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Hezekiah's Illness

¹ At that time Hezekiah became so sick he almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and told him, "This is what the Lord says: Make arrangements because you are not going to live, but die."

² Hezekiah turned toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ "Lord, please remember that I have always obeyed you. I have given myself completely to you and have done what you said was right." Then Hezekiah cried loudly.

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the Lord spoke his word to Isaiah: ⁵ "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, so I will heal you. Three days from now you will go up to the Temple of the Lord. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you and this city from the king of Assyria; I will protect the city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"

⁷ Then Isaiah said, "Make a paste from figs." So they made it and put it on Hezekiah's boil, and he got well.

⁸ Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Temple of the Lord on the third day?"

⁹ Isaiah said, "The Lord will do what he says. This is the sign from the Lord to show you: Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or back ten steps?"

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, "It's easy for the shadow to go forward ten steps. Instead, let it go back ten steps."

¹¹ Then Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten steps back up the stairway of Ahaz that it had gone down.

Messengers from Babylon

¹² At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan was king of Babylon. He sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah was sick. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to the messengers, so he showed them what was in his storehouses: the silver, gold, spices, expensive perfumes, his swords and shields, and all his wealth. He showed them everything in his palace and his kingdom.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men say? Where did they come from?"

Hezekiah said, "They came from a faraway country—from Babylon."

¹⁵ So Isaiah asked him, "What did they see in your palace?"

Hezekiah said, "They saw everything in my palace. I showed them all my wealth."

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Listen to the words of the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘In the future everything in your palace and everything your ancestors have stored up until this day will be taken away to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some of your own children, those who will be born to you, will be taken away. And they will become servants in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

¹⁹ Hezekiah told Isaiah, "These words from the Lord are good." He said this because he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."

²⁰ Everything else Hezekiah did—all his victories, his work on the pool, his work on the tunnel to bring water into the city—is written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. ²¹ Then Hezekiah died, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.