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2 Kings 18-25
New American Standard Bible

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it came about (A)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that (B)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. 2 He was (C)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 (D)He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that his father David had done. 4 (E)He removed the high places and smashed the memorial stones to pieces, and cut down the [a]Asherah. He also crushed to pieces (F)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel had been burning incense to it; and it was called [b]Nehushtan. 5 (G)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; and (H)after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. 6 For he (I)clung to the Lord; he did not desist from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

7 (J)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he was successful. And (K)he revolted against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 (L)He [c]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from (M)watchtower to fortified city.

9 Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, (N)Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it. 10 And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was (O)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 Then the king of Assyria led Israel into exile to Assyria, and put them in (P)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 This happened because they (Q)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but violated His covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of Judah

13 (R)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent messengers to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “(S)I have done wrong. [d]Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will endure.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah the payment of three hundred [e]talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 (T)Hezekiah then gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

17 Then the king of Assyria sent (U)Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the (V)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the [f]fuller’s field. 18 Then they called to the king, and (W)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, (X)Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

19 And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “(Y)What is this confidence that you [g]have? 20 You say—but they are only [h]empty words—‘I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, (Z)that you have revolted against me? 21 Now behold, you have [i](AA)relied on the [j]support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his [k]hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. 22 However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and (AB)whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23 Now then, [l]come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then can you drive back even [m]one [n]official of the least of my master’s servants, and [o]rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I now come up without [p]the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we [q]understand it; and do not speak with us in [r](AC)Judean [s]so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” 27 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

28 Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, [t]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: ‘(AD)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from [u]my hand. 30 And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make [v]your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, (AE)each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you (AF)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will save us.” 33 (AG)Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 (AH)Where are the gods of Hamath and (AI)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and [w](AJ)Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, (AK)that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s [x]command: “Do not answer him.” 37 Then (AL)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah (AM)with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 (AN)Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he (AO)tore his clothes, (AP)covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, (AQ)covered with sackcloth, to (AR)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 (AS)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent (AT)to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for (AU)the remnant that is [y]left.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the (AV)servants of the king of Assyria (AW)have blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that (AX)he will hear news and return to his own land. And (AY)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against (AZ)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (BA)Lachish. 9 When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of [z]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of [aa]Judah: ‘Do not (BB)let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “(BC)Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 12 (BD)Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: (BE)Gozan, (BF)Haran, Rezeph, and (BG)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (BH)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Then (BI)Hezekiah took the [ab]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and [ac]spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, [ad](BJ)enthroned above the cherubim, (BK)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 (BL)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; (BM)open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent (BN)to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have [ae]hurled their gods into the fire; (BO)for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, (BP)so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, (BQ)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, (BR)I have heard you.’ 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

‘She, (BS)the virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you and mocked you;
She, the daughter of Jerusalem, (BT)has shaken her head behind you!
22 Whom have you (BU)taunted and (BV)blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And [af]haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the (BW)Holy One of Israel!
23 (BX)Through your messengers you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I went up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choicest junipers.
And I entered its farthest resting place, its (BY)thickest forest.
24 I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the soles of my feet I (BZ)dried up
All the streams of Egypt.”

25 ‘(CA)Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
(CB)Now I have brought it about,
That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.
26 Therefore their inhabitants were [ag]powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame.
They were (CC)like the vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.
27 But (CD)I know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 Because of your raging against Me,
And because your complacency has come up to My ears,
I (CE)will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And (CF)I will turn you back by the way by which you came.

29 ‘Then this shall be (CG)the sign for you: [ah]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 (CH)The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors (CI)out of Mount Zion. (CJ)The zeal of [ai]the Lord will perform this.

32 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “(CK)He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. 33 (CL)By the way that he came, by [aj]the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘(CM)For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and (CN)for My servant David’s sake.’”

35 (CO)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of [ak]the 185,000 were [al]dead. 36 So (CP)Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and [am]returned home, and lived at (CQ)Nineveh. 37 Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that [an](CR)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to (CS)the land of Ararat. And his son (CT)Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 (CU)In those days Hezekiah became [ao]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘(CV)Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Please, Lord, just (CW)remember (CX)how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And (CY)Hezekiah wept [ap]profusely. 4 And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 “Return and say to (CZ)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “(DA)I have heard your prayer, (DB)I have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add fifteen years to your [aq]life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and (DC)I will protect this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” 7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.

8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” 9 Isaiah said, “(DD)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” 10 So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.” 11 Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and (DE)He brought the shadow on the [ar]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the [as]stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

12 (DF)At that time [at]Berodach-baladan, a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah listened to [au]them, and showed them (DG)all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the balsam oil, the [av]scented oil, the house of his armor, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah [aw]answered, “They have seen everything that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when (DH)everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘And some (DI)of your sons who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become (DJ)officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is (DK)good.” For he [ax]thought, “Is it not good, if there will be peace and [ay]security in my days?”

20 (DL)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he (DM)constructed the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 (DN)So Hezekiah [az]lay down with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah

21 (DO)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 (DP)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (DQ)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord [ba]dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For (DR)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and (DS)he erected altars for Baal and made an [bb]Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he (DT)worshiped all the heavenly [bc]lights and served them. 4 And (DU)he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “(DV)In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 He built altars for (DW)all the heavenly [bd]lights in (DX)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. 6 And (DY)he made his son pass through the fire, (DZ)interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then (EA)he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “(EB)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I (EC)will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh (ED)encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.

The King’s Idolatries Rebuked

10 Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “(EE)Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, (EF)having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and (EG)has also misled Judah into sin (EH)with his idols, 12 therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, (EI)both of his ears will ring. 13 (EJ)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”

16 (EK)Furthermore, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem [be]from one end to another, besides his sin (EL)into which he misled Judah, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 (EM)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did, and his sin which he [bf]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 (EN)And Manasseh [bg]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, (EO)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon became king in his place.

Amon Succeeds Manasseh

19 (EP)Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (EQ)just as his father Manasseh had done. 21 For he walked [bh]entirely in the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served, and worshiped them. 22 So (ER)he abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. 23 And (ES)the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. 24 Then (ET)the people of the land [bi]killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his grave (EU)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

Josiah Succeeds Amon

22 (EV)Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of (EW)Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked [bj]entirely in the way of his father David, and did not (EX)turn aside to the right or to the left.

3 Now (EY)in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying, 4 “(EZ)Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, and have him [bk]count all the money brought into the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 (FA)And have them hand it over to the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and have them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord to repair the [bl]damage to the house: 6 to the carpenters, the builders, the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house. 7 However, (FB)no accounting shall be made with them for the money handed over to them, because they deal honestly.”

The Lost Book

8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “(FC)I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have handed it over to the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Moreover, Shaphan the scribe informed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, (FD)he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, (FE)Ahikam the son of Shaphan, [bm](FF)Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for (FG)the wrath of the Lord that burns against us is great, because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, to act in accordance with everything that is written regarding us.”

Huldah Predicts

14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of [bn](FH)Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (and she lived in Jerusalem in the (FI)Second Quarter); and they spoke to her. 15 Then she said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to (FJ)bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. 17 (FK)Since they have abandoned Me and have burned incense to other gods so that they may provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.’” 18 But to (FL)the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, this is what you shall say to him: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, 19 (FM)since your heart was tender and (FN)you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become (FO)an object of horror and a (FP)curse, and you have (FQ)torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,’ declares the Lord.” 20 Therefore, behold, I am going to gather you to your fathers, and (FR)you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not look at all the devastation that I am going to bring on this place.’” So they brought back word to the king.

Josiah’s Covenant

23 (FS)Then the king sent messengers, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord and every man of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, the prophets, and all the people, from the small to the great; and (FT)he read in their [bo]presence all the words of the Book of the Covenant (FU)which was found in the house of the Lord. 3 And (FV)the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, (FW)to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His provisions, and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people [bp]entered into the covenant.

Reforms under Josiah

4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, (FX)the priests of the second order, and the [bq]doorkeepers (FY)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for [br]Asherah, and for all the heavenly [bs]lights; and (FZ)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining (GA)heavenly [bt]lights. 6 He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and (GB)ground it to dust, and (GC)threw its dust on the graves of the [bu]common people. 7 And he tore down the cubicles of the (GD)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where (GE)the women were weaving [bv]hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from (GF)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9 Nevertheless (GG)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 (GH)He also defiled [bw]Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (GI)so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for (GJ)Molech. 11 And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the (GK)sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the [bx]covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The king also tore down (GL)the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and (GM)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he [by]smashed them there and (GN)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of (GO)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (GP)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for (GQ)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. 14 (GR)He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the [bz]Asherim, and (GS)filled their places with human bones.

15 Furthermore, (GT)the altar that was at Bethel and the (GU)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he (GV)burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it (GW)in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “(GX)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed (GY)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were (GZ)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, [ca]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them [cb]just as he had done in Bethel. 20 And (HA)he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.

Passover Reinstituted

21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “(HB)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God (HC)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 (HD)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.

24 Moreover, Josiah removed (HE)the mediums, the spiritists, the [cc](HF)household idols, (HG)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, (HH)so that he might [cd]fulfill the words of the Law which were written (HI)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king (HJ)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

26 Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, (HK)because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will also remove Judah from My sight, (HL)just as I have removed Israel. And (HM)I will reject this city which I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the [ce]temple of which I said, ‘My name shall be there!’”

Jehoahaz Succeeds Josiah

28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 29 (HN)In his days (HO)Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at (HP)Megiddo. 30 (HQ)His servants carried [cf]his body in a chariot from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. (HR)Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

31 (HS)Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was (HT)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (HU)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done. 33 And (HV)Pharaoh Neco imprisoned him at (HW)Riblah in the land of (HX)Hamath, so that he would not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a fine of [cg]a hundred talents of silver and [ch]a talent of gold.

Jehoiakim Made King by Pharaoh

34 Then Pharaoh Neco made (HY)Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of his father Josiah, and he (HZ)changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz and [ci](IA)brought him to Egypt, and he died there. 35 So Jehoiakim (IB)gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh, but he assessed the land in order to give the money at the [cj]command of Pharaoh. He collected the silver and gold from the people of the land, each according to his assessment, to give to Pharaoh Neco.

36 (IC)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. 37 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (ID)in accordance with all that his forefathers had done.

Babylon Controls Jehoiakim

24 (IE)In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and revolted against him. 2 And the Lord sent against him (IF)bands of Chaldeans, (IG)bands of Arameans, (IH)bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. He sent them against Judah to destroy it, (II)in accordance with the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets. 3 (IJ)It indeed came upon Judah at the [ck]command of the Lord, to remove them from His sight (IK)due to the sins of Manasseh, in accordance with everything that he had done, 4 and (IL)also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord was unwilling to forgive. 5 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

Jehoiachin Reigns

6 So (IM)Jehoiakim [cl]lay down with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin became king in his place. 7 Now (IN)the king of Egypt did not come out of his land again, (IO)because the king of Babylon had taken everything that belonged to the king of Egypt from (IP)the brook of Egypt to the river Euphrates.

8 (IQ)Jehoiachin was (IR)eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. 9 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (IS)in accordance with all that his father had done.

Deportation to Babylon

10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and the city came under siege. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. 12 Then (IT)Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials. And (IU)the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. 13 (IV)He also brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, and he (IW)smashed all the articles of gold (IX)that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, just as the Lord had said. 14 Then (IY)he led into exile all the people of Jerusalem and all the commanders and all the valiant warriors, (IZ)ten thousand exiles, and (JA)all the craftsmen and the smiths. None were left (JB)except the poorest people of the land.

15 So (JC)he led Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon; also the king’s mother, the king’s wives, and his officials and the leading men of the land, he led into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 And all the valiant men, (JD)seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths, a thousand, all strong and fit for war, these too the king of Babylon brought into exile to Babylon.

Zedekiah Made King

17 (JE)Then the king of Babylon made [cm]his uncle Mattaniah king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

18 (JF)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was (JG)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (JH)in accordance with everything that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For it was (JI)due to the anger of the Lord that this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He cast them out of His presence. And (JJ)Zedekiah revolted against the king of Babylon.

Nebuchadnezzar Besieges Jerusalem

25 (JK)Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, (JL)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and (JM)built a siege wall all around [cn]it. 2 So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month (JN)the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 (JO)Then the city was broken into, and all the men of war fled by night by way of the gate between the two walls that were beside (JP)the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were all around the city. And [co]they went by way of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then (JQ)they captured the king and (JR)brought him up to the king of Babylon at (JS)Riblah, and he [cp]passed sentence on him. 7 And (JT)they slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then (JU)put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.

Jerusalem Burned and Plundered

8 (JV)Now on the seventh day of the (JW)fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 And (JX)he burned the house of the Lord, (JY)the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. 10 So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the bodyguards (JZ)tore down the walls around Jerusalem. 11 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguards, led into exile (KA)the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the [cq]people. 12 But the captain of the bodyguards left some of (KB)the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and farmers.

13 (KC)Now the Chaldeans smashed to pieces the bronze pillars which were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and (KD)the bronze [cr]Sea which were in the house of the Lord, and carried the [cs]bronze to Babylon. 14 (KE)And they took away the pots, the shovels, the [ct]shears, the spoons, and all the bronze utensils [cu]which were used in temple service. 15 The captain of the bodyguards also took away the firepans and the basins, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 16 The two pillars, the one Sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the house of the Lord—[cv](KF)the bronze of all these articles was too heavy to weigh. 17 (KG)The height of the one pillar was [cw]eighteen cubits, and a bronze capital was on it; the height of the capital was [cx]three cubits, with latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, same features with latticework.

18 Then the captain of the bodyguards took (KH)Seraiah the chief priest and (KI)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three [cy]doorkeepers. 19 And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and (KJ)five [cz]of the king’s advisers who were found in the city; and the [da]scribe of the captain of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguards took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at (KK)Riblah. 21 Then the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. (KL)So Judah went into exile from its land.

Gedaliah Made Governor

22 Now as for the people who were left in the land of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left, he appointed (KM)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them. 23 (KN)When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came to Gedaliah at (KO)Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan the son of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. 24 And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

25 (KP)But it happened in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal [db]family, came [dc]with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 (KQ)Then all the people, from the small to the great, and the captains of the forces set out and came to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

27 (KR)Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of (KS)the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, [dd](KT)released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; 28 and he (KU)spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 29 So [de]Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and [df](KV)had his meals in [dg]the king’s presence regularly all the days of his life; 30 and as his (KW)allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 I.e., a wooden symbol of a female deity
  2. 2 Kings 18:4 I.e., a bronze sculpture
  3. 2 Kings 18:8 Lit struck
  4. 2 Kings 18:14 Lit Turn back
  5. 2 Kings 18:14 A talent was about 75 lb. or 34 kg
  6. 2 Kings 18:17 I.e., launderer’s
  7. 2 Kings 18:19 Lit trust
  8. 2 Kings 18:20 Lit a word of lips
  9. 2 Kings 18:21 Lit relied for yourself
  10. 2 Kings 18:21 Or staff
  11. 2 Kings 18:21 Lit palm
  12. 2 Kings 18:23 Lit please exchange pledges
  13. 2 Kings 18:24 Lit the face of one
  14. 2 Kings 18:24 Or governor
  15. 2 Kings 18:24 Lit rely for yourself
  16. 2 Kings 18:25 Lit the Lord
  17. 2 Kings 18:26 Lit hear
  18. 2 Kings 18:26 I.e., Hebrew
  19. 2 Kings 18:26 Lit in the ears of...wall
  20. 2 Kings 18:28 Lit and spoke, saying,
  21. 2 Kings 18:29 MT his
  22. 2 Kings 18:31 Lit with me a blessing
  23. 2 Kings 18:34 In 2 Kin 17:24, Avva
  24. 2 Kings 18:36 Lit command, saying
  25. 2 Kings 19:4 Lit found
  26. 2 Kings 19:9 Or Ethiopia
  27. 2 Kings 19:10 Lit Judah, saying,
  28. 2 Kings 19:14 Lit letters...read them
  29. 2 Kings 19:14 Lit Hezekiah spread
  30. 2 Kings 19:15 Lit sitting
  31. 2 Kings 19:18 Lit given
  32. 2 Kings 19:22 Lit on high
  33. 2 Kings 19:26 Lit short of hand
  34. 2 Kings 19:29 Lit to eat
  35. 2 Kings 19:31 Some ancient mss the Lord of armies
  36. 2 Kings 19:33 Lit it
  37. 2 Kings 19:35 Lit them
  38. 2 Kings 19:35 Lit dead bodies
  39. 2 Kings 19:36 Lit went and returned
  40. 2 Kings 19:37 Some ancient mss his sons Adrammelech
  41. 2 Kings 20:1 Lit sick to death
  42. 2 Kings 20:3 Lit great weeping
  43. 2 Kings 20:6 Lit days
  44. 2 Kings 20:11 Lit steps
  45. 2 Kings 20:11 Lit steps
  46. 2 Kings 20:12 Some mss and ancient versions Merodach-baladan; cf. Is 39:1
  47. 2 Kings 20:13 I.e., messengers
  48. 2 Kings 20:13 Lit good
  49. 2 Kings 20:15 Lit said
  50. 2 Kings 20:19 Lit said
  51. 2 Kings 20:19 Lit trustworthiness
  52. 2 Kings 20:21 I.e., died
  53. 2 Kings 21:2 Or drove out
  54. 2 Kings 21:3 I.e., a wooden symbol of a female deity
  55. 2 Kings 21:3 Lit host
  56. 2 Kings 21:5 Lit host
  57. 2 Kings 21:16 Lit mouth to mouth
  58. 2 Kings 21:17 Lit sinned
  59. 2 Kings 21:18 I.e., died
  60. 2 Kings 21:21 Lit in all the way that
  61. 2 Kings 21:24 Lit struck
  62. 2 Kings 22:2 Lit in all the way that
  63. 2 Kings 22:4 Or total
  64. 2 Kings 22:5 Lit breach
  65. 2 Kings 22:12 In 2 Chr 34:20, Abdon, son of Micah
  66. 2 Kings 22:14 In 2 Chr 34:22, Tokhath, son of Hasrah
  67. 2 Kings 23:2 Lit ears
  68. 2 Kings 23:3 Lit took a stand in
  69. 2 Kings 23:4 Lit keepers of the threshold
  70. 2 Kings 23:4 I.e., a wooden symbol of a female deity, and so throughout the ch
  71. 2 Kings 23:4 Lit host
  72. 2 Kings 23:5 Lit host
  73. 2 Kings 23:6 Lit sons of the people
  74. 2 Kings 23:7 Or dresses
  75. 2 Kings 23:10 I.e., place of burning
  76. 2 Kings 23:11 Meaning of the Heb uncertain
  77. 2 Kings 23:12 Or ran from there
  78. 2 Kings 23:14 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
  79. 2 Kings 23:19 As in ancient versions; MT provoking; and he
  80. 2 Kings 23:19 Lit according to all the acts
  81. 2 Kings 23:24 Heb teraphim
  82. 2 Kings 23:24 Or perform
  83. 2 Kings 23:27 Lit house
  84. 2 Kings 23:30 Lit him, dead
  85. 2 Kings 23:33 About 3.75 tons or 3.4 metric tons
  86. 2 Kings 23:33 About 75 lb. or 34 kg
  87. 2 Kings 23:34 As in LXX; MT he came
  88. 2 Kings 23:35 Lit mouth
  89. 2 Kings 24:3 Lit mouth
  90. 2 Kings 24:6 I.e., died
  91. 2 Kings 24:17 I.e., Jehoiachin’s uncle
  92. 2 Kings 25:1 Lit against it
  93. 2 Kings 25:4 As in some mss and ancient versions; MT he
  94. 2 Kings 25:6 Lit spoke judgment with him
  95. 2 Kings 25:11 Lit multitude
  96. 2 Kings 25:13 I.e., a very large basin
  97. 2 Kings 25:13 Lit bronze of them
  98. 2 Kings 25:14 I.e., wick trimmers
  99. 2 Kings 25:14 Lit with which they served
  100. 2 Kings 25:16 Lit there was no weight for the bronze of
  101. 2 Kings 25:17 About 27 ft. or 8 m
  102. 2 Kings 25:17 About 4.5 ft. or 1.3 m
  103. 2 Kings 25:18 Lit keepers of the threshold
  104. 2 Kings 25:19 Lit men of those seeing the king’s face
  105. 2 Kings 25:19 Or scribe, a captain
  106. 2 Kings 25:25 Lit seed
  107. 2 Kings 25:25 Lit and ten men with him
  108. 2 Kings 25:27 Lit raised the head of
  109. 2 Kings 25:29 Lit he
  110. 2 Kings 25:29 Lit ate bread
  111. 2 Kings 25:29 Lit his presence
Close TLB

2 Kings 18-25
Living Bible

18 1-3 New king of Judah: Hezekiah

Father’s name: Ahaz

His age at the beginning of his reign: 25 years old

Length of reign: 29 years, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Abi (daughter of Zechariah)

Character of his reign: good (similar to that of his ancestor David)

Reigning in Israel at that time: King Hoshea (son of Elah), who had been the king there for 3 years

4 He removed the shrines on the hills, broke down the obelisks, knocked down the shameful idols of Asherah, and broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had begun to worship it by burning incense to it; even though, as King Hezekiah[a] pointed out to them, it was merely a piece of bronze. 5 He trusted very strongly in the Lord God of Israel. In fact, none of the kings before or after him were as close to God as he was. 6 For he followed the Lord in everything, and carefully obeyed all of God’s commands to Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him and prospered everything he did. Then he rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to pay tribute any longer. 8 He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its suburbs, destroying cities both large and small.[b]

9 It was during the fourth year of his reign (which was the seventh year of the reign of King Hoshea in Israel) that King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked Israel and began a siege on the city of Samaria. 10 Three years later (during the sixth year of the reign of King Hezekiah and the ninth year of the reign of King Hoshea of Israel) Samaria fell. 11 It was at that time that the king of Assyria transported the Israelis to Assyria and put them in colonies in the city of Halath and along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 For they had refused to listen to the Lord their God or to do what he wanted them to do. Instead, they had transgressed his covenant and disobeyed all the laws given to them by Moses the servant of the Lord.

13 Later, during the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria besieged and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. 14 King Hezekiah sued for peace and sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute you demand if you will only go away.” The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of $1,500,000. 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple and in the palace treasury. 16 He even stripped off the gold from the Temple doors, and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and gave it all to the Assyrian king.

17 Nevertheless the king of Assyria sent his field marshal, his chief treasurer, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a great army; and they camped along the highway beside the field where cloth was bleached, near the conduit of the upper pool. 18 They demanded that King Hezekiah come out to speak to them, but instead he sent a truce delegation of the following men: Eliakim, his business manager; Shebnah, his secretary; and Joah, his royal historian.

19 Then the Assyrian general sent this message to King Hezekiah: “The great king of Assyria says, ‘No one can save you from my power! 20-21 You need more than mere promises of help before rebelling against me. But which of your allies will give you more than words? Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, you will find her to be a stick that breaks beneath your weight and pierces your hand. The Egyptian Pharaoh is totally unreliable! 22 And if you say, “We’re trusting the Lord to rescue us”—just remember that he is the very one whose hilltop altars you’ve destroyed. For you require everyone to worship at the altar in Jerusalem!’ 23 I’ll tell you what: Make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria! If you have two thousand men left who can ride horses, we’ll furnish the horses! 24 And with an army as small as yours,[c] you are no threat to even the least lieutenant in charge of the smallest contingent in my master’s army. Even if Egypt supplies you with horses and chariots, it will do no good. 25 And do you think we have come here on our own? No! The Lord sent us and told us, ‘Go and destroy this nation!’”

26 Then Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah said to them, “Please speak in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t use Hebrew, for the people standing on the walls will hear you.”

27 But the Assyrian general replied, “Has my master sent me to speak only to you and to your master? Hasn’t he sent me to the people on the walls too? For they are doomed with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”

28 Then the Assyrian ambassador shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to the great king of Assyria! 29 ‘Don’t let King Hezekiah fool you. He will never be able to save you from my power. 30 Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord to rescue you. 31-32 Don’t listen to King Hezekiah. Surrender! You can live in peace here in your own land until I take you to another land just like this one—with plentiful crops, grain, grapes, olive trees, and honey. All of this instead of death! Don’t listen to King Hezekiah when he tries to persuade you that the Lord will deliver you. 33 Have any of the gods of the other nations ever delivered their people from the king of Assyria? 34 What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria? 35 What god has ever been able to save any nation from my power? So what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?’”

36 But the people on the wall remained silent, for the king had instructed them to say nothing. 37 Then Eliakim (son of Hilkiah) the business manager, and Shebnah the king’s secretary, and Joah (son of Asaph) the historian went to King Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the Assyrian general had said.

19 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the Temple to pray. 2 Then he told Eliakim, Shebnah, and some of the older priests to clothe themselves in sackcloth and to go to Isaiah (son of Amoz), the prophet, with this message:

3 “King Hezekiah says, ‘This is a day of trouble, insult, and dishonor. It is as when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver it. 4 Yet perhaps the Lord your God has heard the Assyrian general defying the living God and will rebuke him. Oh, pray for the few of us who are left.’”

5-6 Isaiah replied, “The Lord says, ‘Tell your master not to be troubled by the sneers these Assyrians have made against me.’ 7 For the king of Assyria will receive bad news from home and will decide to return; and the Lord will see to it that he is killed when he arrives there.”

8 Then the Assyrian general returned to his king at Libnah (for he received word that he had left Lachish). 9 Soon afterwards news reached the king that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was coming to attack him. Before leaving to meet the attack, he sent back this message to King Hezekiah:

10 “Don’t be fooled by that god you trust in. Don’t believe it when he says that I won’t conquer Jerusalem. 11 You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone; they have completely destroyed everything. Why would you be any different? 12 Have the gods of the other nations delivered them—such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and Eden in the land of Telassar? The former kings of Assyria destroyed them all! 13 What happened to the king of Hamoth and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, read it, and went over to the Temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Then he prayed this prayer:

“O Lord God of Israel, sitting on your throne high above the angels,[d] you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You created the heavens and the earth. 16 Bend low, O Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to this man’s defiance of the living God. 17 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all those nations 18 and have burned their idol-gods. But they weren’t gods at all; they were destroyed because they were only things that men had made of wood and stone. 19 O Lord our God, we plead with you to save us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone are God.”

20 Then Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have heard you! 21 And this is my reply to King Sennacherib: The virgin daughter of Zion isn’t afraid of you! The daughter of Jerusalem scorns and mocks at you. 22 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? And toward whom have you felt so cocky? It is the Holy One of Israel!

23 “‘You have boasted, “My chariots have conquered the highest mountains, yes, the peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down the tallest cedars and choicest cypress trees and have conquered the farthest borders. 24 I have been refreshed at many conquered wells, and I destroyed the strength of Egypt just by walking by!”

25 “‘Why haven’t you realized long before this that it is I, the Lord, who lets you do these things? I decreed your conquest of all those fortified cities! 26 So of course the nations you conquered had no power against you! They were like grass shriveling beneath the hot sun, and like grain blighted before it is half grown. 27 I know everything about you. I know all your plans and where you are going next; and I also know the evil things you have said about me. 28 And because of your arrogance against me, I am going to put a hook in your nose and a bridle in your mouth and turn you back on the road by which you came. 29 And this is the proof that I will do as I have promised: This year my people will eat the volunteer wheat and use it as seed for next year’s crop; and in the third year they will have a bountiful harvest.

30 “‘O my people Judah, those of you who have escaped the ravages of the siege shall become a great nation again; you shall be rooted deeply in the soil and bear fruit for God. 31 A remnant of my people shall become strong in Jerusalem. The Lord is eager to cause this to happen.

32 “‘And my command concerning the king of Assyria is that he shall not enter this city. He shall not stand before it with a shield, nor build a ramp against its wall, nor even shoot an arrow into it. 33 He shall return by the road he came, 34 for I will defend and save this city for the sake of my own name and for the sake of my servant David.’”

35 That very night the Angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian troops, and dead bodies were seen all across the landscape in the morning.

36 Then King Sennacherib returned to Nineveh; 37 and as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him. They escaped into eastern Turkey—the land of Ararat—and his son Esarhaddon became the new king.

20 Hezekiah now became deathly sick, and Isaiah the prophet went to visit him.

“Set your affairs in order and prepare to die,” Isaiah told him. “The Lord says you won’t recover.”

2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall.

3 “O Lord,” he pleaded, “remember how I’ve always tried to obey you and to please you in everything I do. . . . ” Then he broke down and cried.

4 So before Isaiah had left the courtyard, the Lord spoke to him again.

5 “Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, and tell him that the Lord God of his ancestor David has heard his prayer and seen his tears. I will heal him, and three days from now he will be out of bed and at the Temple! 6 I will add fifteen years to his life and save him and this city from the king of Assyria. And it will all be done for the glory of my own name and for the sake of my servant David.”

7 Isaiah then instructed Hezekiah to boil some dried figs and to make a paste of them and spread it on the boil. And he recovered!

8 Meanwhile, King Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “Do a miracle to prove to me that the Lord will heal me and that I will be able to go to the Temple again three days from now.”

9 “All right, the Lord will give you a proof,” Isaiah told him. “Do you want the shadow on the sundial to go forward ten points or backward ten points?”

10 “The shadow always moves forward,” Hezekiah replied; “make it go backward.”

11 So Isaiah asked the Lord to do this, and he caused the shadow to move ten points backward on the sundial of Ahaz![e]

12 At that time Merodach-baladan (the son of King Baladan of Babylon) sent ambassadors with greetings and a present to Hezekiah, for he had learned of his sickness. 13 Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them all his treasures—the silver, gold, spices, aromatic oils, the armory—everything.

14 Then Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men want? Where are they from?”

“From far away in Babylon,” Hezekiah replied.

15 “What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked.

And Hezekiah replied, “Everything. I showed them all my treasures.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord: 17 The time will come when everything in this palace shall be carried to Babylon. All the treasures of your ancestors will be taken—nothing shall be left. 18 Some of your own sons will be taken away and made into eunuchs who will serve in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

19 “All right,” Hezekiah replied, “if this is what the Lord wants, it is good.” But he was really thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during the remainder of my own life!”

20 The rest of the history of Hezekiah and his great deeds—including the pool and conduit he made and how he brought water into the city—are recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 21 When he died, his son Manasseh became the new king.

21 1-2 New king of Judah: Manasseh

His age at the beginning of his reign: 12 years old

Length of reign: 55 years, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Hephzibah

Character of his reign: evil; he did the same things the nations had done that were thrown out of the land to make room for the people of Israel

3-5 He rebuilt the hilltop shrines that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for Baal and made a shameful Asherah idol, just as Ahab the king of Israel had done. Heathen altars to the sun god, moon god, and the gods of the stars were placed even in the Temple of the Lord—in the very city and building that the Lord had selected to honor his own name. 6 And he sacrificed one of his sons as a burnt offering on a heathen altar. He practiced black magic and used fortune-telling, and patronized mediums and wizards. So the Lord was very angry, for Manasseh was an evil man, in God’s sight. 7 Manasseh even set up a shameful Asherah idol in the Temple—the very place that the Lord had spoken to David and Solomon about when he said, “I will place my name forever in this Temple, and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the cities of the tribes of Israel. 8 If the people of Israel will only follow the instructions I gave them through Moses, I will never again expel them from this land of their fathers.”

9 But the people did not listen to the Lord, and Manasseh enticed them to do even more evil than the surrounding nations had done, even though Jehovah had destroyed those nations for their evil ways when the people of Israel entered the land.

10 Then the Lord declared through the prophets, 11 “Because King Manasseh has done these evil things and is even more wicked than the Amorites who were in this land long ago, and because he has led the people of Judah into idolatry: 12 I will bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror. 13 I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, and as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe away the people of Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish and turns it upside down to dry. 14 Then I will reject even those few of my people who are left, and I will hand them over to their enemies. 15 For they have done great evil and have angered me ever since I brought their ancestors from Egypt.”

16 In addition to the idolatry which God hated and into which Manasseh led the people of Judah, he murdered great numbers of innocent people. And Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other with the bodies of his victims.

17 The rest of the history of Manasseh’s sinful reign is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 18 When he died he was buried in the garden of his palace at Uzza, and his son Amon became the new king.

19-20 New king of Judah: Amon

His age at the beginning of his reign: 22 years old

Length of reign: 2 years, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Meshullemeth (daughter of Haruz, of Jotbah)

Character of his reign: evil

21 He did all the evil things his father had done: he worshiped the same idols 22 and turned his back on the Lord God of his ancestors. He refused to listen to God’s instructions. 23 But his aides conspired against him and killed him in the palace. 24 Then a posse of civilians killed all the assassins and placed Amon’s son Josiah upon the throne. 25 The rest of Amon’s biography is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 26 He was buried in a crypt in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became the new king.

22 1-2 New king of Judah: Josiah

His age at the beginning of his reign: 8 years old

Length of reign: 31 years, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Jedidah (daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath)

Character of his reign: good; he followed in the steps of his ancestor King David, obeying the Lord completely

3-4 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent his secretary Shaphan (son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam) to the Temple to give instruction to Hilkiah, the High Priest:

“Collect the money given to the priests at the door of the Temple when the people come to worship. 5-6 Give this money to the building superintendents so that they can hire carpenters and masons to repair the Temple, and to buy lumber and stone.”

7 (The building superintendents were not required to keep account of their expenditures, for they were honest men.)

8 One day Hilkiah the High Priest went to Shaphan the secretary and exclaimed, “I have discovered a scroll in the Temple, with God’s laws written on it!”

He gave the scroll to Shaphan to read. 9-10 When Shaphan reported to the king about the progress of the repairs at the Temple, he also mentioned the scroll found by Hilkiah. Then Shaphan read it to the king. 11 When the king heard what was written in it, he tore his clothes in terror. 12-13 He commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, the king’s assistant, and Ahikam (Shaphan’s son), and Achbor (Michaiah’s son) to ask the Lord, “What shall we do? For we have not been following the instructions of this book: you must be very angry with us, for neither we nor our ancestors have followed your commands.”

14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the Mishneh section of Jerusalem to find Huldah the prophetess. (She was the wife of Shallum—son of Tikvah, son of Harhas—who was in charge of the palace tailor shop.) 15-16 She gave them this message from the Lord God of Israel:

“Tell the man who sent you to me that I am going to destroy this city and its people, just as I stated in that book you read. 17 For the people of Judah have thrown me aside and have worshiped other gods and have made me very angry; and my anger can’t be stopped. 18-19 But because you were sorry and concerned and humbled yourself before the Lord when you read the book and its warnings that this land would be cursed and become desolate, and because you have torn your clothing and wept before me in contrition, I will listen to your plea. 20 The death of this nation will not occur until after you die—you will not see the evil that I will bring upon this place.”

So they took the message to the king.

23 1-2 Then the king sent for the elders and other leaders of Judah and Jerusalem to go to the Temple with him. So all the priests and prophets and the people, small and great, of Jerusalem and Judah gathered there at the Temple so that the king could read to them the entire book of God’s laws which had been discovered in the Temple. 3 He stood beside the pillar in front of the people, and he and they made a solemn promise to the Lord to obey him at all times and to do everything the book commanded.

4 Then the king instructed Hilkiah the High Priest and the rest of the priests and the guards of the Temple to destroy all the equipment used in the worship of Baal, Asherah, and the sun, moon, and stars. The king had it all burned in the fields of the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and he carried the ashes to Bethel. 5 He killed the heathen priests who had been appointed by the previous kings of Judah, for they had burned incense in the shrines on the hills throughout Judah and even in Jerusalem. They had also offered incense to Baal and to the sun, moon, stars, and planets. 6 He removed the shameful idol of Asherah from the Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to Kidron Brook; there he burned it and beat it to dust and threw the dust on the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the houses of male prostitution around the Temple, where the women wove robes for the Asherah idol.

8 He brought back to Jerusalem the priests of the Lord, who were living in other cities of Judah, and tore down all the shrines on the hills where they had burned incense, even those as far away as Geba and Beersheba. He also destroyed the shrines at the entrance of the palace of Joshua, the former mayor of Jerusalem, located on the left side as one enters the city gate. 9 However, these priests[f] did not serve at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, even though they ate with the other priests.

10 Then the king destroyed the altar of Topheth in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, so that no one could ever again use it to burn his son or daughter to death as a sacrifice to Molech. 11 He tore down the statues of horses and chariots located near the entrance of the Temple, next to the quarters of Nathan-melech the eunuch. These had been dedicated by former kings of Judah to the sun god. 12 Then he tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above the Ahaz Room. He also destroyed the altars that Manasseh had built in the two courts of the Temple; he smashed them to bits and scattered the pieces in Kidron Valley.

13 Next he removed the shrines on the hills east of Jerusalem and south of Destruction Mountain. (Solomon had built these shrines for Ashtoreth, the evil goddess of the Sidonians; and for Chemosh, the evil god of Moab; and for Milcom, the evil god of the Ammonites.) 14 He smashed the obelisks and cut down the shameful idols of Asherah; then he defiled these places by scattering human bones over them. 15 He also tore down the altar and shrine at Bethel that Jeroboam I had made when he led Israel into sin. He crushed the stones to dust and burned the shameful idol of Asherah.

16 As Josiah was looking around, he noticed several graves in the side of the mountain. He ordered his men to bring out the bones in them and to burn them there upon the altar at Bethel to defile it, just as the Lord’s prophet had declared would happen to Jeroboam’s altar.[g]

17 “What is that monument over there?” he asked.

And the men of the city told him, “It is the grave of the prophet who came from Judah and proclaimed that what you have just done would happen here at the altar at Bethel!”

18 So King Josiah replied, “Leave it alone. Don’t disturb his bones.”

So they didn’t burn his bones or those of the prophet from Samaria.[h]

19 Josiah demolished the shrines on the hills in all of Samaria. They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the Lord very angry. But now he crushed them into dust, just as he had done at Bethel. 20 He executed the priests of the heathen shrines upon their own altars, and he burned human bones upon the altars to defile them. Finally he returned to Jerusalem.

21 The king then issued orders for his people to observe the Passover ceremonies as recorded by the Lord their God in The Book of the Covenant. 22 There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the days of the judges of Israel, and there was never another like it in all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah. 23 This Passover was in the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, and it was celebrated in Jerusalem.

24 Josiah also exterminated the mediums and wizards, and every kind of idol worship, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land. For Josiah wanted to follow all the laws that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the Temple. 25 There was no other king who so completely turned to the Lord and followed all the laws of Moses; and no king since the time of Josiah has approached his record of obedience.

26 But the Lord still did not hold back his great anger against Judah, caused by the evils of King Manasseh. 27 For the Lord had said, “I will destroy Judah just as I have destroyed Israel; and I will discard my chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple that I said was mine.”

28 The rest of the biography of Josiah is written in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 29 In those days King Neco of Egypt went out to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. Then King Josiah went out with his troops to fight King Neco; but King Neco withstood him at Megiddo and killed him. 30 His officers took his body back in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in the grave he had selected. And his son Jehoahaz was chosen by the nation as its new king.

31-32 New king of Judah: Jehoahaz

His age at the beginning of his reign: 23 years old

Length of reign: 3 months, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Hamutal (the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah)

Character of his reign: evil, like the other kings who had preceded him

33 Pharaoh Neco jailed him at Riblah in Hamath to prevent his reigning in Jerusalem, and he levied a tax against Judah totaling $230,000. 34 The Egyptian king then chose Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in Jerusalem; and he changed his name to Jehoiakim. Then he took King Jehoahaz to Egypt, where he died. 35 Jehoiakim taxed the people to get the money that the Pharaoh had demanded.

36-37 New king of Judah: Jehoiakim

His age at the beginning of his reign: 25 years old

Length of reign: 11 years, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Zebidah (daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah)

Character of his reign: evil, like the other kings who had preceded him

24 During the reign of King Jehoiakim, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Jerusalem. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years, but then rebelled. 2 And the Lord sent bands of Chaldeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Judah in order to destroy the nation, just as the Lord had warned through his prophets that he would. 3-4 It is clear that these disasters befell Judah at the direct command of the Lord. He had decided to wipe Judah out of his sight because of the many sins of Manasseh, for he had filled Jerusalem with blood, and the Lord would not pardon it.

5 The rest of the history of the life of Jehoiakim is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Judah. 6 When he died, his son Jehoiachin became the new king. 7 (The Egyptian Pharaoh never returned after that, for the king of Babylon occupied the entire area claimed by Egypt—all of Judah from the brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.)

8-9 New king of Judah: Jehoiachin

His age at the beginning of his reign: 18 years old

Length of reign: 3 months, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Nehushta (daughter of Elnathan, a citizen of Jerusalem)

10 During his reign the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged the city of Jerusalem. 11 Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived during the siege, 12 and King Jehoiachin, all of his officials, and the queen mother surrendered to him. The surrender was accepted, and Jehoiachin was imprisoned in Babylon during the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.

13 The Babylonians carried home all the treasures from the Temple and the royal palace; and they cut apart all the gold bowls which King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple at the Lord’s directions. 14 King Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand captives from Jerusalem, including all the princes and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and smiths. So only the poorest and least skilled people were left in the land. 15 Nebuchadnezzar took King Jehoiachin, his wives and officials, and the queen mother, to Babylon. 16 He also took seven thousand of the best troops and one thousand craftsmen and smiths, all of whom were strong and fit for war. 17 Then the king of Babylon appointed King Jehoiachin’s great-uncle,[i] Mattaniah, to be the next king; and he changed his name to Zedekiah.

18-19 New king of Judah: Zedekiah

His age at the beginning of his reign: 21 years old

Length of reign: 11 years, in Jerusalem

Mother’s name: Hamutal (daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah)

Character of his reign: evil, like that of Jehoiakim

20 So the Lord finally, in his anger, destroyed the people of Jerusalem and Judah. But now King Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

25 Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon mobilized his entire army and laid siege to Jerusalem, arriving on March 25 of the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. 2 The siege continued into the eleventh year of his reign.

3 The last food in the city was eaten on July 24, 4-5 and that night the king and his troops made a hole in the inner wall and fled out toward the Arabah through a gate that lay between the double walls near the king’s garden. The Babylonian troops surrounding the city took out after him and captured him in the plains of Jericho, and all his men scattered. 6 He was taken to Riblah, where he was tried and sentenced before the king of Babylon. 7 He was forced to watch as his sons were killed before his eyes; then his eyes were put out, and he was bound with chains and taken away to Babylon.

8 General Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal bodyguard, arrived at Jerusalem from Babylon on July 22 of the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. 9 He burned down the Temple, the palace, and all the other houses of any worth. 10 He then supervised the Babylonian army in tearing down the walls of Jerusalem. 11 The remainder of the people in the city and the Jewish deserters who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon were all taken as exiles to Babylon. 12 But the poorest of the people were left to farm the land.

13 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars of the Temple and the bronze tank and its bases and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 14-15 They also took all the pots, shovels, firepans, snuffers, spoons, and other bronze instruments used for the sacrifices. The gold and silver bowls, with all the rest of the gold and silver, were melted down to bullion. 16 It was impossible to estimate the weight of the two pillars and the great tank and its bases—all made for the Temple by King Solomon—because they were so heavy. 17 Each pillar was 27 feet high, with an intricate bronze network of pomegranates decorating the 4-1/2-foot capitals at the tops of the pillars.

18 The general took Seraiah, the chief priest, his assistant Zephaniah, and the three Temple guards to Babylon as captives. 19 A commander of the army of Judah, the chief recruiting officer, five of the king’s counselors, and sixty farmers, all of whom were discovered hiding in the city, 20 were taken by General Nebuzaradan to the king of Babylon at Riblah, 21 where they were put to the sword and died.

So Judah was exiled from its land.

22 Then King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah (the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan) as governor over the people left in Judah. 23 When the Israeli guerrilla forces learned that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor, some of these underground leaders and their men joined him at Mizpah. These included Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah; Johanan, the son of Kareah; Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite; and Jaazaniah, son of Maachathite, and their men.

24 Gedaliah vowed that if they would give themselves up and submit to the Babylonians, they would be allowed to live in the land and would not be exiled. 25 But seven months later, Ishmael, who was a member of the royal line, went to Mizpah with ten men and killed Gedaliah and his court—both the Jews and the Babylonians.

26 Then all the men of Judah and the guerrilla leaders fled in panic to Egypt, for they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do to them.

27 King Jehoiachin was released from prison on the twenty-seventh day of the last month of the thirty-seventh year of his captivity.

This occurred during the first year of the reign of King Evil-merodach of Babylon. 28 He treated Jehoiachin kindly and gave him preferential treatment over all the other kings who were being held as prisoners in Babylon. 29 Jehoiachin was given civilian clothing to replace his prison garb, and for as long as he lived, he ate regularly at the king’s table. 30 The king also gave him a daily cash allowance for the rest of his life.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 King Hezekiah, implied.
  2. 2 Kings 18:8 cities both large and small, literally, “from the tower of the watchman to the fortified cities.”
  3. 2 Kings 18:24 And with an army as small as yours, implied.
  4. 2 Kings 19:15 angels, literally, “cherubim.”
  5. 2 Kings 20:11 on the sundial of Ahaz, or “on the steps of Ahaz.” Egyptian sundials in this period were made in the form of miniature staircases, so that the shadow moved up and down the steps.
  6. 2 Kings 23:9 these priests, literally, “the priests of the high places.”
  7. 2 Kings 23:16 Jeroboam’s altar, see 1 Kings 13:2.
  8. 2 Kings 23:18 See 1 Kings 13:31-32.
  9. 2 Kings 24:17 Implied in 23:31 and 24:18.
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