2 Chronicles 32

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1After these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came. He entered Judah, laid siege to the fortified cities and meant to break them open for himself. 2When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and had set his face on war against Jerusalem, 3he took counsel with his officers and his warriors about stopping up the waters of the springs outside the city, and they backed him. 4A great crowd was gathered, and they stopped up all the springs and the stream that ran through the middle of the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. 5He took heart and rebuilt the whole broken wall, raising towers on it, and outside it another wall; he strengthened the Millo of the City of David and made weapons and shields in quantity. 6He put commanders of war over the people, gathered them to him in the square at the city gate and spoke to their heart: 7“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not lose heart before the king of Assyria or before all the horde that is with him, for there is more with us than with him. 8With him is an arm of flesh; with us is Yahweh our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took their support from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

The Taunt of the Assyrians

9After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria — he was at Lachish, with all his dominion behind him — sent his servants to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying: 10“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in, that you sit through a siege in Jerusalem? 11Is Hezekiah not leading you astray, handing you over to die of hunger and thirst, when he says, ‘Yahweh our God will save us from the grip of the king of Assyria’? 12Is this not the same Hezekiah who removed his high places and his altars and told Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall bow down before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense’? 13Do you not know what I and my ancestors have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands ever able to save their land from my hand? 14Which of all the gods of those nations that my ancestors devoted to destruction was able to save his people from my hand, that your God should be able to save you from my hand? 15So now, do not let Hezekiah delude you or lead you astray like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand or from the hand of my ancestors — how much less will your gods save you from my hand!” 16His servants said still more against Yahweh God and against Hezekiah his servant. 17He also wrote letters to insult Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying: “Just as the gods of the nations of other lands did not save their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand.” 18Then they shouted in a loud voice, in the language of Judah, to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and unnerve them, so that they might capture the city. 19They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they would of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands.

Yahweh Saves Jerusalem

20Over this King Hezekiah and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed and cried out to heaven. 21And Yahweh sent an angel, who wiped out every warrior, every leader and every commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he went back to his own land with shame on his face. And when he entered the house of his god, some of his own offspring cut him down there with the sword. 22So Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and he guided them on every side.* 23Many brought offerings to Yahweh in Jerusalem and precious gifts to Hezekiah king of Judah, and from then on he was held high in the eyes of all the nations.

The Last Years of Hezekiah

24In those days Hezekiah fell ill and was close to death. He prayed to Yahweh, who answered him and gave him a sign. 25But Hezekiah did not repay the kindness done to him, for his heart grew proud; and wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 26Then Hezekiah humbled himself over the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of Yahweh did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. 27Hezekiah had very great riches and honour. He made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields and for every kind of costly object; 28and storehouses for the yield of grain, new wine and oil; and stalls for every kind of livestock, and pens for the flocks. 29He made cities for himself, and he had flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great wealth. 30It was this Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and channelled them straight down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did. 31And so it was with the envoys of the officials of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about the sign that had happened in the land: God left him to himself, to test him, to know all that was in his heart. 32The rest of Hezekiah’s acts and his deeds of devotion are written in the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33Hezekiah lay down with his ancestors, and they buried him on the ascent to the tombs of the sons of David. All Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honour at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.