20
1 In
those days
Hezekiah was sick
and dying. Isaiah
the prophet the
son of Amoz came
to him, and said
to him, “The
LORD says, ‘Set
your house in
order; for you
will die, and
not live.’ ”
2 Then
he turned his
face to the
wall, and prayed
to the LORD,
saying,
3 “Remember
now, LORD, I
beg you, how
I have walked
before you in truth
and with a
perfect heart, and
have done that
which is good
in your sight.”
And Hezekiah wept
bitterly.
4 Before
Isaiah had gone
out into the
middle part of the
city, the LORD’s
word came to
him, saying,
5 “Turn
back, and tell
Hezekiah the
prince of my
people, ‘The LORD,
the God of
David your father,
says, “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 LORD’s
house.
6 I
will add to
your days fifteen
years. I will
deliver you and
this city out
of the hand
of the king
of Assyria. I will
defend this city
for my own sake,
and for my
servant David’s
sake.” ’ ”
7 Isaiah said,
“Take a cake
of figs.”
They took and
laid it on
the boil, and
he recovered.
8 Hezekiah said
to Isaiah, “What
will be the sign
that the LORD
will heal me,
and that I
will go up
to the LORD’s
house the third
day?”
9 Isaiah
said, “This will
be the sign to
you from the
LORD, that the
LORD will do
the thing that
he has spoken:
should the shadow
go forward ten
steps, or go
back ten steps?”
10 Hezekiah
answered, “It is
a light thing
for the shadow
to go forward ten
steps. No, but
let the shadow
return backward ten
steps.”
11 Isaiah
the prophet cried
to the LORD;
and he brought
the shadow ten
steps backward, by
which it had
gone down on
the sundial of Ahaz.
12 At
that time Berodach
Baladan the son
of Baladan, king
of Babylon, sent
letters and a
present to
Hezekiah, for he
had heard that
Hezekiah had been
sick.
13 Hezekiah
listened to them,
and showed them
all the storehouse
of his precious
things—the silver,
the gold, the
spices, and the
precious oil, and
the house of
his armor, and
all that was
found in
his treasures. There
was nothing in
his house, or
in all his
dominion, that
Hezekiah didn’t show
them.
14 Then
Isaiah the prophet
came to King
Hezekiah, and said
to him, “What
did these men say?
From where did
they come to
you?”
Hezekiah said, “They
have come from
a far country, even
from Babylon.”
15 He
said, “What have
they seen in
your house?”
Hezekiah answered, “They
have seen all
that is in
my house. There
is nothing among
my treasures that
I have not
shown them.”
16 Isaiah
said to Hezekiah,
“Hear the LORD’s
word.
17 ‘Behold,
the days come that
all that is
in your house,
and that which
your fathers have
laid up in store
to this day,
will be carried
to Babylon. Nothing
will be left,’
says the LORD.
18 ‘They
will take away
some of your
sons who will
issue from you,
whom you will
father; and they
will be eunuchs
in the palace
of the king
of Babylon.’ ”
19 Then
Hezekiah said to
Isaiah, “The LORD’s
word which you
have spoken is
good.” He said
moreover, “Isn’t it
so, if peace
and truth will
be in my
days?”
20 Now
the rest of
the acts of
Hezekiah, and all
his might, and
how he made
the pool, and
the conduit, and
brought water into
the city, aren’t
they written in
the book of
the chronicles of
the kings of
Judah?
21 Hezekiah
slept with
his fathers, and
Manasseh his son
reigned in his
place.