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.
26 He gsent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, hwhom he had chosen.
27 iThey performed his signs among them
and miracles in cthe land of Ham.
28 He jsent darkness, and made the land dark;
they kdid not rebel1 against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and lcaused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in mthe chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came nswarms of flies,
oand gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and fiery plightning bolts through their land.
33 He struck down their vines and fig trees,
and qshattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the rlocusts came,
young locusts without number,
35 which devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He sstruck down all the firstborn in their land,
sthe firstfruits of all their strength.
37 Then he brought out Israel with tsilver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
38 uEgypt was glad when they departed,
for vdread of them had fallen upon it.
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 sending7 cthe 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.
