2 Kings 18, 2 Chronicles 32, Luke 24, Psalm 62

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18Now it happened ^ain the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^bHezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ²He was ^atwenty-five years old when he became king; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. ³^aAnd he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done. ⁴^aHe took away the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the ¹Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^bthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel were burning incense to it; and it was called ²Nehushtan. ⁵^aHe trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel; ^bso that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. ⁶So he ^aclung to Yahweh; he did not turn away from following Him, but kept His commandments, which Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Prospers

⁷^aAnd Yahweh was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^bhe rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ⁸^aHe struck the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^bwatchtower to fortified city.

⁹Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^aShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰And at the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^athe ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹Then the king of Assyria took Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^aHalah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹²because they ^adid not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, but trespassed against His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Sennacherib Comes Up Against Judah

¹³^aNow in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^aI have done wrong. Turn away from me; whatever penalty you give to me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria set a penalty on Hezekiah king of Judah ¹three hundred talents of silver and ²thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵^aThus Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahweh and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷Then the king of Assyria sent ^aTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^bconduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ¹fuller’s field. ¹⁸Then they called to the king, and ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^bShebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^aWhat is this trust that you have? ²⁰“You say (but they are ¹only empty words), ‘I have counsel and might for the war.’ Now on whom do you trust, ^athat you have rebelled against me? ²¹“Now behold, you ¹^,^atrust in the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ²hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²²“But if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^awhose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³“So now, ¹come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them. ²⁴“How then can you ¹turn away one ²official of the least of my master’s servants, and trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵“So now, have I come up ¹without the approval of Yahweh against this place to make it a ruin? Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and make it a ruin.’”’”

²⁶Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ¹understand it; and do not speak with us in ²^,^aJudean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ¹saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹“Thus says the king, ‘^aDo not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ¹his hand; ³⁰and do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ³¹‘Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “¹Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^aeach of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, ³²until I come and take you away ^ato a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “Yahweh will deliver us.” ³³‘^aHas any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴‘^aWhere are the gods of Hamath and ^bArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ¹^,^cIvvah? When have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵‘Who among all the gods of the lands ¹have delivered their land from my hand, ^athat Yahweh would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

³⁶But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷Then ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^bwith their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

32After these ¹acts of faithfulness ^aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and encamped against the fortified cities, and ²thought to break into them for himself. ²Then Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he had set his face to make war on Jerusalem, ³and he took counsel with his commanders and his warriors to stop up the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him. ⁴So many people gathered ^aand stopped up all the springs and ^bthe stream which flowed in the midst of the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” ⁵And he strengthened himself and ^arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and ¹erected towers on it, and built ^banother outside wall and strengthened the ²^,^cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. ⁶He also put military commanders over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and ^aspoke to their hearts, saying, ⁷“^aBe strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the multitude that is with him; ^bfor the one with us is greater than the one with him. ⁸“With him is only ^aan arm of flesh, but ^bwith us is Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were sustained by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Reproaches Yahweh

⁹After this ^aSennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ¹besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹‘Is not Hezekiah inciting you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “Yahweh our God will deliver us from the ¹hand of the king of Assyria”? ¹²‘^aHas not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ¹Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall offer offerings up in smoke”? ¹³‘Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^aWere the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? ¹⁴‘^aWho was there among all the gods of these nations which my fathers devoted to destruction, who could deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵‘So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or incite you like this, and do not believe him, for ^ano god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’”

¹⁶His servants spoke further against Yahweh God and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷He also wrote letters to ¹reproach Yahweh, the God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^aAs the gods of the nations of the lands ²have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” ¹⁸^aAnd they called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to instill fear and terrify them, so that they might capture the city. ¹⁹And they spoke ¹of the God of Jerusalem as of ^athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Yahweh Wipes Out the Men of Assyria

²⁰But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. ²¹And Yahweh sent an angel who wiped out every mighty man of valor, ruler, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ¹in shame to his own land. And he entered the house of his god, and some of ²his own children caused him to fall there by the sword. ²²So Yahweh ^asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and He ¹guided them on every side. ²³And ^amany were bringing presents to Yahweh at Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that ^bhe was lifted up in the sight of all nations thereafter.

²⁴^aIn those days Hezekiah became sick to the point of death; and he prayed to Yahweh, and ¹Yahweh spoke to him and gave him a miraculous sign. ²⁵But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit ¹he received, ^abecause his heart was ²proud; ^btherefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. ²⁶However, ^aHezekiah ¹humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

²⁷Now Hezekiah had abundant riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of desirable articles, ²⁸storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine, and oil, stalls for all kinds of cattle, and ¹sheepfolds for the flocks. ²⁹He also made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for ^aGod had given him exceedingly abundant ¹wealth. ³⁰And it was Hezekiah who ^astopped the upper outlet of the waters of ^bGihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did. ³¹Even in the matter of ^athe envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of ^bthe miraculous sign that had happened in the land, God left him alone only ^cto test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

³²Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of lovingkindness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the ¹upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^ahonored him at his death. And Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Jesus Is Risen!

24^aNow on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ²And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they entered, they did not find the body of ^athe Lord Jesus. ⁴And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, ^atwo men suddenly ^bstood near them in dazzling clothing, ⁵and when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? ⁶“He is not here, but He ^ahas ¹risen. Remember how He spoke to you ^bwhile He was still in Galilee, ⁷saying that ^athe Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” ⁸And ^athey remembered His words, ⁹and when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰Now ^aMary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the rest of the women with them were there; they were telling these things to ^bthe apostles. ¹¹But these words appeared ¹to them as nonsense, and they ^awere not believing them. ¹²But Peter stood up and ^aran to the tomb; and stooping to look in, he *saw the linen wrappings ¹only. And he went away ^bby himself, marveling at what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus

¹³And behold, ^atwo of them were going that same day to a village named Emmaus, which was ¹sixty stadia from Jerusalem. ¹⁴And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had happened. ¹⁵And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus Himself approached and was going with them. ¹⁶But ^atheir eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. ¹⁷And He said to them, “What are these words that you are discussing with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You ¹the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” ¹⁹And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about ^aJesus the Nazarene, who was a mighty ^bprophet in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰and how the chief priests and our ^arulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. ²¹“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to ^aredeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ²²“But also some women among us astounded us. ^aWhen they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³and not finding His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴“Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also said, but Him they did not see.” ²⁵And He said to them, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that ^athe prophets have spoken! ²⁶“^aWas it not necessary for the ¹Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷Then beginning ¹with ^aMoses and ²with all the ^bprophets, He interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸And they approached the village where they were going, and ^aHe acted as though He were going farther. ²⁹But they urged Him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day ¹is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰And it happened that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and ^ablessed it, and after breaking it, He was giving it to them. ³¹Then their ^aeyes were opened and they recognized Him. And He vanished from ¹their sight. ³²And they said to one another, “¹Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He ^awas opening the Scriptures to us?” ³³And they stood up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and ^afound gathered together the eleven and ^bthose with them, ³⁴who were saying, “^aThe Lord has really risen and ^bhas appeared to Simon.” ³⁵And they were relating ¹their experiences on the road and how ^aHe was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

³⁶Now while they were telling these things, ^aHe Himself stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace to you.” ³⁷But being startled and frightened, they were thinking that they were seeing ^aa spirit. ³⁸And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your ¹hearts? ³⁹“^aSee My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; ^btouch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹And while they still ^awere not believing because of their joy and were still marveling, He said to them, “^bHave you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, ⁴³and He took it and ^aate it before them.

⁴⁴Now He said to them, “^aThese are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the ^bLaw of Moses and the Prophets and ^cthe Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then He ^aopened their ¹minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶and He said to them, “^aThus it is written, that the ¹Christ would suffer and ^brise again from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷and that ^arepentance ¹for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ²in His name to ^ball the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸“You are ^awitnesses of these things. ⁴⁹“And behold, ^aI am sending the promise of My Father upon you, but ^byou are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension

⁵⁰And He led them out as far as ^aBethany, and lifting up His hands, He blessed them. ⁵¹And it happened that while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵²And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³and were continually in the temple blessing God.

God Is a Refuge for Us

For the choir director. According to ¹Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

^aSurely my soul waits in silence for God;From Him ^bis my salvation.²Surely He is my ^arock and my salvation,My ^bstronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.³How long will you assail a man,That you may murder him, all of you,Like a ^aleaning wall, like a fence thrust down?⁴Surely they have counseled to thrust him down from his high position;They ^afind pleasure in falsehood;They ^bbless with ¹their mouth,But inwardly they curse. ² Selah.⁵Surely ^await in silence for God, O my soul,For my hope is from Him.⁶Surely He is ^amy rock and my salvation,My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.⁷On God my ^asalvation and my glory rest;The rock of my strength, my ^brefuge is in God.⁸^aTrust in Him at all times, O people;^bPour out your heart before Him;God is a refuge for us. Selah.⁹Surely ¹men of ^alow degree are merely ^bvanity and ²men of rank are a ^clie;In the ^dbalances they go up;They are together lighter than a breath of vanity.¹⁰^aDo not trust in oppressionAnd do not put vain hope in ^brobbery;If riches increase, ^cdo not set your heart upon them.¹¹¹Once God has ^aspoken;²Twice I have heard this:That ^bstrength belongs to God;¹²And that ^ato You, O Lord, belongs lovingkindness,For You ^brepay a man according to his work.