&#8220;This is what Hezekiah says:<n id="1" /> &#8216;This is a day of distress, insults,<n id="2" /> and humiliation,<n id="3" /> as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.<n id="4" />

&#8220;Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: &#8216;Don&#8217;t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, &#8220;Jerusalem will not be handed over<n id="1" /> to the king of Assyria.&#8221;

<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" />

<p class="poetry">So this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says about the king of Assyria:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;He will not enter this city,p> <p class="poetry">nor will he shoot an arrow here.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">nor will he build siege works against it.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness.<n id="1" /> The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Give your household instructions, for you are about to die; you will not get well.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />

&#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.

&#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8216;I am about to bring disaster on this place and its residents, the details of which are recorded in the scroll which the king of Judah has read.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Elijah<n id="1" /> said to the king,<n id="2" /> &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle!<n id="3" /> Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

They replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;A man came up to meet us. He told us, &#8220;Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron.<n id="2" /> Therefore you will not leave the bed you lie on, for you will certainly die.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;