en-v0.1→en-v0.2-dev·#19b480270f9cContribute to en-v0.2

2 Kings 20:1-21 — Hezekiah's Illness and Envoys from Babylon

2Kgs.20.1-21

¹In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and told him that Yahweh had declared he should put his house in order, because he was going to die and would not recover. ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, saying, ³“Please, Yahweh, remember now how I have walked before you in truth and with undivided loyalty, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, ⁵"Go back and say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what Yahweh, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you will go up to the house of Yahweh. ⁶I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.'" ⁷Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” So they took it and applied it to the boil, and he recovered. ⁸Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of Yahweh on the third day?” ⁹Isaiah replied, “This will be the sign to you from Yahweh that Yahweh will do the thing he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps; rather, let the shadow go backward ten steps.” ¹¹So Isaiah the prophet called out to Yahweh, and Yahweh brought the shadow back ten steps, along the steps of Ahaz that it had already gone down. ¹²At that time Berodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them his entire treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—as well as his armory and everything that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and where did they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant land, from Babylon.” ¹⁵Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing among my storehouses that I did not show them.” ¹⁶Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh: ¹⁷'Behold, the days are coming when everything in your house, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says Yahweh. ¹⁸'And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away; and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.' ¹⁹Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh that you have spoken is good.” For he added, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my days?” ²⁰As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, all his might, and how he made the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²¹And Hezekiah slept with his fathers , and his son Manasseh reigned in his place.

Translation Notes

4/11/2026

💡 Read the current translation below. If you have suggestions, comment by verse.

📚 Reference Translations

🔬 Exegesis Resources