Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah received ⁿthe letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^oenthroned above the cherubim, ^pyou are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made the heavens and the earth. 16 ^qIncline your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^ropen your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^sto mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, ^tbut the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, ^uthat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that ^pyou, O Lord, are God alone.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria ^vI have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

29 “And this shall be ^mthe sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ⁿAnd the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion ^oa band of survivors. ^pThe zeal of the Lord will do this.

32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or ^qcast up a siege mound against it. 33 ^rBy the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 ^sFor I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake ^tand for the sake of my servant David.”

35 And that night ^uthe angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at ^vNineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, ^wAdrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

1 ^xIn those days ^yHezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^z‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Now, O Lord, ^aplease remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and ^bwith a whole heart, ^cand have done what is good in your sight.” ^dAnd Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah ^ethe leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ^fI have heard your prayer; ^gI have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, 6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, ^hand I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.” 7 And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” 9 And Isaiah said, “This shall be ⁱthe sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow ^jto lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11 And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, ^kand he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

12 ^lAt that time ^mMerodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, ⁿsent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them ^oall his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 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?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days are coming, when ^pall 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. 18 ^qAnd some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, ^rand they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ^s“The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

20 ^tThe rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made ^uthe pool and the conduit ^vand brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 ^wAnd Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Samekh

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant¹ of God and ^aan apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and ^btheir knowledge of the truth, ^cwhich accords with godliness, 2 ^din hope of eternal life, which God, ^ewho never lies, ^fpromised ^gbefore the ages began² 3 and ^hat the proper time manifested in his word^{3 i}through the preaching ^jwith which I have been entrusted ^kby the command of God our Savior;

4 To Titus, ^lmy true child in ^ma common faith:

ⁿGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 ^oThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^pappoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 ^qif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,⁴ and his children are believers⁵ and not open to the charge of ^rdebauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,^{6 s}as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^tbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^uor greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^vand disciplined. 9 He must ^whold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^xsound⁷ doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10 For there are many who are insubordinate, ^yempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^zthe circumcision party.⁸ 11 They must be silenced, since ^athey are upsetting whole families by teaching ^bfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 ^cOne of the Cretans,⁹ a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”¹⁰ 13 This testimony is true. Therefore ^drebuke them ^esharply, that they ^fmay be sound in the faith, 14 ^gnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^hthe commands of people ⁱwho turn away from the truth. 15 ^jTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^kunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^ltheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 ^mThey profess to know God, but they ⁿdeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^ounfit for any good work.

Teach Sound Doctrine

1 But as for you, teach what accords with ^psound¹¹ doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^psound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 ^qOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^rnot slanderers ^sor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, ^tpure, ^uworking at home, kind, and ^vsubmissive to their own husbands, ^wthat the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge ^xthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be ^ya model of good works, and in your teaching ^zshow integrity, ^adignity, 8 and ^bsound speech that cannot be condemned, ^cso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 ^dBondservants¹² are to be submissive to their own masters ^ein everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, ^fbut showing all good faith, ^gso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For ^hthe grace of God ⁱhas appeared, bringing salvation ^jfor all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and ^kworldly passions, and ^lto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^mthe present age, 13 ⁿwaiting for our blessed ^ohope, the ^pappearing of the glory of our great ^qGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ^rwho gave himself for us to ^sredeem us from all lawlessness and ^tto purify for himself ^ta people for his own possession who are ^uzealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and ^vrebuke with all authority. ^wLet no one disregard you.

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1 Remind them ^xto be submissive to rulers and authorities, ^yto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ^zto speak evil of no one, ^ato avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and ^bto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For ^cwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when ^dthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, ^enot because of works done by us in righteousness, but ^faccording to his own mercy, by ^gthe washing of regeneration and ^hrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he ⁱpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that ^jbeing justified by his grace we might become ^kheirs ^laccording to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is ^mtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful ⁿto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But ^oavoid foolish ^pcontroversies, ^qgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for ^rthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, ^safter warning him once and then twice, ^thave nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Greetings

12 When I send Artemas or ^uTychicus to you, do your best to come to me ^vat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and ^wApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14 And let our people learn ^xto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not ^ybe unfruitful.

15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

^zGrace be with you all.