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Hezekiah is Healed
20 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.[a] The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”[b] 2 He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you[c] faithfully and with wholehearted devotion,[d] and how I have carried out your will.”[e] Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.[f]
4 Isaiah had not yet left the middle courtyard[g] when the Lord’s message came to him, 5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David has said: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow[h] you will go up to the Lord’s temple. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’”[i] 7 Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered[j] and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered.[k]
8 Hezekiah had said to Isaiah, “What is the confirming sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple the day after tomorrow?” 9 Isaiah replied, “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said. Do you want the shadow to move ahead ten steps or to go back ten steps?”[l] 10 Hezekiah answered, “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps, but not for it[m] to go back ten steps.” 11 Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and the Lord[n] made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.[o]
Messengers from Babylon Visit Hezekiah
12 At that time Merodach Baladan[p] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent messengers with letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill. 13 Hezekiah welcomed[q] them and showed them his whole storehouse, with its silver, gold, spices, and high quality olive oil, as well as his armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom.[r] 14 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 15 Isaiah[s] asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything[t] in my treasuries.” 16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the Lord’s message, 17 ‘Look, a time is[u] coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father[v] will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s message which you have announced is appropriate.”[w] Then he added,[x] “At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”[y]
20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign and all his accomplishments, including how he built a pool and conduit to bring[z] water into the city, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[aa] 21 Hezekiah passed away[ab] and his son Manasseh replaced him as king.
Manasseh’s Reign over Judah
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother[ac] was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of[ad] the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations[ae] whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for Baal and made an Asherah pole just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky[af] and worshiped[ag] them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, about which the Lord had said, “Jerusalem will be my home.”[ah] 5 In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky. 6 He passed his son[ai] through the fire[aj] and practiced divination and omen reading. He set up a ritual pit to conjure up underworld spirits and appointed magicians to supervise it.[ak] He did a great amount of evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.[al] 7 He put an idol of Asherah he had made in the temple, about which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “This temple in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will be my permanent home.[am] 8 I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors,[an] provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law my servant Moses ordered them to obey.” 9 But they did not obey,[ao] and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed from before the Israelites.
10 So the Lord announced through[ap] his servants the prophets: 11 “King Manasseh of Judah has committed horrible sins.[aq] He has sinned more than the Amorites before him and has encouraged Judah to sin by worshiping his disgusting idols.[ar] 12 So this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, ‘I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.[as] 13 I will destroy Jerusalem the same way I did Samaria and the dynasty of Ahab.[at] I will wipe Jerusalem clean, just as one wipes a plate on both sides.[au] 14 I will abandon this last remaining tribe among my people[av] and hand them over to their enemies; they will be plundered and robbed by all their enemies,[aw] 15 because they have done evil in my sight[ax] and have angered me from the time their ancestors left Egypt right up to this very day!’”
16 Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with their blood from end to end,[ay] in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.[az]
17 The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign and all his accomplishments, as well as the sinful acts he committed, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[ba] 18 Manasseh passed away[bb] and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzzah, and his son Amon replaced him as king.
Amon’s Reign over Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned for two years in Jerusalem. His mother[bc] was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz, from Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the sight of[bd] the Lord, just as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He followed in the footsteps of his father[be] and worshiped and bowed down to the disgusting idols[bf] that his father had worshiped.[bg] 22 He abandoned the Lord, God of his ancestors, and did not follow the Lord’s instructions.[bh] 23 Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his palace. 24 The people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they[bi] made his son Josiah king in his place.
25 The rest of Amon’s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.[bj] 26 He was buried[bk] in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah, and his son Josiah replaced him as king.
Josiah Repents
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother[bl] was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath. 2 He did what the Lord approved[bm] and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps;[bn] he did not deviate to the right or the left.
18 The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were there.[a] 19 When Paul[b] had greeted them, he began to explain[c] in detail[d] what God[e] had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they praised[f] God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews[g] there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers[h] of the law.[i] 21 They have been informed about you—that you teach all the Jews now living[j] among the Gentiles to abandon[k] Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children[l] or live[m] according to our customs. 22 What then should we do? They will no doubt[n] hear that you have come. 23 So do what[o] we tell you: We have four men[p] who have taken[q] a vow;[r] 24 take them and purify[s] yourself along with them and pay their expenses,[t] so that they may have their heads shaved.[u] Then[v] everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told[w] about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with[x] the law.[y] 25 But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter, having decided[z] that they should avoid[aa] meat that has been sacrificed to idols[ab] and blood and what has been strangled[ac] and sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men the next day,[ad] and after he had purified himself[ae] along with them, he went to the temple and gave notice[af] of the completion of the days of purification,[ag] when[ah] the sacrifice would be offered for each[ai] of them. 27 When the seven days were almost over,[aj] the Jews from the province of Asia[ak] who had seen him in the temple area[al] stirred up the whole crowd[am] and seized[an] him, 28 shouting, “Men of Israel,[ao] help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law,[ap] and this sanctuary![aq] Furthermore[ar] he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple[as] and made this holy place ritually unclean!”[at] 29 (For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and[au] they assumed Paul had brought him into the inner temple courts.)[av] 30 The whole city was stirred up,[aw] and the people rushed together.[ax] They seized[ay] Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts,[az] and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were trying[ba] to kill him, a report[bb] was sent up[bc] to the commanding officer[bd] of the cohort[be] that all Jerusalem was in confusion.[bf] 32 He[bg] immediately took[bh] soldiers and centurions[bi] and ran down to the crowd.[bj] When they saw[bk] the commanding officer[bl] and the soldiers, they stopped beating[bm] Paul. 33 Then the commanding officer[bn] came up and arrested[bo] him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains;[bp] he[bq] then asked who he was and what[br] he had done. 34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else,[bs] and when the commanding officer[bt] was unable[bu] to find out the truth[bv] because of the disturbance,[bw] he ordered Paul[bx] to be brought into the barracks.[by] 35 When he came to the steps, Paul[bz] had to be carried[ca] by the soldiers because of the violence[cb] of the mob, 36 for a crowd of people[cc] followed them,[cd] screaming, “Away with him!”
Psalm 150[a]
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength![b]
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with the lyre and the harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with clanging cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
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