Assyria Invades Judah
2 Chronicles 32, verse 1. After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came to Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to capture them. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 2. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib came, and that his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles 32, verse 3. he consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 4. And he gathered many people, and they stopped the waters of the springs and the river that ran through the city, saying, “Let not the king of Assyria come and find a lot of water and prevail.” 2 Chronicles 32, verse 5. And Hezekiah strengthened himself and built up all the wall that was broken, raised it up to the towers, and built another wall outside. He also repaired the fortress of the City of David and made many weapons. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 6. Then he set military captains over the people, gathered them to him in the open square of the Valley Gate, and encouraged them, saying, 2 Chronicles 32, verse 7. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria, nor before all the nation with him, for there are more with us than with him. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 8. With him are arms of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to save us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 9. Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem, while he and all the forces with him laid siege against Lachish, to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, 2 Chronicles 32, verse 10. “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: ‘In what do you trust, that you continue under siege in Jerusalem? 2 Chronicles 32, verse 11. Does not Hezekiah deceive you to give yourselves over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? 2 Chronicles 32, verse 12. Did not the same Hezekiah take away the altars and the high places and command Judah and Jerusalem, saying, “You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it”? 2 Chronicles 32, verse 13. Do you not know what my fathers and I did to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands able to deliver their lands from my hand? 2 Chronicles 32, verse 14. Who among all the gods of those nations my fathers utterly destroyed could deliver his people from my hand, that your God will be able to deliver you from my hand? 2 Chronicles 32, verse 15. Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this. Do not believe him. For no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’” 2 Chronicles 32, verse 16. Furthermore, Sennacherib's servants spoke against the Lord God and His servant Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 17. He also wrote a letter to revile the Lord God of Israel and spoke against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” 2 Chronicles 32, verse 18. And they called out with a loud voice in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem on the wall, to frighten them and trouble them so that they might take the city. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 19. And they spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the work of men's hands.
Assyria's Defeat
2 Chronicles 32, verse 20. And King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 21. And the Lord sent an angel, who cut down every mighty man of valor and leader and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his land. And he went into the temple of his god, where some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 22. Thus 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. He gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 23. And many brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so afterwards he was exalted in the sight of all nations.
Hezekiah Humbled and Honored at His Death
2 Chronicles 32, verse 24. In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord heard him and gave him a sign. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 25. But Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown him, but exalted his own heart, and His anger came upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 26. Hezekiah was humbled because of his exalted heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 27. Hezekiah had very great riches and honor. And he made himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, and for all kinds of desirable items, 2 Chronicles 32, verse 28. and cities for the harvest of grain, olive oil, and wine, and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for flocks. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 29. And he built cities for himself, and he possessed flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him a great deal of property. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 30. This same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon and brought the water by a tunnel to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 31. However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom Babylon sent to him to inquire about the wonder done in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and know what was in his heart. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 32. Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his mercy, indeed they are written in the prophecy of Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. 2 Chronicles 32, verse 33. So Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper tombs of the sons of David. And all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.