Study Desk

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(a)(b)

After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib^(c) king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.

When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem,^(d)

he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him.

They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs^(e) and the stream that flowed through the land. "Why should the kings^[a] of Assyria come and find plenty of water?" they said.

Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall^(f) and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces^[b](g) of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons^(h) and shields.

He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words:

"Be strong and courageous.⁽ⁱ⁾ Do not be afraid or discouraged^(j) because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.^(k)

With him is only the arm of flesh,^(l) but with us^(m) is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles."⁽ⁿ⁾ And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish,^(o) he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:

"This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence,^(p) that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?

When Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,' he is misleading^(q) you, to let you die of hunger and thirst.

Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god's high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar^(r) and burn sacrifices on it'?

"Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand?^(s)

Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand?

Now do not let Hezekiah deceive^(t) you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver^(u) his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors.^(v) How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!"

Sennacherib's officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah.

The king also wrote letters^(w) ridiculing^(x) the Lord , the God of Israel, and saying this against him: "Just as the gods^(y) of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand."

Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city.

They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.^(z)

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer^(aa) to heaven about this.

And the Lord sent an angel,^(ab) who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.^(ac)

So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them^[c] on every side.

Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts^(ad) for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord , who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.^(af)

But Hezekiah's heart was proud^(ag) and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord 's wrath^(ah) was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

Then Hezekiah repented^(ai) of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord 's wrath did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.^(aj)

Hezekiah had very great wealth and honor,^(ak) and he made treasuries for his silver and gold and for his precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuables.

He also made buildings to store the harvest of grain, new wine and olive oil; and he made stalls for various kinds of cattle, and pens for the flocks.

He built villages and acquired great numbers of flocks and herds, for God had given him very great riches.^(al)

It was Hezekiah who blocked^(am) the upper outlet of the Gihon^(an) spring and channeled^(ao) the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook.

But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon^(ap) to ask him about the miraculous sign^(aq) that had occurred in the land, God left him to test^(ar) him and to know everything that was in his heart.

The other events of Hezekiah's reign and his acts of devotion are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

Hezekiah rested with his ancestors and was buried on the hill where the tombs of David's descendants are. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

Manasseh King of Judah^(a)(b)

Manasseh^(c) was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord ,^(d) following the detestable^(e) practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles.^(f) He bowed down^(g) to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.

He built altars in the temple of the Lord , of which the Lord had said, "My Name^(h) will remain in Jerusalem forever."

In both courts of the temple of the Lord ,⁽ⁱ⁾ he built altars to all the starry hosts.

He sacrificed his children^(j) in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums^(k) and spiritists.^(l) He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord , arousing his anger.

He took the image he had made and put it in God's temple,^(m) of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.

I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land⁽ⁿ⁾ I assigned to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and regulations given through Moses."

But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.^(o)

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner,^(p) put a hook^(q) in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles^(r) and took him to Babylon.

In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled^(s) himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.

And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.

Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon^(t) spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate^(u) and encircling the hill of Ophel;^(v) he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.

He got rid of the foreign gods and removed^(w) the image from the temple of the Lord , as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city.

Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings^(x) on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord , the God of Israel.

The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

The other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord , the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.^[a]

His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled^(y) himself—all these are written in the records of the seers.^[b](z)

Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried^(aa) in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

Amon^(ac) was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years.

He did evil in the eyes of the Lord , as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made.

But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble^(ad) himself before the Lord ; Amon increased his guilt.

Amon's officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.

Then the people^(ae) of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.