the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them. 16. And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 17. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divinations and enchantments, and sold themselves to do that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Israel Removed by 18. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. 19. Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 20. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. 21. For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jereboam the son of Nebat king: And Jereboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin. 22. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jereboam which he did: they departed not from them; 23. until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he spake by the hand of all his servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day. 24. And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Other Nations Brought Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath and Sevarvaim, and placed them in the cities instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. 25. And so it was, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. into Samaria A Priest Sent Back from the Captives 26. Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast carried away, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. 27. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. 28. So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Beth-el, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. 29. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. 30. And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32. So they feared the Lord, and made unto them from among Priests Made and Their themselves priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in Own Gods Served the houses of the high places. 33. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34. Unto this day they do after their former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law or after the commandments which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel; 35. with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them: 36. but the Lord, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and unto him shall ye bow yourselves, and to him shall ye sacrifice: 37. and the statutes and the ordinances, and the law and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore: and ye shall not fear other gods: 38. and the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods: 39. but the Lord your God shall ye fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 40. Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner. 41. So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images; their children likewise, and their children's children, as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. Sickness and Recovery And Isaiah In those days † Hezekiah was sick even unto death. the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said, Set thine house in order for thou shalt die, and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, How I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which was good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years: and I will deliver thee, and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. Hezekiah also had said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath 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 decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return ten steps. And he spake unto him and gave him a sign, behold, I will cause the shadow on the steps, which is gone down on the dial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz. Return of the * See Chronology Appendix A. Both systems of chronology are used, e. g., Hezekiah "In those days" refers to the period when "he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not," and so was pleased with the embassy from Babylon, which suggested a possible alliance against a common enemy. See The Higher Criticism and the Monuments. Sayce, pp. 423-447. (II Kings 20:) 1. In those days was (Isaiah 38) 1. In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live. 2. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and said, 3. Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. 4. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5. Turn again, and say to Hezekiah the prince of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. 6. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 7. And Isaiah said, take a cake of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered. 8. And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up unto the house of the Lord the third day? 9. And Isaiah said, This shall be the sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps? 10. And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to decline ten steps: nay, but let the shadow return ten steps. 11. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz. (II Chron. 32:) 24a. In those days was Hezekiah sick even unto death: and he prayed unto the Lord: 4. Then came the word of the Lord to 21. Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay Lord? 8. behold, I (II Chron. 32:) 24b. and he spake unto him and gave him a sign. Isaiah 38:9. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness. 10. I said, In the noontide of my days, I shall go into the gates of the grave: II. I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: 12. Mine age is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent; 13. I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones: 14. Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward; O Lord; I am oppressed, be thou my surety. 15. What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul. 16. O Lord, by these things men live. And wholly therein is the life of my spirit; Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live. 17. Behold, it was for my peace that I had great bitterness: But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; 18. For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: 19. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: 20. The Lord is ready to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments II Chron. 32: 25. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Ambassadors from Babylon At that time * Berodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. Babylonian Captivity Foretold Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. Then Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts, Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and all that which thy * In Chronicles, Merodach-baladan. : |