2 Chronicles 32
1 After these events and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came. He invaded Judah, camped against the fortified cities, and intended to conquer them for himself.
2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and was preparing to wage war against Jerusalem,
3 he consulted with his officers and warriors about stopping the water from the springs outside the city, and they supported him.
4 A large crowd gathered, and they 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?”
5 He strengthened himself, rebuilt the entire broken-down wall, raised towers on it, and built another wall outside it. He reinforced the Millo in the City of David and made many weapons for throwing and shields.
6 He appointed commanders over the people, gathered them around him in the square at the city gate, and spoke encouragingly to them:
7 “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or the vast army with him, because we have more with us than he has with him.
8 He has only human strength, but the LORD our God is with us to help us and fight our battles.” The people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9 After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, against Hezekiah king of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem. He himself was at Lachish, with all his forces, and sent this message:
10 “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: ‘What are you relying on, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem?
11 Isn’t Hezekiah misleading you, to make you die of hunger and thirst, when he says, “The LORD our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria”?’”
12 “‘Wasn’t this same Hezekiah the one who removed his high places and altars and told Judah and Jerusalem, “You must bow down before one altar, and burn incense on it”?
13 Don’t you know what my ancestors and I have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of those nations able to rescue their lands from my hand?
14 Which of all the gods of the nations my ancestors destroyed was able to rescue its people from my hand? So how can your God rescue you from my hand?
15 Now, don’t let Hezekiah deceive or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him! No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue its people from my hand or from the hand of my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my hand!’”
16 His servants said even more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.
17 He also wrote letters to insult the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him: “Just as the gods of the nations in other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”
18 They shouted loudly in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them so they could capture the city.
19 They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they did of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are made by human hands.
20 Because of this, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed and cried out to heaven.
21 The LORD sent an angel, who destroyed every mighty warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. The king returned to his land in disgrace, and when he entered the house of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.
22 In this way the LORD rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all their enemies, and he guided them on every side.
23 Many people brought offerings to the LORD in Jerusalem and valuable gifts to Hezekiah king of Judah. After this, he was held in high regard by all the nations.
24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was near death. He prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.
25 But Hezekiah did not repay the good done to him, because his heart became proud. So anger came upon him, Judah, and Jerusalem.
26 Then Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves for the pride in their hearts, and the LORD’s anger did not come upon them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.
27 Hezekiah had great wealth and honor. He made treasuries for himself to store silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and every kind of valuable object.
28 He built storehouses for grain, new wine, and oil, stalls for all kinds of livestock, and pens for the flocks.
29 He built towns for himself and acquired great numbers of flocks and herds, because God had given him very great wealth.
30 It was this same Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them downward, west of the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his work.
31 So it was also when the envoys of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to ask about the sign that had occurred in the land: God left him on his own to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.
32 The rest of Hezekiah’s acts and his acts of faithful love are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
33 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors, and they buried him on the ascent to the tombs of the descendants of David. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
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