Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

1 ^hIn the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ⁱHezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was ^jtwenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^kAbi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 ^lAnd he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 ^mHe removed the high places and broke the ⁿpillars and cut down ^othe Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^pthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).¹ 5 ^qHe trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, ^rso that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 ^sFor he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 ^tAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, ^uhe prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 ^vHe struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, ^wfrom watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^xShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in ^yHalah, and on the ^yHabor, ^ythe river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 ^zIn the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” ^aAnd the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents² of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah ^bgave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the ^cTartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by ^dthe conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them ^eEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^fShebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of ^ga staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he ^hwhose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

26 Then ^eEliakim the son of Hilkiah, and ^fShebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ⁱAramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my³ hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me⁴ and come out to me. Then ^jeach one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^ka land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and ^lhoney, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 ^mHas any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 ⁿWhere are the gods of ^oHamath and ^pArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^qIvvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, ^rthat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then ^sEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^twith their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Tell of All His Wondrous Works

1 Since we have these promises, beloved, ^jlet us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body¹ and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Paul’s Joy

2 ^kMake room in your hearts² for us. ^lWe have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that ^myou are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with ⁿgreat boldness toward you; ^oI have great pride in you; ^pI am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

5 For even ^qwhen we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—^rfighting without and fear within. 6 But ^sGod, who comforts the downcast, ^tcomforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For ^ueven if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though ^vI did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but ^wbecause you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

10 For ^xgodly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas ^yworldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, ^zwhat zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one ^awho did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore ^bwe are comforted.

And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit ^chas been refreshed by you all. 14 For ^dwhatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you ^ewas true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers ^fthe obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete ^gconfidence in you.

Encouragement to Give Generously

1 We want you to know, brothers,³ about the grace of God that has been ^hgiven among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and ⁱtheir extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave ^jaccording to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly ^kfor the favor⁴ of taking part in ^lthe relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they ^mgave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, ⁿwe urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you ^othis act of grace. 7 But as ^pyou excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you⁵—^qsee that you excel in this act of grace also.

8 ^rI say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ^sthough he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. 10 And in this matter ^tI give my judgment: ^uthis benefits you, who ^va year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. 11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable ^waccording to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness 14 your abundance at the present time should supply ^xtheir need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. 15 As it is written, ^y“Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

Commendation of Titus

16 But ^zthanks be to God, ^awho put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For ^bhe not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going⁶ to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending^{7 c}the brother who is famous among ^dall the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 And not only that, but he has been ^eappointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of ^fgrace that is being ministered by us, ^gfor the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will. 20 We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, 21 for ^hwe aim at what is honorable ⁱnot only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is ^jmy partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers⁸ of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof before the churches of your love and of ^kour boasting about you to these men.