Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands.<n id="1" /> Do you really think you will be rescued?<n id="2" />

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">Certainly you must have heard!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Long ago I worked it out,p> <p class="poetry">In ancient times I planned<n id="3" /> it;p> <p class="poetry">and now I am bringing it to pass.p> <p class="poetry">The plan is this:p> <p class="poetry">Fortified cities will crashp> <p class="poetry">into heaps of ruins.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">At that time Merodach-Baladan<n id="1" /> son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah was ill.

But they did not obey,<n id="1" /> and Manasseh misled them so that they sinned more than the nations whom the <sc>Lordsc> had destroyed from before the Israelites.p>

So this is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says, &#8216;I am about to bring disaster on Jerusalem and Judah. The news will reverberate in the ears of those who hear about it.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">When Elisha the prophet<n id="1" /> heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, &#8220;Why did you tear your clothes? Send him<n id="2" /> to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel.&#8221;

When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.<n id="1" />

The <sc>Lordsc> had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, &#8220;Look, the king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us!&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, &#8220;Speak to your servants in Aramaic,<n id="1" /> for we understand it. Don&#8217;t speak with us in the Judahite dialect<n id="2" /> in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.&#8221;

Don&#8217;t listen to Hezekiah!&#8217; For this is what the king of Assyria says, &#8216;Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.<n id="1" /> Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

until I come and take you to a land just like your own &#8211; a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don&#8217;t listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> will rescue us.&#8221;

Isaiah said to them, &#8220;Tell your master this: &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;Don&#8217;t be afraid because of the things you have heard &#8211; these insults the king of Assyria&#8217;s servants have hurled against me.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8216;I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria.<n id="1" />

&#8220;Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of your ancestor David says: &#8220;I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. The day after tomorrow<n id="1" /> you will go up to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to seek an oracle from the <sc>Lordsc>: &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says concerning the words you have heard:

<p class="bodytext">He wrote them a second letter, saying, &#8220;If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me,<n id="1" /> then take the heads of your master&#8217;s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.&#8221;<n id="2" /> Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent<n id="3" /> men of the city were raising them.

Hezekiah welcomed<n id="1" /> 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.<n id="2" />

&#8220;Go, seek an oracle from<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> for me and the people &#8211; for all Judah. Find out about<n id="2" /> the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s fury has been ignited against us,<n id="3" /> because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

All of the officers of the Judahite army<n id="1" /> and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah to govern. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers who came were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah son of the Maacathite.