.
16. And Uriah the priest did according to all that King Ahaz commanded.
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2Kings 17
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5. Then the King of Assyria went up into all the land, and he went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years.
6. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the King of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away into exile in Assyria, and he resettled them in Halah, and by Habor, a river of Gozan, and in cities of the Medes.
¶7. Now, this took place because the children of Israel sinned against Jehovah their God, who brought them up out of Egypt, from the hand of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, but they feared other gods,
8.and lived according to the statutes of the Gentiles whom Jehovah dispossessed before the children of Israel, and the statutes of the kings of Israel which they made.
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13.Yet, the Lord had testified through every prophet and every seer in Israel and in Judah, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to the whole law that I commanded your fathers and that I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets!”
14.But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like the necks of their fathers who did not trust in Jehovah their God.
15.They rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies that He testified against them, and they went after vanity and became vain themselves, and followed after the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them not to do like them.
16.They forsook all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and they made for themselves two molten calves and erected an Asherah[3] and worshipped all the host of heaven and served Baal.
17.And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. And they practiced divination, and observed signs, and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
18.Therefore, Jehovah was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight, and none were left, but the tribe of Judah only.
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24. And the King of Assyria brought people from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and he resettled them in the cities of Samaria in the place of the children of Israel, and they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
25. And it came to pass when they first settled there, that they did not fear Jehovah. Therefore, Jehovah sent lions among them that were killing some of them.
26. Then some spoke to the King of Assyria, saying, “The nations that you removed and resettled in the cities of Samaria do not know the way of the god of the land. So, he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they are not observing the way of the god of the land.”
27. Then the King of Assyria gave a commandment, saying, “Take back one of the priests that you carried away from there, and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the way of the god of the land.”
28. So, one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and he taught them how they should fear Jehovah.
29. But every nation continued making its own gods, and they set them in the houses of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where they dwelled.
30. The men of Babylon made Succoth-Benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31.and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelek and Anammelek, the gods of the Sepharvites,
32.they also feared Jehovah, and made for themselves from the lowest of them priests of the high places, and they ministered for them in the houses of the high places.
33. They feared Jehovah and served their own gods according to the way of the nations from which they had removed them.
34. Unto this day, they do according to the former ways. They do not fear Jehovah, and they do not do according to their statutes or according to their custom, or according to the law, or according to the commandment that Jehovah commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel.
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2Kings 18
¶1. And it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea ben-Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah ben-Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.
2. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.
3. And he did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.
4. He removed the high places, and broke the pillars to pieces, and cut down the Asherah, and he crushed to powder the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for unto those days, the children of Israel had been burning incense to it, and he called it Nehushtan.[4]
5. He trusted in Jehovah, God of Israel, and after him, there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him,
6.for he clung to Jehovah. He did not turn aside from following Him, but kept the commandments which Jehovah commanded Moses,
7.and Jehovah was with him. Wherever he went, He made him to prosper. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
¶9. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea ben-Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria and besieged it.
10. And at the end of three years, they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
11. So, the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria and brought them to Halah, and to Habor, the river of Gozan, and cities of the Medes,
12.for they did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed His covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded. They would neither listen nor do them.
¶13. And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.
14. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have sinned. Withdraw from me; whatever you put upon me I will bear.” Then the king of Assyria imposed upon Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15. Therefore, Hezekiah gave over all the silver found in the house of Jehovah and in the treasures of the king’s house.
16. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of the Lord and the doorposts which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and he gave them over to the king of Assyria.
17. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and Rab-Saris, and Rab-Shakeh from Lachish with a massive army to king Hezekiah at Jerusalem, that they should go up and come to Jerusalem. And they went up and came, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool which is on Washer’s Field Road.
18. And they called out to the king. And Eliakim ben-Hilkiah, who was over the house, came out to them, with Shebna the scribe, and Joah ben-Asaph, the recorder.
19. Then Rab-Shakeh said to them, “Speak to Hezekiah, if you will! Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, ‘What is this hope in which you trust?’
20.You say, ‘It is only empty speech! I have counsel and might for battle!’ On whom do you trust now, that you have rebelled against me?
21.Now behold! You rely upon the staff of this broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who are trusting in him.
22.But when you say to me, ‘We trust in Jehovah our God!’ Is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah took away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Before this altar shall you worship in Jerusalem’?
23.So now, if you will, make a pledge with my lord, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.
24. So, how can you repulse the face of one captain of the least of my lord’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariotry and horsemen?
25.Have I now come up without Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it!’”
26. Then Eliakim ben-Hilkiah and Shebna, and Joah said to Rab-Shakeh, “Speak to your servants, I pray, in Aramaic because we understand it, and do not speak with us in Judean within the hearing of the people that are on the wall.”
27. But Rab-Shakeh said to them, “Has my lord sent me to your lord and to you to speak these words? Is it not to the men sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and drink their own urine, with you?”
28. Then Rab-Shakeh stood, and cried out with a loud voice in Judean, and spoke and said, “Hear the word of the great king, king of Assyria!
29.Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah you because he is not able to deliver you out of his hand.
30.And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, “Jehovah will certainly deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
31.Do not give heed to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “Make a treaty of peace with me, and come out to me. Then every man will eat from his vine, and each from his fig tree, and each will drink water from his well
32.until I come and take you away to a land like your own land. A land of grain and new wine, a land of food and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, so you may live and not die.” Therefore, do not give heed to Hezekiah when he tries to persuade you, saying, “Jehovah will deliver us.”
33.Have any of the gods of the nations ever delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
34.Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
35.Which among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah will deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
36. But the people kept silent and did not answer him a word because the king’s order said, “Do not answer him!”
37. Then Eliakim ben-Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah ben-Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their garments torn and reported to him the words of Rab-Shakeh.
2Kings 19
¶1. And it came to pass when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and he went into the house of the Lord.
2. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, who also covered themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz,
3.that they might say to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, and reproof, and blasphemy; children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver.
4.Perhaps Jehovah your God will hear all the words of Rab-Shakeh, whom his lord, the king of Assyria, sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words that Jehovah your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.”
5. And so, the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah.
6. Then Isaiah said to them, “Thus say to your master, thus says Jehovah: ‘Do not be afraid of the words that you heard, with which those boys from the king of Assyria blasphemed me.
7.Behold! I am sending a spirit against him, and he will hear a report and will return to his land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8. Then Rab-Shakeh returned, and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had pulled out from Lachish.
9. And when he heard a report concerning Tirhakah, king of Cush, saying, “Behold, he has come forth to do battle with you,” then he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10.“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
11.Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands by completely destroying them; yet, you will be delivered?
12.Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed deliver them: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
13.Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”
14. And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord. And Hezekiah spread it out before Jehovah.
15. And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim. You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
16.O Jehovah, incline your ear, and hear! O Jehovah, open your eyes, and see! Oh, hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to defy the living God!
17.O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have indeed made desolate the nations and their land,
18.and they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, therefore, they could destroy them.
19.But, O Jehovah our God, deliver us now, I pray, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O Jehovah, are God.”
20. Then Isaiah ben-Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Jehovah, God of Israel: That which you have prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard.
21.This is the word that Jehovah has spoken concerning him, ‘The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you. The daughter of Jerusalem wags her head at you.
22.Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice? Yea, you have lifted your eyes haughtily against the Holy One of Israel!
23.By the hand of your messengers, you have reproached the Lord, and you have said, “By chariotry, my chariotry, I have ascended to the height of the mountains, the slopes of Lebanon, and its tall cedars have I cut down, its choicest cypresses. Yea, I entered into its remotest lodging place, its garden-like forest.
24.I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and I have dried up with the sole of my feet all the streams of Egypt.”
25.Did you not hear that long ago I determined it? From days of old, I planned it. Now, have I brought it to pass that you should make fortified cities desolate, heaps of ruins.
26.Moreover, their inhabitants are feeble-handed. They were dismayed and disconcerted. They were as herbage of the field and as green grass, as grass on the rooftops, and blasted grain before it matures.
27.But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage at me.
28.Because your rage at me and your arrogance have come up into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’
29.And this will be the sign to you: this year, you will eat what grows of itself, and in the second year, what springs up from that, and in the third year, you will sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
30.And the remnant of the house of Judah that escape will again take root downward and produce fruit upward.
31.For out of Jerusalem will come forth a remnant, even those who have escaped from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.
32. Therefore, Jehovah has said thus to the king of Assyria: He will not enter into this city, nor will he shoot an arrow there, nor will he come before it with a shield, nor will he cast a mound against it.
33.He will return by the way he came, and he will not enter into this city, says the Lord!
34.For I will defend this city to save it for my sake, and for the sake of my servant David.”
¶35. And it came to pass that an angel from the Lord went out that night and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. And they arose early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead corpses.
36. So, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went, and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh.
37. And it came to pass, as he was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adramelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. Then Esar-haddon, his son, became king in his stead.
2Kings 20
¶1. In those days, Hezekiah became sick unto death, and Isaiah ben-Amoz the prophet came to him and said to him, “Thus says Jehovah: Put your house in order for you will die and not live.”
2. Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Jehovah, saying,
3. “I pray you, O Jehovah, remember, I pray you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and I have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4. And it came to pass that Isaiah had not gone out into the midst of the city when the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5. “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘Thus says Jehovah, the God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to the house of the Lord.
6.Moreover, I have added to your days fifteen years, and from the hand of the king of Assyria will I deliver you and this city. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’”
7. Then Isaiah said, “Let them take a cake of figs.” So, they took and placed it on the boil, and he lived.
8. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that Jehovah will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?”
9. And Isaiah said, “This will be the sign for you from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?”
10. And Hezekiah said, “It’s an easy thing for the shadow to lengthen ten degrees, not for the shadow to go back ten degrees.”
11. Then Isaiah the prophet called to Jehovah, and He caused the shadow to go backwards ten degrees, according to the degrees which had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.
¶12. At that time, Berodach-baladan ben-Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13. And Hezekiah listened to them. Then he showed them all his treasure-house, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the fragrant oil; and the house of his weapons, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
14. Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came from a distant land, from Babylon.”
15. And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” Then Hezekiah said, “They have seen everything that is in my house. There was nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
16. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:
17.Behold! The days are coming that everything that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up to this day will be carried away to Babylon. Nothing will remain, says Jehovah.
18.And some of your sons that have come forth from you, whom you fathered, will be taken away, and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
19. Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” Moreover, he said, “Will there not be peace and truth in my days?”
20. Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool and the water-course, and brought water into the city, are they not recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
2Kings 21
¶1. And Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2. And he did what was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations that Jehovah had dispossessed before the children of Israel.
3. And he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had torn down, and he erected altars for the Baals, and he made an Asherah,[5] as did Ahaz, King of Israel, and he worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4. And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, where Jehovah had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.”
5. And he built altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.
6. And he sacrificed his sons in the fire,[6] with soothsaying and divination, and he dealt often with a necromancer and one with a familiar spirit, and did what is evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.
7. And he set up a graven image and an Asherah[7], which he had made, in the house of God, concerning which Jehovah said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
8.and Israel’s foot will not again wander from the land that I gave to their fathers. If only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, even to all the law that Moses my servant commanded them.”
9. But they would not hear. And Manasseh caused them to err, to do more of what was evil than the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of evil.
10. And Jehovah spoke by the hand of his servants the prophets, saying,
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2Kings 24
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2Kings 25
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Footnotes
[1] That is, Ahaziah.
[2] Hebrew uncertain.
[3] A sacred tree or pole in honor of Asherah, a Canaanite goddess.
[4] Hebrew, “Bronze (-god)”.
[5] Or, “sacred tree” or “sacred pole”.
[6] LIt., “devoted his sons in the fire”,
[7] Or, “sacred tree” or “sacred pole”.