They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.p>

Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the <sc>Lordsc> rescue Jerusalem from my power?&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />

He sent Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,<n id="1" /> clothed in sackcloth, with this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

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" />

Pay attention, <sc>Lordsc>, and hear! Open your eyes, <sc>Lordsc>, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God!<n id="1" />

This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says about him:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The virgin daughter Zion<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">despises you, she makes fun of you;p> <p class="poetry">Daughter Jerusalemp> <p class="poetry">shakes her head after you.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Because you rage against me,p> <p class="poetry">and the uproar you create has reached my ears;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will put my hook in your nose,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and my bridle between your lips,p> <p class="poetry">and I will lead you back the wayp> <p class="poetry">you came.&#8221;p>

&#8220;Please, <sc>Lordsc>. Remember how I have served you<n id="1" /> faithfully and with wholehearted devotion,<n id="2" /> and how I have carried out your will.&#8221;<n id="3" /> Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.<n id="4" />p>

Isaiah the prophet called out to the <sc>Lordsc>, and the <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> made the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.<n id="2" />p>

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s word which you have announced is appropriate.&#8221;<n id="1" /> Then he added,<n id="2" /> &#8220;At least there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

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">The rest of Amon&#8217;s accomplishments are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.<n id="1" />

&#8220;Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him melt down<n id="1" /> the silver that has been brought by the people to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and has been collected by the guards at the door.

and she said to them: &#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel says: &#8216;Say this to the man who sent you to me:

This will happen because they have abandoned me and offered sacrifices<n id="1" /> to other gods, angering me with all the idols they have made.<n id="2" /> My anger will ignite against this place and will not be extinguished!&#8217;&#8221;

The king<n id="1" /> ruined Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that no one could pass his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech.<n id="2" />

The king<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;Leave it alone! No one must touch his bones.&#8221; So they left his bones undisturbed, as well as the bones of the Israelite prophet buried beside him.<n id="2" />p>

He sacrificed all the priests of the high places on the altars located there, and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.p>

He issued this edict because<n id="1" /> a Passover like this had not been observed since the days of the judges; it was neglected for the entire period of the kings of Israel and Judah.<n id="2" />