Holman Christian Standard Bible (119 page)

14
 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you? ”

Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant country, from Babylon.”

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

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn't anything in my treasuries that I didn't show them.”

16
 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the
Lord
:
17
 ‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,' says the
Lord
.
18
 ‘Some of your descendants who come from you will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.' ” 

19
 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the
Lord
that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: Why not, if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?

Hezekiah's Death

20
 The rest of the events of Hezekiah's reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings. 
21
 Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place. 

2 Kings

Judah's King Manasseh

21
Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king and reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 
2
 He did what was evil in the
Lord
's sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the
Lord
had dispossessed before the Israelites. 
3
 He rebuilt the
•high
places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished the altars for
•Baal
. He made an
•Asherah
, as King Ahab of Israel had done; he also worshiped the whole heavenly
•host
 and served them.
4
 He built altars in the
Lord
's temple, where the
Lord
had said, “Jerusalem is where I will put My name.” 
5
 He built altars to the whole heavenly host in both courtyards of the
Lord
's temple. 
6
 He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and
•divination
, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a great amount of evil in the
Lord
's sight, provoking Him. 

7
 Manasseh set up the carved image of Asherah, which he made, in the temple that the
Lord
had spoken about to David and his son Solomon, “I will establish My name forever in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. 
8
 I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them — the whole law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 
9
 But they did not listen; Manasseh caused them to stray so that they did greater evil than the nations the
Lord
had destroyed before the Israelites. 

10
 The
Lord
spoke through His servants the prophets, saying,
11
 “Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these detestable things  — greater evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done — and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin,
12
 this is what the
Lord
God of Israel says: ‘I am about to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder. 
13
 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used on Samaria and the mason's level used on the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem
•clean
as one wipes a bowl — wiping it and turning it upside down.
14
 I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,
15
 because they have done what is evil in My sight and have provoked Me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.' ” 

16
 Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another. This was in addition to his sin that he caused Judah to commit. Consequently, they did what was evil in the
Lord
's sight.

Manasseh's Death

17
 The rest of the events of Manasseh's reign, along with all his accomplishments and the sin that he committed, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings. 
18
 Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

Judah's King Amon

19
 Amon was 22 years old when he became king and reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah.
20
 He did what was evil in the
Lord
's sight as his father Manasseh had done. 
21
 He walked in all the ways his father had walked; he served the idols his father had served, and he worshiped them. 
22
 He abandoned the
Lord
God of his ancestors and did not walk in the way of the
Lord
. 

23
 Amon's servants conspired against the king and killed him in his own house. 
24
 Then the common people executed all those who had conspired against King Amon and made his son Josiah king in his place.

25
 The rest of the events of Amon's reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah's Kings.
26
 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

2 Kings

Judah's King Josiah

22
Josiah was eight years old when he became king and reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 
2
 He did what was right in the
Lord
's sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left. 

Josiah Repairs the Temple

3
 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the
Lord
's temple, saying,
4
 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest so that he may total up the money brought into the
Lord
's temple — the money the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 
5
 It is to be put into the hands of those doing the work — those who oversee the
Lord
's temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the
Lord
's temple to repair the damage. 
6
 They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple. 
7
 But no accounting is to be required from them for the money put into their hands since they work with integrity.” 

The Book of the Law Found

8
 Hilkiah the high priest told Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the
Lord
's temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

9
 Then Shaphan the court secretary went to the king and reported, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hand of those doing the work — those who oversee the
Lord
's temple.”
10
 Then Shaphan the court secretary told the king, “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, he tore his clothes. 
12
 Then he commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the court secretary, and the king's servant Asaiah:
13
 “Go and inquire of the
Lord
for me, the people, and all Judah about the instruction in this book that has been found. For great is the
Lord
's wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.” 

Huldah's Prophecy of Judgment

14
 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.

15
 She said to them, “This is what the
Lord
God of Israel says, ‘Say to the man who sent you to Me:
16
 This is what the
Lord
says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 
17
 because they have abandoned Me and burned incense to other gods in order to provoke Me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. 
18
 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the
Lord
: This is what the
Lord
God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, 
19
 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the
Lord
 when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I Myself have heard you — this is the
Lord
's declaration —
20
 therefore, I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.' ”

Then they reported to the king.

2 Kings

Covenant Renewal

23
So the king sent messengers, and they gathered all the elders of Jerusalem and Judah to him.
2
 Then the king went to the
Lord
's temple with all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets — all the people from the youngest to the oldest. As they listened, he read all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the
Lord
's temple. 
3
 Next, the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant in the presence of the
Lord
to follow the
Lord
and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his mind and with all his heart, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book; all the people agreed to the covenant. 

Josiah's Reforms

4
 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the
Lord
's temple all the articles made for
•Baal
,
•Asherah
, and the whole heavenly
•host
. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 
5
 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the
•high
places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and the whole heavenly host. 
6
 He brought out the Asherah pole from the
Lord
's temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley, beat it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.
7
 He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the
Lord
's temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries for Asherah. 

8
 Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate).
9
 The priests of the high places, however, did not come up to the altar of the
Lord
in Jerusalem; instead, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests. 

10
 He defiled
•Topheth
, which is in the Valley of Hinnom, so that no one could make his son or daughter pass through the fire to
•Molech
. 
11
 He did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They had been at the entrance of the
Lord
's temple in the precincts by the chamber of Nathan-melech the court official, and he burned up the chariots of the sun. 

12
 The king tore down the altars that were on the roof  — Ahaz's upper chamber that the kings of Judah had made — and the altars that Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the
Lord
's temple. Then he smashed them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
13
 The king also defiled the high places that were across from Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Destruction, which King Solomon of Israel had built for
•Ashtoreth
, the detestable idol of the Sidonians; for Chemosh, the detestable idol of Moab; and for
•Milcom
, the abomination of the Ammonites. 
14
 He broke the sacred pillars into pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, then filled their places with human bones.