Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery

38 ^(A)In those days Hezekiah became ^(B)sick and was at the point of death. And ^(C)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”^{[a] 2} Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how ^(D)I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ⁵ “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add ^(E)fifteen years to your life.^{[b] 6 (F)}I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

⁷ “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: ^8 (G)Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.^[c]

⁹ A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

^21 (AC)Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” ²² Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

Envoys from Babylon

39 ^(AD)At that time Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, ^(AE)sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. ² And Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. And he showed them his treasure house, ^(AF)the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, all that was found in his storehouses. ^(AG)There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ³ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” ⁴ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

⁵ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: ^6 (AH)Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ^7 (AI)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ⁸ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, ^(AJ)“There will be peace and security in my days.”

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the ^(B)Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

^(C)Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians' Faith and Example

^2 (D)We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly^{[a] (E)}mentioning you in our prayers, ³ remembering before ^(F)our God and Father ^(G)your work of faith and labor of ^(H)love and ^(I)steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, ^(J)brothers^[b] loved by God, ^(K)that he has chosen you, ⁵ because ^(L)our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and ^(M)in the Holy Spirit and with full ^(N)conviction. You know ^(O)what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. ⁶ And ^(P)you became imitators of us ^(Q)and of the Lord, for ^(R)you received the word in much affliction, ^(S)with the ^(T)joy of the Holy Spirit, ⁷ so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. ⁸ For not only has the word of the Lord ^(U)sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth ^(V)everywhere, so that we need not say anything. ⁹ For they themselves report concerning us the kind of ^(W)reception we had among you, and how ^(X)you turned to God ^(Y)from idols to serve the living and ^(Z)true God, ¹⁰ and ^(AA)to wait for his Son ^(AB)from heaven, ^(AC)whom he raised from the dead, Jesus ^(AD)who delivers us from ^(AE)the wrath to come.

Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians

2 For you yourselves know, brothers,^[c] that our ^(AF)coming to you ^(AG)was not in vain. ² But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated ^(AH)at Philippi, as you know, ^(AI)we had boldness in our God ^(AJ)to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much ^(AK)conflict. ³ For ^(AL)our appeal does not spring from ^(AM)error or ^(AN)impurity or ^(AO)any attempt to deceive, ⁴ but just as we have been approved by God ^(AP)to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not ^(AQ)to please man, but to please God ^(AR)who tests our hearts. ^5 (AS)For we never came with words of flattery,^[d] as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—^(AT)God is witness. ^6 (AU)Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, ^(AV)though we could have made ^(AW)demands as ^(AX)apostles of Christ. ⁷ But we were ^(AY)gentle^[e] among you, ^(AZ)like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸ So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God ^(BA)but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹ For you remember, brothers, ^(BB)our labor and toil: we ^(BC)worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰ You are witnesses, and ^(BD)God also, ^(BE)how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ¹¹ For you know how, ^(BF)like a father with his children, ¹² we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and ^(BG)charged ^(BH)you to walk in a manner worthy of God, ^(BI)who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³ And ^(BJ)we also thank God constantly^[f] for this, that when you received ^(BK)the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it ^(BL)not as the word of men^[g] but as what it really is, the word of God, ^(BM)which is at work in you believers. ¹⁴ For you, brothers, ^(BN)became imitators of ^(BO)the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For ^(BP)you suffered the same things from your own countrymen ^(BQ)as they did from the Jews,^{[h] 15 (BR)}who killed both the Lord Jesus and ^(BS)the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and ^(BT)oppose all mankind ^16 (BU)by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always ^(BV)to fill up the measure of their sins. But ^(BW)wrath has come upon them at last!^[i]

Paul's Longing to See Them Again

¹⁷ But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, ^(BX)in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire ^(BY)to see you face to face, ¹⁸ because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan ^(BZ)hindered us. ¹⁹ For what is our hope or ^(CA)joy or crown of boasting ^(CB)before our Lord Jesus at his ^(CC)coming? Is it not you? ²⁰ For you are our glory and joy.

3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing ^(CD)to be left behind at Athens alone, ² and we ^(CE)sent Timothy, ^(CF)our brother and God's coworker^[j] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, ³ that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that ^(CG)we are destined for this. ⁴ For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, ^(CH)just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. ⁵ For this reason, ^(CI)when I could bear it no longer, ^(CJ)I sent to learn about your faith, ^(CK)for fear that somehow ^(CL)the tempter had tempted you and ^(CM)our labor would be in vain.

Timothy's Encouraging Report

⁶ But ^(CN)now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of ^(CO)your faith and love and reported ^(CP)that you always remember us kindly and ^(CQ)long to see us, as we long to see you— ⁷ for this reason, brothers,^[k] in all our distress and affliction ^(CR)we have been comforted about you through your faith. ⁸ For now we live, if you ^(CS)are standing fast in the Lord. ⁹ For ^(CT)what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, ¹⁰ as we pray most earnestly ^(CU)night and day ^(CV)that we may see you face to face and ^(CW)supply what is lacking in your faith?

¹¹ Now may ^(CX)our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, ^(CY)direct our way to you, ¹² and may the Lord ^(CZ)make you increase and abound in love ^(DA)for one another and for all, as we do for you, ¹³ so that he may ^(DB)establish your hearts blameless in holiness before ^(DC)our God and Father, at ^(DD)the coming of our Lord Jesus ^(DE)with all his saints.