2 Chronicles 32

English HCSB 2004 - Copyrighted Only For Website

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1After these faithful deeds, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities and intended to break into them.

2Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he planned war on Jerusalem,

3so he consulted with his officials and his warriors about stopping up the waters of the springs that were outside the city, and they helped him.

4Many people gathered and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land; they said, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?"

5Then Hezekiah strengthened his position by rebuilding the entire broken-down wall and heightening the towers and the other outside wall. He repaired the supporting terraces of the city of David, and made an abundance of weapons and shields.

6He set military commanders over the people and gathered the people in the square of the city gate. Then he encouraged them, saying,

7"Be strong and courageous! Don't be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or before all the multitude with him, for there are more with us than with him.

8He has only human strength,but we have the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." So the people relied on the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

9After this, while Sennacherib king of Assyria with all his armed forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem against King Hezekiah of Judah and against all those of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,

10"This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: 'What are you trusting in, you who remain under the siege of Jerusalem?

11Isn't Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he says, "The LORD our God will deliver us from the power of the king of Assyria"?

12Didn't Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem: "You must worship before one altar, and you must burn incense on it"?

13" 'Don't you know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have any of the national gods of the lands been able to deliver their land from my power?

14Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers utterly destroyed was able to deliver his people from my power, that your God should be able to do the same for you?

15So now, don't let Hezekiah deceive you, and don't let him mislead you like this. Don't believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my power or the power of my fathers. How much less will your gods deliver you from my power!'"

16His servants said more against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah.

17He also wrote letters to mock the LORD God of Israel, saying against Him: Just like the national gods of the lands that did not deliver their people from my power, so Hezekiah's God will not deliver His people from my power.

18Then they called out loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall to frighten and discourage them in order that he might capture the city.

19They spoke against the God of Jerusalem like they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the land, which were made by human hands.

20King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven,

21and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every brave warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned with shame to his land. He went to the temple of his god, and there some of his own children cut him down with the sword.

22So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from the power of all others. He gave them rest on every side.

23Many were bringing an offering to the LORD to Jerusalem and valuable gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah, and he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations after that.

24In those days Hezekiah became sick to the point of death, so he prayed to the LORD, and He spoke to him and gave him a miraculous sign.

25However, because his heart was proud, Hezekiah didn't respond according to the benefit that had come to him. So there was wrath upon him, upon Judah, and upon Jerusalem.

26Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart-- he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem-- so the LORD's wrath didn't come on them during Hezekiah's lifetime.

27Hezekiah had abundant riches and glory, and he made himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and every desirable item.

28He made warehouses for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and pens for flocks.

29He made cities for himself, and he acquired herds of sheep and cattle in abundance, for God gave him abundant possessions.

30This same Hezekiah blocked the outlet of the water of the Upper Gihon and channeled it smoothly downward and westward to the city of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did.

31When the ambassadors of Babylon's rulers were sent to him to inquire about the miraculous sign that happened in the land, God left him to test him and discover what was in his heart.

32As for the rest of the events of Hezekiah's [reign] and his deeds of faithful love, note that they are written about in the Visions of the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.

33Hezekiah rested with his fathers and was buried on the ascent to the tombs of David's descendants. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. His son Manasseh became king in his place.

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