20
1 In those days was Ezekias sick even to death. And the prophet Esaias the son of Amos came in to him, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, Give charge to thy household; for thou *shalt die, and not live. 2 And Ezekias turned to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 Lord, remember, I pray thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a †perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thine eyes. And Ezekias wept with a great weeping.
4 And Esaias was in the middle court, and the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 Turn back, and thou shalt say to Ezekias the ruler of my people, Thus saith the Lord God of thy father David, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add to thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 7 And he said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it upon the ulcer, and he shall be well. 8 And Ezekias said to Esaias, What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day? 9 And Esaias said, This is the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will perform the word which he has spoken, the shadow of the dial shall advance ten degrees: or if it should go back ten degrees this would also be the sign. 10 And Ezekias said, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return ten degrees backward ‡on the dial. 11 And Esaias the prophet cried to the Lord: and the shadow returned back ten degrees on the dial.
12 At that time Marodach Baladan, son of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Ezekias, because he had heard that Ezekias was sick. 13 And Ezekias rejoiced at them, and shewed all the house of his spices, the silver and the gold, the spices, and the fine oil, and the armoury, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing which Ezekias did not shew them in his house, and in all his dominion.
14 And Esaias the prophet went in to king Ezekias, and said to him, What said these men? and whence came they to thee? And Ezekias said, They came to me from a distant land, even from Babylon. 15 And he said, What saw they in thy house? And he said, They saw all things that are in my house: there was nothing in my house which I shewed not to them; yea, all that was in my treasures also. 16 And Esaias said to Ezekias, Hear the word of the Lord: 17 Behold, the days come, that all things that are in thy house shall be taken, and all that thy fathers have treasured up until this day, to Babylon; and there shall not §fail a word which the Lord has spoken. 18 And as for thy sons which shall come forth of thee, which thou shalt beget, the enemy shall take them, and they shall be eunuchs in the house of the king of Babylon. 19 And Ezekias said to Esaias, Good is the word of the Lord which he has spoken: only let there be peace in my days.
20 And the rest of the acts of Ezekias, and all his might, and all that he made, the fountain and the aqueduct, and how he brought water into the city, are not these things written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Juda? 21 And Ezekias slept with his fathers: and Manasses his son reigned in his stead.
* 20:1 Gr. diest. † 20:3 Gr. full. ‡ 20:10 Or, in the degrees. § 20:17 Gr. be left behind.