Hezekiahs good reign. Rahfhakch's blafphemous outrage. king of Affyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah, three hundred talents of filver, and thirty talents of gold. II. KINGS. 38 And the covenant that I have made with you, ye thall not forget, neither fhall ye fear other gods. 39 But the LORD your God ye fhall fear, and he thall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 40 Howbeit, they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. 41 So these nations feared the LORD, and ferved their graven images, both their chil. dren, and their childrens children: as did their fathers, fo do they unto this day. CHAP. XVIII. Hezekiahs good reign: 4 He deftroyeth idola ry, and profpereth. 9 Samaria is carried captive for their fins. Now centro Palah king of Ifrael, That Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Ow it came to pafs in the third year 2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerufalem: his mothers name alfo was Abi,the daughterof Zachariah. 3 And he did that which was right in the fight of the LORD according to all that David his father did. 49 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen ferpent that Mofes had made for unto thofe days the children of Ifrael did burn incenfe to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in the LORD God of Ifrael fo that after him was none like him amongall the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. 6 For he clave to the LORD, and departed net from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Mofes. 7 And the LORD was with him, and he profpered whitherfoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Affyria, and ferved him not. 8 He fmote the Philistines even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the towre of the watchmen to the fenced city. 9 And it came to pafs in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, (which was the feventh year of Hofhea fon of Elah king of Ifrael) that Shalmanefer king of Affyria came up against Samaria, and befieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they took it, even in the fixth year of Hezekial:( that the ninth year of Hofhea king of Ifrael) Samaria was taken. And the king of Affyria did carry away Ifrael unto Affyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor,by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: 12 Becaufe they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but tranfgrefled his covenant, and all that Mofes the fervant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. 13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, did Sennacherib king of Allyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judab, and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah fent to the king of Affyria to Lachith, faying, I have offended, return from me: that which thou putteft on me, I will bear. And the 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the filver that was found in the houfe of the LORD, and in the treatures of the kings house. 16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Affyria. 17 And the king of Affyria fent Tartan, and Rabfaris, and Rab-thakeh from La chich, to king Hezekiah with a great hest against Jerufalem: and they went up and came to Jerufalem: and when they were duit of the upper pool, which is in the highcome up, they came and stood by the conway of the fullers field. 18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the fon of Hilkiah, which was over the houthold, and Shebna the fcribe, and Joah the fon of Afaph the recorder. 10 And Rabfhakeh faid unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus faith the great king, the king of Affyria, What confidence this wherein thou trufteft? 20 Thou fayeft, (but they are but vain words) I have counfel and frength for the war: now on whom doft thou truft, that thou rebelleft against me? 21 Now behold, thou trufteft upon the ftaff of this bruited reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it: fo Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. 22 But if ye fay unto me, We truft in the LORD our God not that he whefe high places, and whofe altars Hezekiah hath taken away,and hath jaid to Judah, and Jerufalem, Ye fhall fhorshipbefore this altar in ferufalem? 23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Affyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horles, if thou be able on thy part to fet riders upon them. 24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the leaft of my mafters fervants, and put thy truft on Egypt for chariots and for horfemen? 25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to deftroy it the LORD faid to me, Go up against this land and destroy it. 26 Then faid Eliakim the fon of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-thakeh Speak, I pray thee, to thy fervants in the Syrian language, (for we understand ir) and talk not with us in the Jews language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall 27 But Rab-hakeh faid unto them, Hath my mafter fent me to thy master, and to thee, to fpeak these words? hath he not feat me to the men which fit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own pifs with you? 28 Then Rab-hakel food and cried with 29 Thus faith the king, Let not Hezekial Hezekiah comforted, and his prayer answered. to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the fword in his own land. Chap. xix. 30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, faying, The LORD will furely deliver us, and this city fhall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Affyria. 31 Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus faith the king of Affyria, Make an agreement with me by a prefent, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his ciftern: 32 Until I come and take you away to a Jand like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oyl-olive, and of hony, that ye may live and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he perfwadeth you, faying, The, LORD will deliver us. 31 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Aflyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand? 35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the LORD hould deliver Jerufalem out of mine hand? 36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the kings commandment was, faying, Anfwer him CHAP. XIX. 1 Hezekiah mourning, fenderh to Ifaiah to Pray for them: 6 He comforteth them. 8 Sennacherib fendeth a blafphemous letter to Hezekiah 14 Hezekiahs prayer: 35 An angel Cayeth the Alyrians. 36 Sennacherib flat by bis own fons. Nd it came to pafs when king Hezekiah A heard it, that he rent his cloaths, and covered himself with fackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. 2 And he fent Eliakim which was over the houthold, and Shebna the feribe, and the elders of the pricfts, covered with fackcloth, to Ifaiah the prophet the fon of Amoz. 8 So Rab-hakeh returned, and found the king of Affyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachith. 9 And when he heard fay of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he fent meffengers again unto Hezekiah, faying, 10 Thus fhall ye fpeak to Hezekiah king of Judah, faying, Let not thy God in whom thou truffeft, deceive thee, faying, Jerufalem fhall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Affyria. 11 Behold, thou haft heard what the kings of Affyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and fhalt thou be delivered 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have deftroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelafar? 13 Where the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? 14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the meffengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and fpread it before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and faid, O LORD God of Ifrael which dwell eft between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou haft made heaven and earth. 16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and fee: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath fent him to reproach the living God. 17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Affyria have deftroyed the nations, and their lands, 18 And haye caft their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of mens hands, wood and tone: therefore they have them. 19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beleech thee, fave thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only. 20 q Then Ifaiah the fan of Amos fent to Hezekiah, faying, Thus faith the LORD God of Ifrael, that which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Afуría, I have 3. And they faid unto him, Thus faith He-heard. zekiah, This day a day of trouble, and of rebuke and blafphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not ftrength to bring forth. 4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rab-fhaken whom the king of Affyria his mafter hath fent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up by prayer for the remnant that are left. So the fervants of king Hezekiah came to Ifaiah. 6 And Ifaiah faid unto them, Thus fhall ye fay to your mafter, Thus faith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hatt heard, with which the fervants of the king of Affyria have blafphemed me. 7 Behold, I will lend a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and fhall return 21 This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him, The virgin, the daughter of Zion hath defpiled thee, and laughed thee tofcorn, the daughter of Jerufalem hath fhaken her head at thee. 22 Whom haft thou reproached and blafphemed? and against whom haft thou exalted thy voice, and lift up thine eyes on high? even against the holy One of Ifrael. 23 By thy meffengers thou haft reproached the LORD, and haft laid, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the fides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar-trees thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the foreft of his Carmel. 24 I have digged and drunk ftrange wa ters, and with the fole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of befieged places. 25 Haft Hezekiah's sickness and recovery. II. KINGS. 25 Haft thou not heard long ago, how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have 1 brought it to pifs, that thou shouldft be to lay wafte fenced cities into ruinous heaps. 16 Therefore their inhabitants were of fmall power, they were difmayed, and confounded, they were as the grafs of the field, and the green herb, the grafs on the house-tops, and as corn blafted before it be grown up. 27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 28 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will pat my hook in thy nofe, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou cameft. 29 And this fhall be a fign unto thee, Ye fhall eat this year fuch things as grow of themselves, and in the fecond year that which fpringeth of the fame, and in the third year fow ye and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. 30 And the remnant that is efcaped of the houfe of Judah, fhall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerufalem thall go forth a remnant, and they that efcape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hofis fhall do this. 32 Therefore thus faith the LORD, concerning the king of Affyria, He fhall not come into this city, nor foot an arrow there, nor come before it with fhield, nor caft a bank against it. 31 By the way that he came, by the fame fhall he return, and fhall not come into this city, faith the LORD. 34 For I will defend this city to fave it, for mine own fake, and for my fervant Da-vids fake. 35qAnd it came to pafs that night, that the angelo f the LORD went out, and fmote in the camp of the Allyrians, an hundred fouricore and five thoufund: and when they arote early in the morning, behold, they were Fall dead corpfes. 36 So Sennacherib king of Affyria, departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pafs, as he was worhipping in the house of Nifroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his fons fmote him with the fword: and they efcaped into the land of Armenia; and Efar-haddon his -fon reigned in his stead. CHAP. XX. Hezekiah receiving a meage of death, by prayer bath his life lengthned. 8 The fun goeth ten degrees backward for a fign. 20 Ma naer fucceedeth him. Ideatore day she proper Kaiah the fon of Amoz came to him, and faid unto him, Thas 2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and praved unto the LORD, faying, 3 I befeech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in trath, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy fight: and Hezekiah wept fore. 5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the ca ptain of my people, Thus faith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have feen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up unto the houfe of the LORD. 6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen And Ifaiah faid, Take a lump of figs. he recovered. 8 And Hezekiah faid unto Isaiah, What Shall be the fign that the LORD will heal me, and that I fhall go up into the house of the LORD the third day? 9 And Ifaiah faid, This fign fhalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath fpoken: fhall the thadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? 10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the fhadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the fhadow return backward ten degrees. 11. And Ifaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD, and he brought the fhadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz. 12 At that time, Berodach-baladan the fon of Baladan, king of Babylon, fent letters and a prefent unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been fick. 13 And Hezekiah hearkned unto them,ar fhewed them all the houfe of his precious things, the filver, and the gold, and the fpices, and the precious ointment, and all the houfe of his armour, and all that was found in his treafures: there was nothing in his houfe, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah fhewed them not. 149 Then came Ifaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and faid unto him, What faid these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah faid, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon. 15 And he faid, What have they feen in thine houfe? And Hezekiah answered, All the things that are in mine house have they feen: there is nothing among my treasures, that I have not thewed them. 16 And Ifaiah faid unto Hezekiah, Hear 17 Behold, the days come, that all that 18 And of thy fons that fhall iffue from 1 19 Then faid Hezekiah unto Ifaiah, Good the word of the LORD which thou haft fpoken. And he faid, Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days? 20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and Manaffehs wicked reign. Chap. xxj, xxij. and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the Catonicles of the kings of Judah? 21 And Hezekiah lept with his fathers: and Manaffen his lon reigned in his ftead. CHAP. XXI. 1 Manaffehs reign. 3His great idolatry. 19 Amont wicked reign. 23 He being flain, fofiah is made king. Mbegan to reign, and reigned hity and five years in Jerufalem: and his mothers name was Hephzi-bal. Anaffeh was twelve years old, when he 2 And he did that which was evil in the fight of the LORD after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cait out before the children of Ifrael. 3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed,and he reared up altarsforBaal and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Ifrael, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and ferved them. 4 And he built altars in the houle of the LORD, of which the LORD faid, In Jerulalem will I put my name. 5 And he built altars for all the hoft of heaven, in the two courts of the houfe of the LORD. 6And he made his fon pafs through the fire, and oblerved times,and ufed enchantments, and dealt with familiar fpirits,and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the fight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. And he fet a graven image of the grove that he had made in the houfe of which the LORD faid to David, and to Solomon his fon, In this house, and in Jerufalem which I have chofen out of all tribes of Ifrael, will I put my name for ever. 8 Neither will I make the feet of Ifrael move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will oblerve to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my fervant Mofes commanded them. But they hearned not: and Manaffeh feduced them to do more evil than did the nations, whom the LORD deftroyed before the children of Ifrael. 10 And the LORD fpake by his fervants the prophets, faying, 11 Becaufe Manateh king of Jadah hath done thefe abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah alio to fin with his idols: 12 Therefore thus faith the LORD God of Ifrael, Behold, I am bringing fuck evil upon Jerufalem and judah, that whotoever heareth of it, both his ears thall tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerufalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the houfe of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerufalem as 4 wipeth a difh, wiping it, and turning it aplide down. 14 And I will forfake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they thall become a prey, and a fpoil to all their enemies; 15 Because they have done that which was evil in my fight, and have provoked me to anger fince the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day. Jofiah repaireth the temple. 16 Moreover, Manaffel had innocent blood very mach, he had fred Jerufalem from one end to another, befide his fin wherewith he made Judah to fin, in doing that which was evil in the fight of the LORD. 17 Now the reft of the acts of Manaffel and all that he did, and his fin that he finned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? and was buried in the garden of his own houfe, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his fon reigned in his ftead. 18 And Manaffeh lept with his fathers, 19 ¶ Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerufalem: and his mothers name was Mefhullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did that which was evil in the fight of the LORD,as his father Manaffeh did. 21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and ferved the idols that his father ferved, and worshipped them: zz And he forfook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD. 23 And the fervants of Amon confpired against him, and flew the king in his own houfe. 24And the people of the land flew all then that had conspired against king Amon, and the people of the land made foliah his fon king in his ftead. 25 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? 26 And he was buried in his fepulchre, in the garden of Uzzah: and Jofiah his fon reigned in his ftead. CHAP. XXII. Jofiahs good reign. 3 He tabeth care for the repair of the temple. 8 Hilkiah findeth the book of the law. 15 Huldah pro befieth the deftruction of Jerufalera. "Oliah was eight old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one yetra in Jerufalem: and his mothers name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bofcath. 2 And he did that which was right in the fight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not afide to the right hand or to the left. 3 And it came to pafs in the eighteenth year of king Jofiah,that the king fent Shaphan the fon of Azaliah, the fon of Melhullam the feribe, to the houte of the LORD, faying, 4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may fum the filver which is brought into the hoale of the LORD, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people. And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the overfight of the house of the LORD: and let thein give it to the doers of the work which is in the houfe of the LORD, to repair the brea ches of the house, 6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and mafons, and to buy timber, and hewen ftone to repair the houfe. Howbeit, there was no reckoning made with them, of the money that was deliver ed into their hand, because they dealt faithfully. 89 And N The book of the law read. John defroseth idolatry. neweth the covenant of the Lord, 4 and de froyoth idolatry. II. KINGS. 8 And Hilkiah the high priest faid unto Shaphan the fcribe, I have found the book The law in the house of the LORD: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 And Shaphan the fcribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and faid, Thy fervants have gathered the money that was found in the houfe, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the overfight of the houte of the LORD. 10 And Shaphan the fcribe fhewed the king, faying, Hilkiah the prieit hath delivered me a book: and Shaphan read it before the king And it came to pafs when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his cloaths. 12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the fon of Shiphan, and Achbor the fon of Michaiah, and Shaphan the teribe, and Afahiah the fervant of the kings, faying, Go ye,enquire of the LORD for me,and for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that is found: for great the wrath of the LORD that is kindied against us, because our fathers have not hearkned unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. 14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Afahiah,went unto Huldah the prophetefs, the wife of ShalJum the fon of Tikvah, the fon of Hathas, keeper of the wardrobe, (now the dwelt in Jerufalem in the college and they commu ned with her. 15 And the faid unto them, Thus faith the LORD God of Ikael, Tell the man that fent you to me. 46 Thus faith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read. to him all the elders of Judah and of Nd the king fent, and they gathered unJerufalem. 2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both fall 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. 17 Because they have forfaken me, and have burnt incenfe unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands: therefore my wrath hall be kindled against this place, and fhall not be quenched. 34 And the king ftood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his teftimonies, and his itatutes, with all their heart, and all their foul, to perform the words of this covenant, that were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant. 48 But to the king of Judah which fent you zo enquire of the LORD, thus fhall ye fay to him, Thas faith the LORD God of 1 rael. A touching the words which thou haft heard; 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high prieft, and the priests of the fecond order, and the keepers of the door to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD, all the veffels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the hoft of heaven: and he burnt them without Jerufalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el. 19 Becanfe thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thy felf before the LORD, when thou heardeft what I fpake againft this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a defolation and a curfe, and haft rent thy cloaths, and wept before me: I also have heard thee, faith the LORD. 5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incenfe in the high places, in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerufalem, them alfo that burnt incenfe unto Baal, to the fun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerufalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burnt it at the brook Kidron,and ftampt it fmail to powder, and caft the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. And he brake down the houses of the fodomites that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. 8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high-places where the prieits had burnt incente from Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the i high places of the gates, that were in the ertring in of the gate of Joshua the governour of the city, which were on a mans left hand at the gate of the city. 9 Nevertheless the priests of the high pla ces came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerufalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. 10And he dehled Topheth which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that do man might make his fon or his daughter to pas through the fire to Molech. 11 And he took away the horfes that the kings of Judah had given to the fun, at the entring in of the houfe of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech the chamberlain, which was in the fuburbs, and burnt the cha riots of the fun with fire. 20 Behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace, and thine eves thall not fee all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word 12 And the altars that were on the top of .again. the upper chamber of Ahraz which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Jofiah baufeth the book to be read. He re- Manatich had made in the two courts of the CHAP. XXIII. house |