Hezekiah

21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah. He said, "The LORD, the God of Israel, says this. You prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

22So here is what the LORD says about him. The city of Zion is like a young woman. She looks down on you and laughs at you. Jerusalem shakes her head at you as you go.

This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

NoteZion is another name for the city of Jerusalem. Mount Zion is the hill the city was built on. Shaking your head at someone meant you thought they were silly.

23Who is it you made fun of? Who did you say bad things about? Who did you shout at and look at so proudly? You did all this to the Holy One of Israel.

Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

Note"The Holy One of Israel" is a name for God. It means God is good and different from everyone else.

24You sent your servants to make fun of the Lord. You said, 'With my many chariots I climbed the high mountains. I reached the far peaks of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedar trees and its best fir trees. I went into its highest parts and its thickest forest.

By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

NoteChariots were carts pulled by horses that soldiers rode in battle. Lebanon was a land north of Israel covered with tall forests. Its cedar trees were famous and were used to build palaces.

25I dug wells and drank the water. With the soles of my feet I dried up every stream in Egypt.'

I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

NoteThis is the king bragging. He means his army was so huge that it drank whole rivers dry.

26Have you not heard? I decided all this long ago. I planned it in days long past. Now I have made it happen. That is why you can smash strong cities into piles of stones.

Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

27The people in those cities had no strength. They were afraid and ashamed. They were like plants in a field, like soft green shoots. They were like grass on a roof, burned up before it grows.

Therefore 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 be grown up.

NoteRoofs back then were flat and covered with packed dirt. Grass sprouted up there but died fast in the sun. It never lived long enough to be useful.

28But I know when you sit down. I know when you go out and come in. I know how angry you are with me.

But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

29Your anger and your pride have reached my ears. So I will put my hook in your nose. I will put my bit in your mouth. I will turn you around and send you back the way you came.

Because thy rage against me, and 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 camest.

NotePeople put a hook or ring in a big animal's nose. Then they could lead the animal wherever they wanted. A bit is a metal bar that goes in a horse's mouth.

30"Here is a sign for you, Hezekiah. This year you will eat food that grows by itself. Next year you will eat what grows from that. But in the third year you will plant seeds and gather the crop. You will plant grapevines and eat their fruit.

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and 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.

NoteA sign was something that showed God's promise was true. The war had kept people from planting their fields. So for two years they would eat food that came up by itself.

31The people of Judah who are left will be like a plant again. They will grow roots down and fruit up.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

32A few people will come out of Jerusalem. Some will get away safe from Mount Zion. The strong care of the LORD of armies will do this.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

33So the LORD says this about the king of Assyria. He will not come into this city. He will not shoot one arrow into it. He will not come at it with shields. He will not build a ramp of dirt against its wall.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.

NoteArmies piled dirt into a ramp against a city wall. Then soldiers could walk up and climb over. Big shields held together made a wall for soldiers to hide behind.

34He will go back the same way he came. He will not come into this city, says the LORD.

By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

35I will guard this city and save it. I will do it for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David."

For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

NoteDavid was Israel's great king long before Hezekiah was born. God had promised David that his family would keep ruling.

36Then the angel of the LORD went out. He struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of Assyria. When people got up early the next morning, all those men lay dead.

Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

NoteAn angel is a messenger who serves God. A hundred and eighty-five thousand is a huge number of soldiers. It was most of the army camped outside the city.

37So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, left that place. He went back home and stayed in the city of Nineveh.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

NoteNineveh was the largest city in Assyria. It was where the king lived when he was home.

38One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch. His sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him there with a sword. Then they ran away to the land of Armenia. His son Esarhaddon became king after him.

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

NoteNisroch was a god the Assyrians worshiped. A temple is a building made for worshiping a god. Armenia was a land far to the north with high mountains.

1Around that time King Hezekiah got very sick. He was going to die. Isaiah was a prophet, someone who told people what God said. He was the son of Amoz. Isaiah came and said, "The LORD says this. Get your house ready. You will die. You will not get well."

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

NoteHezekiah was the king of Judah, God's people. "Set thine house in order" meant getting everything settled before dying. A king had to say who would rule next.

2Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall. He prayed to the LORD.

Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

NoteTurning his face to the wall meant he wanted to be alone with God. When LORD is written in big letters, it stands for God's own special name.

3He said, "Please, LORD, remember me. I have lived the way you wanted me to live. I gave you my whole heart. I did what you call good." Then Hezekiah cried hard.

And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4Then the LORD gave Isaiah a message. He said,

Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

5"Go and tell Hezekiah this. The LORD, the God of your father David, says: I heard your prayer. I saw your tears. I will add fifteen more years to your life.

Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

NoteDavid was a famous king who lived long before this. He was Hezekiah's family from many years back. "Father" here means a grandfather from long ago.

6I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will keep this city safe.

And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.

NoteAssyria was a strong country with a huge army. Its soldiers came and took over other lands. They were close by, ready to attack this city.

7Here is a sign for you from the LORD. It shows you that the LORD will do what he said.

And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;

NoteA sign is something you can see that shows a promise is true. It is like proof you can point to.

8Look at the shadow on the stairs of King Ahaz. The sun makes it move down the steps. I will make that shadow go back ten steps." And the sunlight did go back ten steps.

Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

NoteAhaz was Hezekiah's father, the king before him. He built a set of stairs that told the time. Each day the sun moved a shadow down the steps.

9This is what Hezekiah, king of Judah, wrote after he was sick and got well.

The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

NoteThis part is a song Hezekiah wrote. People often wrote songs to tell God thank you.

10I said, "My life is being cut short. I must go through the gates of the place of the dead. The rest of my years are taken away from me."

I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

Note"The place of the dead" was where people believed everyone went after dying. They pictured it as a city with gates you walk through.

11I said, "I will never see the LORD again here among living people. I will not see anyone in this world again."

I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

12My home was pulled up and carried away, like a shepherd folding his tent. I rolled up my life like cloth taken off a loom. God cuts me loose from it. From morning to night you are finishing me.

Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

NoteA loom is a wooden frame for weaving thread into cloth. When the cloth is finished, it gets cut off the loom. Shepherds lived in tents and folded them up to move.

13I tried to stay calm until morning came. But like a lion, he breaks all my bones. From morning to night you are finishing me.

I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

14I made thin little sounds, like a bird. I cried softly, like a dove. My eyes grew tired from looking up. LORD, I am hurting. Please help me.

Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.

NoteA dove is a soft gray bird. Its call is low and quiet and sounds sad.

15What can I say? He told me this would happen, and he did it. I will walk slowly all my years, because my heart has been so sad.

What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

Note"I will walk slowly" means he will live quietly and carefully. He would always remember how sad and scared he had been.

16LORD, things like this keep people alive. My spirit stays alive because of them. You made me well again. You let me live.

O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

17It was for my own good that I hurt so much. You loved me and saved me from the deep pit. You threw all my sins behind your back.

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

NoteThe "pit" is a deep hole. Here it is another way of saying dying. Throwing sins behind your back means putting them out of sight. It means God forgave them and would not look at them again.

18The place of the dead cannot thank you. Death cannot praise you. People who go down to the pit cannot hope in your promises.

For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

NoteTo praise someone means to say out loud how good they are.

19Living people, only living people, can thank you. I thank you today. Fathers will tell their children that you keep your word.

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

20The LORD will save me. So we will sing my songs with stringed instruments. We will do this all our lives, in the LORD's house.

The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

NoteStringed instruments are things like harps, played by plucking strings. The LORD's house was the temple in Jerusalem, a big building where people came to worship God.

21Isaiah had said, "Take a lump of squashed figs. Press it onto the sore. Then the king will get well."

For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.

NoteA boil is a red, painful lump on the skin. Figs are a soft, sweet fruit. Long ago, squashed figs pressed on a sore were used as medicine.

22And Hezekiah had asked, "What sign will show me that I will go up to the LORD's house?"

Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

NoteThe temple sat on a hill in the city. So people always said they were going "up" to it.

1About that time, the king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah. That king was Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan. He sent them because he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick and had gotten well.

At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.

NoteBabylon was a strong country far away from where Hezekiah lived. Hezekiah was the king of Judah, the land of God's people. Kings often sent gifts to other kings to make friends with them.

2Hezekiah was glad to see the men. He showed them the room where he kept his treasures. He showed them the silver and the gold. He showed them the spices and the fine, sweet-smelling oil. He also showed them the whole building where he kept his weapons. He showed them everything in his storerooms. There was nothing in his palace, or in all the land he ruled, that Hezekiah did not show them.

And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

NoteSpices are sweet-smelling plants used in food and perfume. The fine oil was rubbed on skin and hair, and it cost a lot. A king usually kept his gold and his weapons secret from other kings.

3Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah. Isaiah asked, "What did those men say to you? Where did they come from?" Hezekiah said, "They came to me from a land far away. They came from Babylon."

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, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.

NoteA prophet was someone who told people what God said.

4Then Isaiah asked, "What did they see in your palace?" Hezekiah answered, "They saw everything in my palace. There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them."

Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.

5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Listen to what the LORD of hosts says.

Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:

NoteIn many Bibles, LORD in big letters stands for God's own special name. The old word "hosts" means armies. So this name means the LORD who leads God's armies in heaven.

6"The day is coming when everything in your palace will be carried away to Babylon. That includes everything your fathers stored up until now. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.

Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

Note"Your fathers" means the kings in his family who lived long before him.

7"Some of your own sons, the children born from your family, will be taken away too. They will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."

And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

NoteThese sons would be boys born in his family many years later. A eunuch was a man who worked inside a king's palace. Eunuchs were changed so they could never have children of their own.

8Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good." He was thinking that there would be peace and safety while he was still alive.

Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

17Then some of the older leaders of the land stood up. They spoke to the whole crowd of people.

Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,

NoteElders were older men that people trusted. They gave advice and helped settle arguments.

18"Micah from Moresheth spoke for God when Hezekiah was king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah what the LORD of Hosts said. The LORD of Hosts is God, who leads armies. Micah said, 'Zion will be plowed up like a farm field. Jerusalem will become piles of broken stones. The temple hill will grow wild like a forest.'"

Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

NoteMicah was a prophet who lived about a hundred years before Jeremiah. Moresheth was his small hometown. Hezekiah was a king of Judah back then. Zion is another name for Jerusalem and for the hill the temple stood on. To plow is to cut up dirt for planting. So Micah said the city would be flattened like an empty farm field.

19"Did King Hezekiah and the people of Judah kill Micah? No. Hezekiah honored the LORD and begged him to be kind. And the LORD changed his mind about the trouble he had promised. But we are about to bring great harm on ourselves."

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.