And the king of Assyria went up into all the land. And he went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.

And the sons of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Jehovah their God. And they built high places in all their cities for themselves, from the Watch Tower to the fortified city.

And they burned incense in all the high places, like the nations whom Jehovah had removed from before them; and did evil things to provoke Jehovah to anger.

For they served the idols, of which Jehovah had said to them, You shall not do this thing.

And Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.

And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He testified against them. And they went after the vain thing, and became vain, and after the nations around them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them not to do like them.

And they left all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made molten images, two calves, for themselves. And they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. And they used divination and incantations, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.

until Jehovah turned away Israel from His face, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria until this day.

And they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the manner of the God of the land. And He has sent lions among them, and, behold, they kill them because they do not know the way of the God of the land.

And the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Cause one of the priests whom you removed from there to go there. And they shall go and live there, and he shall teach them the way of the God of the land.

and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

So they feared Jehovah, and made to themselves, of the lowest of them, priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

They feared Jehovah and served their own gods, according to the custom of the nations whom they removed from there.

Until this day they do according to their former ways. They do not fear Jehovah, neither do they do according to their statutes, or according to their ordinances, or according to the Law and commandment which Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

And Jehovah had made a covenant and charged them, saying, You shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them,

but Jehovah, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm, you shall fear Him, and you shall worship Him, and you shall do sacrifice to Him.

And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the Law, and the commandment, which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to do forever. And you shall not fear other gods.

And it happened, these nations feared Jehovah, and they served their graven images, both their sons and their sons' sons, as their fathers did, they do until this day.

And it happened in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

And he did the right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father did.

He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent which Moses had made; for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it. And he called it Nehushtan.

For he clung to Jehovah. He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses.

He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the Watch Tower to the fortified city.

And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

because they did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed His covenant, and all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded, and would not listen to them, nor do them.

And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; turn back from me. Whatever you put on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid. And he gave them to the king of Assyria.

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish, to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the Fuller's Field.

And they called to the king. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.

And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Speak now to Hezekiah, So says the great king, the king of Assyria, What hope is this in which you trust?

Do you say that a mere word of the lips is wisdom and strength for the war? Now on whom do you trust that you rebel against me?

Now, behold, you trust on the staff of this bruised reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust on him.

But if you say to me, We trust in Jehovah our God, is He not the one whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

And now, please give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver two thousand horses to you if you are able to set riders on them.

Have I now come up against this place to destroy it without Jehovah? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah said to the chief of the cupbearers, Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand. And do not talk with us in Jewish, in the ears of the people who are on the wall.

And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?

so says the king, Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. For he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand.

And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of Assyria.

Do not listen to Hezekiah. For so says the king of Assyria, Make with me a blessing, and come out to me, and you each shall eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and you each shall drink of the waters of his own cistern,

until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and of honey, and live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he deceives you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us.

But the people kept silent and did not answer him a word. For the king's command was, saying, Do not answer him.

And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn. And they told him the words of the chief of the cupbearers.

And he sent Eliakim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

And they said to him, So says Hezekiah, This is a day of trouble and of rebuke and contempt. For the sons have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.

It may be Jehovah your God will hear all the words of the chief cupbearer with which his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah your God has heard. And you shall lift up prayer for the rest who are left.

And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

And Isaiah said to them, You shall say to your master, So says Jehovah, Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

Behold, I will send a blast on him, and he shall hear a rumor and shall return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

And when he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he has come out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

So you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by completely destroying them. And shall you be delivered?

Jehovah, bow down Your ear and hear. O Jehovah, open Your eyes and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, who has sent him to taunt the living God.

And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have heard what you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria.

This is the word that Jehovah has spoken concerning him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you and laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

You have mocked Jehovah by your messengers, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down its tall cedar trees, its choice fir trees. And I will enter into the lodgings of its borders, its densest forest;

Have you not heard it from afar, I made it? From days of old I fashioned it! Now I have caused it to come; that you should make fortified cities desolate heaps of ruins.

And their people were of small power, they were fearful and put to shame. They were like the grass of the field, and the green herb, like the grass on the house-tops, and like grain blasted before it was grown up.

And this shall be a sign to you: you shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springs up of the same. And in the third year, sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruits of them.

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they who escape out of Mount Zion. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts shall do this.

For I will defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake.

In those days Hezekiah was sick to death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, So says Jehovah, Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.

And he turned his face to the wall and prayed to Jehovah, saying, O Jehovah,

And it happened, Isaiah had gone out into the middle of the court, the Word of Jehovah came to him saying,

Return again and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, So says Jehovah, the God of David your father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of Jehovah.

And I will add fifteen years to your days. And I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. And I will defend this city for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake.

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What shall be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of Jehovah the third day?

And Isaiah said, This will be the sign from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing which He has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?

And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten steps. No, but let the shadow go backward ten steps.

And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah. And He brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

At that time Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah. For he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

And Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion which Hezekiah did not show them.

And 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.

And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah answered, They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures which I have not shown to them.

And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the Word of Jehovah .

And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the Word of Jehovah which you have spoken. And he said, Is it not good if peace and truth are in my days?

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign. And he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.

And he built altars for all the host of the heavens in the two courts of the house of Jehovah.

And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times and used fortune-tellers. And he dealt with familiar spirits and wizards. He worked much wickedness in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.

And he set a graven image of the Asherah which he had made in the house, of which Jehovah had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.

And I will not again make the feet of Israel wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.

But they did not listen. And Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations ever did, whom Jehovah destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, doing more wickedly than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols,

And I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies. And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,

because they have done the evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt even until this day.

And also Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing the evil in the sight of Jehovah.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. And he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.

And he did the right in the sight of Jehovah, and walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

And it happened in the eighteenth year of Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of Jehovah, saying,

Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, so that he may count the silver which is brought into the house of Jehovah, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people.

And let them deliver it into the hand of the workers who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah. And let them give it to the workers who are in the house of Jehovah, in order to repair the breaks of the house,

to carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and cut stone to repair the house.

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. And Hilkiah gave the Book to Shaphan, and he read it.

And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought the king word again, and said, Your servants have gathered the silver that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workers, who have the oversight of the house of Jehovah.

Go inquire of Jehovah for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the Words of this Book which is found. For great is the wrath of Jehovah which is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the Words of this Book, to do according to all which is written concerning us.

And Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. And she lived in Jerusalem in the second part. And they talked with her.

And she said to them, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me,