2 Chronicles 32

¹After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, intending to break into them for himself.

²And Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that his face was set for battle against Jerusalem.

³And he took counsel with his officials and his mighty warriors to stop up the waters of the springs that were outside the city, and they helped him.

⁴And many people gathered together, and they stopped up all the springs and the stream that flows through the midst of the land, saying, 'Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?'

⁵He strengthened himself and built up all the wall that had been broken through, and raised it above the towers; and outside the wall, another wall; and he reinforced the Millo of the City of David, and made javelins in abundance and shields.

⁶And he appointed commanders of war over the people, and gathered them to himself to the square of the city gate, and spoke to their hearts, saying,

⁷Be strong and be courageous! Do not fear and do not be dismayed before the king of Assyria and before all the multitude that is with him, for with us is one greater than with him.

⁸With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles. And the people leaned on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem — while he himself was at Lachish with all his forces — to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying:

¹⁰Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: On what are you trusting, sitting under siege in Jerusalem?

¹¹Is not Hezekiah misleading you, to hand you over to die by famine and thirst, saying, The LORD our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria?

¹²Is it not he, Hezekiah, who removed his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, 'Before one altar you shall bow down, and upon it you shall burn offerings'?

¹³Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands at all able to deliver their land from my hand?

¹⁴Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers utterly destroyed was able to rescue his people from my hand, that the God of you all should be able to rescue you all from my hand?

¹⁵And now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand and from the hand of my fathers; how much less will the gods of you all deliver you from my hand!

¹⁶And his servants continued to speak against the Lord God and against Hezekiah his servant.

¹⁷And letters he wrote to revile the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, 'Like the gods of the nations of the lands who did not rescue their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.'

¹⁸And they called out in a loud voice in Judahite to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and to dismay them, so that they might capture the city.

¹⁹And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem as against the gods of the peoples of the earth — the work of human hands.

²⁰And Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, prayed concerning this, and they cried out to heaven.

²¹And the LORD sent a messenger and annihilated every mighty warrior and leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned in shame of face to his land. And he came into the house of his god, and there those who came forth from his own bowels felled him with the sword.

²²And the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all; and he guided them from all around.

²³And many were bringing offerings to the LORD to Jerusalem, and precious gifts to Hezekiah king of Judah; and he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations from that time on.

²⁴In those days Hezekiah was ill to the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD; and he spoke to him and gave him a sign.

²⁵But Hezekiah did not repay according to the benefit done to him, for his heart grew proud, and wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶And Hezekiah humbled himself in the loftiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷And Hezekiah had riches and honor in very great abundance, and he made storehouses for himself for silver and for gold and for precious stone and for spices and for shields and for all manner of desirable vessels.

²⁸and storehouses for the produce of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and flocks for the stalls.

²⁹He also built cities for himself, and livestock — flocks and herds — in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions.

³⁰And it was he, Hezekiah, who blocked up the outlet of the waters of Gihon the Upper, and directed them downward westward to the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

³¹And so it was with the envoys of the officials of Babylon, who had sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land — God left him to test him, to know all that was in his heart.

³²And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his faithful deeds — they are written in the vision of Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

³³And Hezekiah lay down with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the residents of Jerusalem showed him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place.