Month: July 2021

³ In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan^(A) son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah^(B) the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected^(C) from the people. ⁵ Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair^(D) the temple of the Lord— ⁶ the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple.^{(E) 7} But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.”^(F)

⁸ Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law^(G) in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹ Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.^(H)

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law,^(I) he tore his robes. ¹² He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam^(J) son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant:^{(K) 13} “Go and inquire^(L) of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger^(M) that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”

¹⁴ Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to the prophet^(N) Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

¹⁵ She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster^(O) on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book^(P) the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken^(Q) me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made,^[a] my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’ ¹⁸ Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(R) of the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: ¹⁹ Because your heart was responsive and you humbled^(S) yourself before the Lord when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse^[b](T) and be laid waste^(U)—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace.^(V) Your eyes^(W) will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”

So they took her answer back to the king.

Josiah Renews the Covenant^{(X)(Y)(Z)(AA)}

23 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ² He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read^(AB) in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant,^(AC) which had been found in the temple of the Lord. ³ The king stood by the pillar^(AD) and renewed the covenant^(AE) in the presence of the Lord—to follow^(AF) the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

⁴ The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers^(AG) to remove^(AH) from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. ⁵ He did away with the idolatrous priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense^(AI) to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts.^{(AJ) 6} He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the Lord to the Kidron Valley^(AK) outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder^(AL) and scattered the dust over the graves^(AM) of the common people.^{(AN) 7} He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes^(AO) that were in the temple of the Lord, the quarters where women did weaving for Asherah.

⁸ Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba^(AP) to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the gateway at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which was on the left of the city gate. ⁹ Although the priests of the high places did not serve^(AQ) at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

¹⁰ He desecrated Topheth,^(AR) which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^(AS) so no one could use it to sacrifice their son^(AT) or daughter in the fire to Molek. ¹¹ He removed from the entrance to the temple of the Lord the horses that the kings of Judah^(AU) had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court^[c] near the room of an official named Nathan-Melek. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.^(AV)

¹² He pulled down^(AW) the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof^(AX) near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts^(AY) of the temple of the Lord. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley.^{(AZ) 13} The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon^(BA) king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable^(BB) god of the people of Ammon.^{(BC) 14} Josiah smashed^(BD) the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.^(BE)

¹⁵ Even the altar^(BF) at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam^(BG) son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. ¹⁶ Then Josiah^(BH) looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance^(BI) with the word of the Lord proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

¹⁷ The king asked, “What is that tombstone I see?”

The people of the city said, “It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it.”

¹⁸ “Leave it alone,” he said. “Don’t let anyone disturb his bones^(BJ).” So they spared his bones and those of the prophet^(BK) who had come from Samaria.

¹⁹ Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria and that had aroused the Lord’s anger. ²⁰ Josiah slaughtered^(BL) all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones^(BM) on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

²¹ The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover^(BN) to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.”^{(BO) 22} Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.^(BP)

²⁴ Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists,^(BQ) the household gods,^(BR) the idols and all the other detestable^(BS) things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the Lord. ²⁵ Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned^(BT) to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.^(BU)

²⁶ Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger,^(BV) which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh^(BW) had done to arouse his anger. ²⁷ So the Lord said, “I will remove^(BX) Judah also from my presence^(BY) as I removed Israel, and I will reject^(BZ) Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, ‘My Name shall be there.’^[d]”

²⁸ As for the other events of Josiah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

²⁹ While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Necho^(CA) king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Necho faced him and killed him at Megiddo.^{(CB) 30} Josiah’s servants brought his body in a chariot^(CC) from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(A)

³⁷ As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks,^(B) he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness^(C) some time ago?”^(D)

³⁹ Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus^(E) in Cilicia,^(F) a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned^(G) to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:^(H) 22 ¹ “Brothers and fathers,^(I) listen now to my defense.”

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(J) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew,^(K) born in Tarsus^(L) of Cilicia,^(M) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(N) Gamaliel^(O) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(P) I was just as zealous^(Q) for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted^(R) the followers of this Way^(S) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^{(T) 5} as the high priest and all the Council^(U) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(V) in Damascus,^(W) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^{(X) 7} I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,^(Y) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light,^(Z) but they did not understand the voice^(AA) of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰ “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’^{(AB) 11} My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.^(AC)

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me.^(AD) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.^{(AE) 13} He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(AF) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(AG) the Righteous One^(AH) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵ You will be his witness^(AI) to all people of what you have seen^(AJ) and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(AK) and wash your sins away,^(AL) calling on his name.’^(AM)

BOOK I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

Hezekiah’s Illness^(A)

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ “Remember,^(B) Lord, how I have walked^(C) before you faithfully^(D) and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard^(E) your prayer and seen your tears;^(F) I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend^(G) this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil,^(H) and he recovered.

⁸ Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”

⁹ Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign^(I) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ “It is a simple^(J) matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”

¹¹ Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back^(K) the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

Envoys From Babylon^(L)(M)

¹² At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. ¹³ Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”

¹⁵ The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.^(N) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. ¹⁸ And some of your descendants,^(O) your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”^(P)

¹⁹ “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”

²⁰ As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool^(Q) and the tunnel^(R) by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²¹ Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

Manasseh King of Judah^(S)(T)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.^{(U) 2} He did evil^(V) in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices^(W) of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places^(X) his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal^(Y) and made an Asherah pole,^(Z) as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts^(AA) and worshiped them. ⁴ He built altars^(AB) in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.”^{(AC) 5} In the two courts^(AD) of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He sacrificed his own son^(AE) in the fire, practiced divination,^(AF) sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists.^(AG) He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing^(AH) his anger.

⁷ He took the carved Asherah pole^(AI) he had made and put it in the temple,^(AJ) of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name^(AK) forever. ⁸ I will not again^(AL) make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses^(AM) gave them.” ⁹ But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil^(AN) than the nations^(AO) the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

¹⁰ The Lord said through his servants the prophets: ¹¹ “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil^(AP) than the Amorites^(AQ) who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols.^{(AR) 12} Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster^(AS) on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.^{(AT) 13} I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line^(AU) used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe^(AV) out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. ¹⁴ I will forsake^(AW) the remnant^(AX) of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; ¹⁵ they have done evil^(AY) in my eyes and have aroused^(AZ) my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”

¹⁶ Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood^(BA) that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah^(BB) to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

¹⁷ As for the other events of Manasseh’s reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸ Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace garden,^(BC) the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

Amon King of Judah^(BD)

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. ²⁰ He did evil^(BE) in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. ²² He forsook^(BF) the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk^(BG) in obedience to him.

²³ Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated^(BH) the king in his palace. ²⁴ Then the people of the land killed^(BI) all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah^(BJ) his son king in his place.

²⁵ As for the other events of Amon’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁶ He was buried in his tomb in the garden^(BK) of Uzza. And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.

The Book of the Law Found^(BL)

22 Josiah^(BM) was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.^{(BN) 2} He did what was right^(BO) in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right^(BP) or to the left.

¹⁸ The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James,^(A) and all the elders^(B) were present. ¹⁹ Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles^(C) through his ministry.^(D)

²⁰ When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous^(E) for the law.^{(F) 21} They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses,^(G) telling them not to circumcise their children^(H) or live according to our customs.^{(I) 22} What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, ²³ so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.^{(J) 24} Take these men, join in their purification rites^(K) and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.^(L) Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. ²⁵ As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”^(M)

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.^(N)

Paul Arrested

²⁷ When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,^{(O) 28} shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”^{(P) 29} (They had previously seen Trophimus^(Q) the Ephesian^(R) in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

³⁰ The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul,^(S) they dragged him^(T) from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.^(U)

³³ The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound^(V) with two^(W) chains.^(X) Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another,^(Y) and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.^{(Z) 35} When Paul reached the steps,^(AA) the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶ The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”^(AB)

Psalm 150

¹³ In the fourteenth year^(A) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah^(B) and captured them. ¹⁴ So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:^(C) “I have done wrong.^(D) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[a] of silver and thirty talents^[b] of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah gave^(E) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

¹⁶ At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors^(F) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(G)(H)

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,^(I) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,^(J) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ¹⁸ They called for the king; and Eliakim^(K) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna^(L) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

¹⁹ The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,^(R) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

²⁷ But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

²⁸ Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive^(S) you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. ³⁰ Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

³¹ “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree^(T) and drink water from your own cistern,^{(U) 32} until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life^(V) and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ ³³ Has the god^(W) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath^(X) and Arpad?^(Y) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”^(Z)

³⁶ But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

³⁷ Then Eliakim^(AA) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,^(AB) and told him what the field commander had said.

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(AC)

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore^(AD) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim^(AE) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,^(AF) all wearing sackcloth,^(AG) to the prophet Isaiah^(AH) son of Amoz. ³ They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment^(AI) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule^(AJ) the living God, and that he will rebuke^(AK) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant^(AL) that still survives.”

⁵ When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid^(AM) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed^(AN) me. ⁷ Listen! When he hears a certain report,^(AO) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.^(AP)’”

⁸ When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,^(AQ) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.^(AR)

⁹ Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,^[d] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰ “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend^(AS) on deceive^(AT) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ ¹¹ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver^(AU) them—the gods of Gozan,^(AV) Harran,^(AW) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”^(AX)

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(AY)

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter^(AZ) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,^(BA) you alone^(BB) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Give ear,^(BC) Lord, and hear;^(BD) open your eyes,^(BE) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

¹⁷ “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. ¹⁸ They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods^(BF) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.^{(BG) 19} Now, Lord our God, deliver^(BH) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms^(BI) of the earth may know^(BJ) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall^(BK)(BL)

²⁰ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard^(BM) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against^(BN) him:

²⁹ “This will be the sign^(CI) for you, Hezekiah:

“The zeal^(CP) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

³² “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord^(CT) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!^{(CU) 36} So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.^(CV) He returned to Nineveh^(CW) and stayed there.

³⁷ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek^(CX) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,^(CY) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.^(CZ) And Esarhaddon^(DA) his son succeeded him as king.

On to Jerusalem

21 After we^(A) had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. ² We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia,^(B) went on board and set sail. ³ After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria.^(C) We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ We sought out the disciples^(D) there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit^(E) they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.^{(F) 6} After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ We continued our voyage from Tyre^(G) and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters^(H) and stayed with them for a day. ⁸ Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea^(I) and stayed at the house of Philip^(J) the evangelist,^(K) one of the Seven. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.^(L)

¹⁰ After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus^(M) came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says,^(N) ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind^(O) the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”^(P)

¹² When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die^(Q) in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”^{(R) 14} When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up^(S) and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”^(T)

¹⁵ After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.^{(U) 16} Some of the disciples from Caesarea^(V) accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus^(W) and one of the early disciples.

Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

¹⁷ When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters^(X) received us warmly.^(Y)

Psalm 149