Day 200 of 730

¹After these things, and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified cities, and thought to win them for himself.

²When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

³he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of the city; and they helped him.

⁴So many people gathered together, and they stopped all the springs, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?"

⁵He took courage, and built up all the wall that was broken down, and raised it up to the towers, and the other wall outside, and strengthened Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance.

⁶He set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the broad place at the gate of the city, and spoke comfortably to them, saying,

⁷"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude who is with him; for there is a greater with us than with him.

⁸With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles." The people rested themselves on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and all his power with him), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

¹⁰Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, "In whom do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem?

¹¹Doesn't Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, 'The Lord our God will deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?'

¹²Hasn't the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, 'You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense?'

¹³Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands in any way able to deliver their land out of my hand?

¹⁴Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?

¹⁵Now therefore do not let Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you in this way, neither believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand?"

¹⁶His servants spoke yet more against the Lord God, and against his servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷He also wrote letters insulting the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall the God of Hezekiah not deliver his people out of my hand."

¹⁸They cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.

¹⁹They spoke of the God of Jerusalem, as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands.

²⁰Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.

²¹The Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came forth from his own bowels killed him there with the sword.

²²Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.

²³Many brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem, and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from thenceforth.

²⁴In those days Hezekiah was sick even to death: and he prayed to the Lord; and he spoke to him, and gave him a sign.

²⁵But Hezekiah did not render again according to the benefit done to him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath on him, and on Judah and Jerusalem.

²⁶Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷Hezekiah had a very great amount of riches and honor: and he provided him treasuries for silver, and for gold, and for precious stones, and for spices, and for shields, and for all kinds of goodly vessels;

²⁸storehouses also for the increase of grain and new wine and oil; and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks in folds.

²⁹Moreover he provided him cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him very much substance.

³⁰This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

³¹However concerning the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.

³²Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his good deeds, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

³³Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ascent of the tombs of the sons of David: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did him honor at his death. Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

²He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the nations whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

³For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.

⁴He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, "My name shall be in Jerusalem forever."

⁵He built altars for all the army of the sky in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

⁶He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

⁷He set the engraved image of the idol, which he had made, in God's house, of which God 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, will I put my name forever:

⁸neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses."

⁹Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel did.

¹⁰The Lord spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed.

¹¹Therefore the Lord brought on them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

¹²When he was in distress, he begged the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

¹³He prayed to him; and he was entreated by him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

¹⁴Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he encircled Ophel with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹⁵He took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mountain of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

¹⁶He built up the altar of the Lord, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁷Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only to the Lord their God.

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel.

¹⁹His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the engraved images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai.

²⁰So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his place.

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.

²²He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed to all the engraved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them.

²³He did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more.

²⁴His servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house.

²⁵But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

¹The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

³Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.

⁴He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵"Gather my holy ones together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

⁶The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.

⁷"Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, and I will testify against you. I am God, your God.

⁸I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices. Your burnt offerings are continually before me.

⁹I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens.

¹⁰For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know all the birds of the mountains. The wild animals of the field are mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.

¹⁵Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

¹⁶But to the wicked God says, "What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,

¹⁷seeing you hate instruction, and throw my words behind you?

¹⁸When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with adulterers.

¹⁹"You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames deceit.

²⁰You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son.

²¹You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.

²²"Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be none to deliver.

²³Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God's salvation to him."

¹Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

²He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him.

³The fool's talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

⁵A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out lies.

⁶A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn't find it, but knowledge comes easily to a discerning person.

⁷Stay away from a foolish man, for you won't find knowledge on his lips.

⁸The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.

⁹Fools mock at making atonement for sins, but among the upright there is good will.

¹⁰The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.

¹¹The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹²There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

¹³Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and mirth may end in heaviness.

¹⁴The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.

¹⁵A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways.

¹⁶A wise man fears, and shuns evil, but the fool is hotheaded and reckless.

¹⁷He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty man is hated.

¹⁸The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The evil bow down before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰The poor person is shunned even by his own neighbor, but the rich person has many friends.

²¹He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who has pity on the poor.

²²Do they not go astray who plot evil? But love and faithfulness belong to those who plan good.

²³In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.

²⁴The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools crowns them with folly.

²⁵A truthful witness saves souls, but a false witness is deceitful.

²⁶In the fear of the Lord is a secure fortress, and he will be a refuge for his children.

²⁷The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death.

²⁸In the multitude of people is the king's glory, but in the lack of people is the destruction of the prince.

²⁹He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.

³⁰The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.

³¹He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.

³²The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, and is even made known in the inward part of fools.

³⁴Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵The king's favor is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his wrath is toward one who causes shame.