Old/New Testament
19 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,[a] clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This is a day of distress, insults,[b] and humiliation,[c] as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.[d] 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.[e] When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.[f] So pray for this remnant that remains.’”[g]
5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard, because the Assyrian king’s officers have insulted me. 7 Look, I will take control of his mind;[h] he will receive[i] a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down[j] with a sword in his own land.”’”
8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.[k] 9 The king[l] heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him.[m] He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over[n] to the king of Assyria.” 11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands.[o] Do you really think you will be rescued?[p] 12 Were the nations whom my ancestors destroyed—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar—rescued by their gods?[q] 13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair,[r] Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah took the letter[s] from the messengers and read it.[t] Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim![u] You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky[v] and the earth. 16 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God![w] 17 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. 18 They have burned the gods of the nations,[x] for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.[y] 19 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘I have heard your prayer[z] concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. 21 This is what the Lord says about him:[aa]
“‘“The virgin daughter Zion[ab]
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.[ac]
22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted,[ad]
and looked so arrogantly?[ae]
At the Holy One of Israel![af]
23 Through your messengers you taunted the Sovereign Master,[ag]
‘With my many chariots[ah]
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions,[ai]
its thickest woods.
24 I dug wells and drank
water in foreign lands.[aj]
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
25 [ak] Certainly you must have heard![al]
Long ago I worked it out.
In ancient times I planned[am] it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.[an]
26 Their residents are powerless,[ao]
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation.[ap]
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops[aq]
when it is scorched by the east wind.[ar]
27 I know where you live
and everything you do.[as]
28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,[at]
I will put my hook in your nose,[au]
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”
29 [av] “‘This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth:[aw] This year you will eat what grows wild,[ax] and next year[ay] what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.[az] 30 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.[ba]
31 “‘For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The zeal of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[bb] will accomplish this.
32 So this is what the Lord has said about the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.[bc]
He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors,[bd]
nor will he build siege works against it.
33 He will go back the way he came.
He will not enter this city,” says the Lord.
34 “‘I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’”[be]
35 That very night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. When they[bf] got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses.[bg] 36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh.[bh] 37 One day,[bi] as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch,[bj] his sons[bk] Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword.[bl] They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
Hezekiah is Healed
20 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.[bm] The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”[bn] 2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you[bo] faithfully and with wholehearted devotion,[bp] and how I have carried out your will.”[bq] Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.[br]
4 Isaiah had not yet left the middle courtyard[bs] when the Lord’s message came to him, 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David has said: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow[bt] you will go up to the Lord’s temple. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’”[bu] 7 Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered[bv] and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered.[bw]
8 Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” 9 Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?”[bx] 10 Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it[by] to go back ten steps.” 11 Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord[bz] made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.[ca]
Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah
12 At that time Merodach Baladan[cb] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent messengers with letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill. 13 Hezekiah welcomed[cc] them and showed them his whole storehouse, with its silver, gold, spices, and high quality olive oil, as well as his armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.[cd] 14 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 15 Isaiah[ce] asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything[cf] in my treasuries.” 16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the Lord’s message, 17 ‘Look, a time is[cg] coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father[ch] will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s message which you have announced is appropriate.”[ci] Then he added,[cj] “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”[ck]
20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign and all his accomplishments, including how he built a pool and conduit to bring[cl] water into the city, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[cm] 21 Hezekiah passed away[cn] and his son Manasseh replaced him as king.
Manasseh’s Reign over Judah
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother[co] was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of[cp] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations[cq] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky[cr] and worshiped[cs] them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.”[ct] 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his son[cu] through the fire[cv] and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.[cw] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.[cx] 7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.[cy] 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,[cz] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” 9 But they did not obey,[da] and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.
10 So the Lord announced through[db] his servants the prophets: 11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins.[dc] He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.[dd] 12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.[de] 13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab.[df] I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides.[dg] 14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people[dh] and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies,[di] 15 because they have done evil in my sight[dj] and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”
16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end,[dk] in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.[dl]
17 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[dm] 18 Manasseh passed away[dn] and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.
Amon’s Reign over Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His mother[do] was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the sight of[dp] the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He followed in the footsteps of his father[dq] and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols[dr] that his father had worshiped.[ds] 22 He abandoned the Lord, God of his ancestors, and did not follow the Lord’s instructions.[dt] 23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. 24 The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they[du] made his son Josiah king in his place.
25 The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[dv] 26 He was buried[dw] in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.
Departure From Judea
4 Now when Jesus[a] knew that the Pharisees[b] had heard that he[c] was winning[d] and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were),[e] 3 he left Judea and set out once more for Galilee.[f]
Conversation With a Samaritan Woman
4 But he had[g] to pass through Samaria.[h] 5 Now he came to a Samaritan town[i] called Sychar,[j] near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.[k] 6 Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside[l] the well. It was about noon.[m]
7 A Samaritan woman[n] came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water[o] to drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.[p])[q] 9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you—a Jew[r]—ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water[s] to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common[t] with Samaritans.)[u]
10 Jesus answered[v] her, “If you had known[w] the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water[x] to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”[y] 11 “Sir,”[z] the woman[aa] said to him, “you have no bucket and the well[ab] is deep; where then do you get this[ac] living water?[ad] 12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor[ae] Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”[af]
13 Jesus replied,[ag] “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty[ah] again. 14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again,[ai] but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain[aj] of water springing up[ak] to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw[al] water.”[am] 16 He[an] said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.”[ao] 17 The woman replied,[ap] “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “Right you are when you said,[aq] ‘I have no husband,’[ar] 18 for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with[as] now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!”
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see[at] that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,[au] and you people[av] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman,[aw] a time[ax] is coming when you will worship[ay] the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people[az] worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews.[ba] 23 But a time[bb] is coming—and now is here[bc]—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks[bd] such people to be[be] his worshipers.[bf] 24 God is spirit,[bg] and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ);[bh] “whenever he[bi] comes, he will tell[bj] us everything.”[bk] 26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”
The Disciples Return
27 Now at that very moment his disciples came back.[bl] They were shocked[bm] because he was speaking[bn] with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?”[bo] or “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went off into the town and said to the people,[bp] 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Surely he can’t be the Messiah,[bq] can he?”[br] 30 So[bs] they left the town and began coming[bt] to him.
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