The Daily Audio Bible

King Sennacherib attacks Judah

32 After King Hezekiah had done all these good things, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked Judah. He put his soldiers in camps around all the strong cities in Judah. He wanted to take the cities for himself.

² Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to attack Judah. He realized that Sennacherib had decided to attack Jerusalem. ³ So Hezekiah talked with his advisors and his army officers about what they should do. They decided to stop all the water that came from springs around the city. They all agreed that this was a good idea. ⁴ A big group of people came to help. They stopped the water that came from the springs and from the stream that went through that region. They said, ‘When the kings of Assyria arrive here, we do not want them to find plenty of water.’

⁵ King Hezekiah's men worked hard to repair the city's walls where they had broken. Hezekiah built towers on the walls. He also built another wall outside the first wall. He made the Millo around the City of David stronger, too. He also made many weapons and shields.

⁶ Hezekiah chose some men as captains to lead the men of his army. He told them to meet together in the open place near the city's gate. He said to them, ⁷ ‘Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria and his large army. Do not worry! We have much greater power than he has. ⁸ He has only the strength of human soldiers to help him. But we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles!’

After King Hezekiah of Judah said that to his men, they felt brave and strong.

King Sennacherib warns the people of Jerusalem

⁹ King Sennacherib of Assyria and his army were ready to attack Lachish.^[a] While he was there, he sent some men to Jerusalem with a message. The message was for King Hezekiah and all Judah's people who were in Jerusalem with him. The message said this:

¹⁰ ‘King Sennacherib of Assyria says this to you: My soldiers have made their camp around Jerusalem. So why do you remain in the city? Why are you so sure that someone will rescue you? ¹¹ Hezekiah tells you, “The Lord our God will save us from the power of Assyria's king.” But he is deceiving you. You will die because you will have no food or water. ¹² Remember that it was Hezekiah who removed the altars and the special places where you worship the Lord your God. He told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship God only at the altar here in Jerusalem. That is the only place that you may offer sacrifices. ”

¹³ You surely know what my ancestors and I have done to all the other nations. The gods of the nations around you could not save their people from my power. ¹⁴ Look at all the nations that my ancestors completely destroyed. None of their gods could rescue any of them. So do not think that your God can save you from my power. ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah deceive you with his lies. Do not believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from me or from my ancestors. So your God certainly cannot save you from my power! ’

¹⁶ King Sennacherib's men continued to insult the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ Sennacherib also wrote letters to insult the Lord, Israel's God, and to laugh at him. He wrote, ‘The gods of the other nations around you could not save their people from my power. So Hezekiah's God cannot rescue his people from me either.’

¹⁸ Then Sennacherib's men shouted loudly to the people who were standing on Jerusalem's walls. They spoke in the language of Judah's people.^[b] They wanted to make the people very afraid so that they could take the city for themselves. ¹⁹ They insulted the God of Jerusalem's people, as they insulted the gods of other nations. They spoke about him as if he was only a god that people had made for themselves.

Hezekiah and Isaiah pray to the Lord

²⁰ King Hezekiah and Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet, prayed to God in heaven. They asked him to help. ²¹ The Lord God sent an angel to destroy Assyria's army. The angel killed all the soldiers and the army officers in their camp. So the king of Assyria had to return home to his own country. He was very ashamed. He went into the temple of his god. There some of his own sons used their swords to kill him.

²² That is how the Lord saved Hezekiah and Jerusalem's people from King Sennacherib of Assyria. The Lord also saved them from all their other enemies. So all Judah had a time of peace. ²³ Many people brought gifts to Jerusalem to offer to the Lord. They also brought valuable gifts for King Hezekiah. From that time, all the other nations respected Hezekiah as a great king.

²⁴ Soon after that, Hezekiah became very ill. He nearly died. He prayed to the Lord and the Lord answered him. The Lord did a miracle to show that Hezekiah would get better.^{[c] 25} But Hezekiah did not thank the Lord for the kind thing that he had done for him. The king was too proud to do that. So the Lord became angry with him, and with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶ But then Hezekiah and the people who lived in Jerusalem made themselves humble. They stopped being proud, so the Lord did not punish them. He was not angry with them while Hezekiah continued to be king.

²⁷ Hezekiah was very rich. People gave him great honour. He built rooms to store all his valuable things. They included silver, gold, jewels, spices and shields. ²⁸ He built rooms to store grain, wine and olive oil. He also made buildings to keep all his cows, sheep and goats. ²⁹ He built special cities for himself. He put lots of sheep and cows in them, because God had given him very many things.

³⁰ Hezekiah had stopped the water coming out from the higher spring at Gihon. Instead, he caused the water to go down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah was successful in all the things that he did. ³¹ After that, the rulers of Babylon sent some officers to visit Hezekiah. They wanted to ask him about the miracle that had happened in Judah. God let Hezekiah decide what to tell them. He wanted to test Hezekiah, to see if he would be faithful.

King Hezekiah dies

³² The other things that happened while Hezekiah was king are written in a book. They include his faithful love for the Lord. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz's son, wrote down these things in the book of his visions. It is part of ‘The history of the kings of Judah and Israel’.

³³ Hezekiah died and his people buried him beside the graves of King David's descendants, near the top of the hill.^[d] At his death, all the people of Judah and those who lived in Jerusalem gave him great honour.

Hezekiah's son Manasseh became king after him.

Manasseh rules Judah as king

33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 55 years. ² Manasseh did things that the Lord said were evil. He did the same terrible sins that the other nations in Canaan had done. Those were the nations that the Lord had chased out so that the Israelites could live there. ³ Manasseh built again the altars on the hills that his father Hezekiah had knocked down. He built altars for people to worship idols of Baal. He also made Asherah poles. He bent down low to worship all the stars in the sky. ⁴ He built altars in the Lord's temple.^[e] The Lord had said about his temple, ‘That is my home in Jerusalem where people will worship me for ever.’ ⁵ Manasseh built altars to give honour to the stars in both yards of the Lord's temple. ⁶ He burnt his own sons with fire as a sacrifice in Ben Hinnom valley. He used magic and false gods to find out what would happen in the future. He took advice from magicians and people who talked to the spirits of dead people. He did many things that the Lord said were very evil. This made the Lord very angry.

⁷ Manasseh made an image of a false god. He put this idol in God's temple. God had said this about his temple to King David and to his son King Solomon: ‘My people will worship me in my temple here in Jerusalem. That is the place that I have chosen to be my home for ever. I have chosen it from among all the tribes of Israel. ⁸ I will never cause the Israelite people to leave this land that I gave to their ancestors. But they must be careful to obey all my commands, my laws and the rules that I gave to my servant Moses for them.’

⁹ But Manasseh caused Judah's people and the people of Jerusalem to turn away from God. So they did more evil things than the people who lived in Canaan before them. The Lord had destroyed those nations so that the Israelites could live there.

The Lord punishes Manasseh

¹⁰ The Lord warned Manasseh and his people. But they would not listen to him. ¹¹ So the Lord brought the officers of the king of Assyria's army to attack them. They took hold of Manasseh. They put metal hooks in his nose and they tied bronze chains around him. Then they took him away to Babylon. ¹² This gave Manasseh a lot of pain. He asked the Lord his God to be kind to him. He made himself humble and he prayed for help to the Lord, the God of his ancestors.

¹³ When Manasseh prayed to the Lord, the Lord answered him. He was kind to Manasseh, as Manasseh had asked him to be. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem again, to rule there as king. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is the true God.

²³ For many years I have been waiting for the chance to come. But now I have finished my work in these places here. ²⁴ So I hope to visit you while I am travelling to Spain. I will stay with you in Rome for a short time. I will really enjoy having some time together with you there. Then you can help me to continue my journey.

²⁵ But now, I am ready to go to Jerusalem to help God's people there. ²⁶ Some of them are poor, and the Christians in Macedonia and Achaia wanted to help them. So they got some money to send to those people. ²⁷ The Christians in Macedonia and Achaia were happy to share what they had.^[a] But really, they have a duty to help the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. It is the Jews who shared good things from God to help the Gentiles in their spirits. So now the Gentiles ought to help the Jewish Christians with things that they need for their bodies.

²⁸ So I must take their gift safely to the Christians in Jerusalem. When I have finished that job, I will come to visit you. Then I will continue my journey to Spain. ²⁹ When I visit you, I know that Christ will bless us very much while we are together.

³⁰ My Christian friends, please pray for me as I do this difficult work. Together we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. God's Spirit has given us love for each other. So I ask you to help me and to pray with me. ³¹ Pray that God will keep me safe from those people in Judea who have refused to believe in Jesus. Pray also that God's people at Jerusalem will happily accept the gift that I am taking to them.^[b]

³² If God agrees, I will then be able to come to you, and we will be happy together. I will enjoy having some rest while I stay there with you. ³³ I pray that God will give you peace in your minds. I pray that he will be with all of you and help you. Amen.

Paul says ‘hello’

16 I want you to know that our Christian friend Phoebe is a good person. She is a servant of the church at Cenchrea. ² Please be kind to her when she comes to you, because you belong to the Lord. Help her in the way that God's people ought to help one another. Give to her the things that she needs. She has worked to help me as well as many other people.^[c]

³ Say ‘hello’ on my behalf to Priscilla and Aquila. They have worked together with me as servants of Christ Jesus. ⁴ They were even ready to die so that they could help me. So I have a good reason to thank them. All the groups of Gentile believers also have a good reason to thank them. ⁵ Also say ‘hello’ for me to the group of believers who meet in Priscilla and Aquila's house.

Say ‘hello’ to my very good friend Epenetus. He was the first person in the region of Asia who believed in Christ.

⁶ Say ‘hello’ to Mary, who has worked very much on your behalf. ⁷ Say ‘hello’ to my relatives Andronicus and Junia, who were in prison with me. The apostles know them well and respect them. They became believers in Christ before I did.

⁸ Say ‘hello’ to Ampliatus on my behalf. He is my very good friend in the Lord's family. ⁹ Say ‘hello’ to Urbanus, who works with us to serve Christ. Also say ‘hello’ to my good friend Stachys.