2 Chronicles 32 | New International Reader’s Version

New International Reader’s Version

Sennacherib warns Jerusalem

1 Hezekiah had been completely faithful to the LORD. However, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and marched into Judah. Sennacherib surrounded the cities that had high walls around them. He got ready to attack them. He thought he could win the battle over them. He thought he could take them for himself. 2 Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to Jerusalem to fight against it. 3 So he asked his officials and military leaders for advice. He asked them about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city. They gave him the advice he asked for. 4 They gathered together a large group of people. They blocked all the springs. They also blocked the stream that flowed through the land. ‘Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?’ they asked. 5 Then Hezekiah worked hard repairing all the broken parts of the wall. He built towers on it. He built another wall outside that one. He built up the areas that had been filled in around the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields. 6 He appointed military officers over the people. He gathered the officers together in front of him in the open area at the city gate. He gave them words of hope. He said, 7 ‘Be strong. Be brave. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope. The king of Assyria has a huge army with him. But there’s a greater power with us than there is with him. 8 The only thing he has is human strength. But the LORD our God is with us. He will help us. He’ll fight our battles.’ The people had great faith in what Hezekiah, the king of Judah, said. 9 Later Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and all his forces surrounded Lachish. They prepared to attack it. At that time, Sennacherib sent his officers to Jerusalem. They went there with a message for Hezekiah, the king of Judah. The message was also for all the people of Judah who were there. The message said, 10 ‘Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, says, “Why are you putting your faith in what your king says? Why do you remain in Jerusalem when you are surrounded? 11 Hezekiah says, ‘The LORD our God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria.’ But he isn’t telling you the truth. If you listen to him, you will die of hunger and thirst. 12 Didn’t Hezekiah himself remove your god’s high places and altars? Didn’t Hezekiah say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at one altar. You must burn sacrifices on it’? 13 ‘ “Don’t you know what I and the kings who ruled before me have done? Don’t you know what we’ve done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to save their lands from my power? 14 The kings who ruled before me destroyed many nations. Which one of the gods of those nations has been able to save his people from me? So how can your god save you from my power? 15 Don’t let Hezekiah trick you. He’s telling you lies. Don’t believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from my power. No god has been able to save his people from the power of the kings who ruled before me. So your god won’t save you from my power either!” ’ 16 Sennacherib’s officers spoke even more things against the LORD God and his servant Hezekiah. 17 The king also wrote letters against the LORD. His letters made fun of the God of Israel. They said, ‘The peoples of other lands have their gods. But those gods didn’t save their people from my power. So the god of Hezekiah won’t save his people from my power either.’ 18 Then the officers called out in the Hebrew language to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall. They were trying to scare them and make them afraid. That’s because they wanted to capture the city. 19 They were comparing the God of Jerusalem to the gods of the other nations of the world. But those gods were only statues. They had been made by human hands. 20 King Hezekiah cried out in prayer to God in heaven. He prayed about the problem Jerusalem was facing. So did Isaiah the prophet. He was the son of Amoz. 21 The LORD sent an angel. The angel wiped out all the enemy’s fighting men, commanders and officers. He put an end to them right there in the camp of the Assyrian king. So Sennacherib went back to his own land in shame. He went into the temple of his god. There some of his own sons, the people closest to him, killed him with their swords. 22 So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. He saved them from the power of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. He also saved them from all their other enemies. He took care of them on every side. 23 Many people brought offerings to Jerusalem for the LORD. They brought expensive gifts for Hezekiah, the king of Judah. From then on, all the nations thought well of him.

Hezekiah’s pride, success and death

24 In those days Hezekiah became ill. He knew he was about to die. So he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD answered him. He gave him a miraculous sign. 25 But Hezekiah’s heart was proud. He didn’t give thanks for the many kind things the LORD had done for him. So the LORD became angry with him. He also became angry with Judah and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah had a change of heart. He was sorry he had been proud. The people of Jerusalem were also sorry they had sinned. So the LORD wasn’t angry with them as long as Hezekiah was king. 27 Hezekiah was very rich. He received great honour. He made storerooms for his silver and gold. He also made them for his jewels, spices, shields and all kinds of expensive things. 28 He made buildings to store the harvest of corn, fresh wine and olive oil. He made barns for all kinds of cattle. He made sheepfolds for his flocks. 29 He built villages. He gained large numbers of flocks and herds. God had made him very rich. 30 Hezekiah blocked up the upper opening of the Gihon spring. He directed the water to flow down to the west side of the City of David. He had success in everything he did. 31 The rulers of Babylon sent messengers to him. They asked him about the miraculous sign that had taken place in the land. Then God left Hezekiah to test him. God wanted to know everything in Hezekiah’s heart. 32 Hezekiah did many things that showed he was faithful to the LORD. Those things and the other events of his rule are written down. They are written in the record of the vision of the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. That record is part of the records of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 Hezekiah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried on the hill where the tombs of David’s family are. The whole nation of Judah honoured him when he died. So did the people of Jerusalem. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh became the next king after him.

English Standard Version

Sennacherib Invades Judah

1 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them for himself. (2Ki 18:13; Isa 36:1) 2 And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and intended to fight against Jerusalem, 3 he planned with his officers and his mighty men to stop the water of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. 4 A great many people were gathered, and they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” (2Ch 32:30) 5 He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it,^[1] and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. (2Sa 5:9; 2Ch 25:23; Isa 22:9) 6 And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, (2Ch 30:22; Isa 40:2) 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. (De 31:6; 2Ki 6:16; 2Ch 20:15) 8 With 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 took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. (2Ch 15:2; 2Ch 20:17; Jer 17:5)

Sennacherib Blasphemes

9 After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, 10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? 11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 12 Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”? (2Ch 31:1) 13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? 14 Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? 15 Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’” 16 And his servants said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17 And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” 18 And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. 19 And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.

The Lord Delivers Jerusalem

20 Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. 21 And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. (Ps 44:15; Jer 7:19) 22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. 23 And many brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward. (2Ch 17:5)

Hezekiah’s Pride and Achievements

24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he answered him and gave him a sign. (2Ki 20:1; Isa 38:1) 25 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem. (2Ch 19:2; 2Ch 24:18; 2Ch 26:16; Ps 116:12)

2Ch 19:22Ch 24:182Ch 26:16Ps 116:12

26 But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. (2Ch 33:12; Jer 26:18) 27 And Hezekiah had very great riches and honor, and he made for himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of costly vessels; (2Ch 36:10) 28 storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds. 29 He likewise provided cities for himself, and flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great possessions. 30 This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. (1Ki 1:33; 2Ki 20:20; Isa 22:9; Isa 22:11)

1Ki 1:332Ki 20:20Isa 22:9Isa 22:11

31 And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart. (De 8:2; 2Ki 20:12; 2Ch 32:24; Isa 39:1)

De 8:22Ki 20:122Ch 32:24Isa 39:1

32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 33 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. And Manasseh his son reigned in his place. (2Sa 15:30)