ARKCODEX
2 Kings
Ch. 21
King Manasseh of Judah
1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah.
2Following the disgusting practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced, Manasseh sinned against the Lord.
3He rebuilt the pagan places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he built altars for the worship of Baal and made an image of the goddess Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh also worshiped the stars.
4He built pagan altars in the Temple, the place that the Lord had said was where he should be worshiped.
5In the two courtyards of the Temple he built altars for the worship of the stars.
6He sacrificed his son as a burnt offering. He practiced divination and magic and consulted fortunetellers and mediums. He sinned greatly against the Lord and stirred up his anger.
7He placed the symbol of the goddess Asherah in the Temple, the place about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: “Here in Jerusalem, in this Temple, is the place that I have chosen out of all the territory of the twelve tribes of Israel as the place where I am to be worshiped.
8And if the people of Israel will obey all my commands and keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them, then I will not allow them to be driven out of the land that I gave to their ancestors.”
9But the people of Judah did not obey the Lord, and Manasseh led them to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.
10Through his servants the prophets the Lord said,
11“King Manasseh has done these disgusting things, things far worse than what the Canaanites did; and with his idols he has led the people of Judah into sin.
12So I, the Lord God of Israel, will bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will be stunned.
13I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria, as I did King Ahab of Israel and his descendants. I will wipe Jerusalem clean of its people, as clean as a plate that has been wiped and turned upside down.
14I will abandon the people who survive, and will hand them over to their enemies, who will conquer them and plunder their land.
15I will do this to my people because they have sinned against me and have stirred up my anger from the time their ancestors came out of Egypt to this day.”
16Manasseh killed so many innocent people that the streets of Jerusalem were flowing with blood; he did this in addition to leading the people of Judah into idolatry, causing them to sin against the Lord.
17Everything else that Manasseh did, including the sins he committed, is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
18Manasseh died and was buried in the palace garden, the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon succeeded him as king.
King Amon of Judah
19Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for two years. His mother was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz from the town of Jotbah.
20Like his father Manasseh, he sinned against the Lord;
21he imitated his father's actions, and he worshiped the idols that his father had worshiped.
22He rejected the Lord, the God of his ancestors, and disobeyed the Lord's commands.
23Amon's officials plotted against him and assassinated him in the palace.
24The people of Judah killed Amon's assassins and made his son Josiah king.
25Everything else that Amon did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.
26Amon was buried in the tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles
Ch. 32
The Assyrians Threaten Jerusalem
1After these events, in which King Hezekiah served the Lord faithfully, Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities and gave orders for his army to break their way through the walls.
2When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib intended to attack Jerusalem also,
3-4he and his officials decided to cut off the supply of water outside the city in order to keep the Assyrians from having any water when they got near Jerusalem. The officials led a large number of people out and stopped up all the springs, so that no more water flowed out of them.
5The king strengthened the city's defenses by repairing the wall, building towers on it, and building an outer wall. In addition, he repaired the defenses built on the land that was filled in on the east side of the old part of Jerusalem. He also had a large number of spears and shields made.
6He placed all the men in the city under the command of army officers and had them assemble in the open square at the city gate. He said to them,
7“Be determined and confident, and don't be afraid of the Assyrian emperor or of the army he is leading. We have more power on our side than he has on his.
8He has human power, but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by these words of their king.
9Some time later, while Sennacherib and his army were still at Lachish, he sent the following message to Hezekiah and the people of Judah who were with him in Jerusalem:
10“I, Sennacherib, Emperor of Assyria, ask what gives you people the confidence to remain in Jerusalem under siege.
11Hezekiah tells you that the Lord your God will save you from our power, but Hezekiah is deceiving you and will let you die of hunger and thirst.
12He is the one who destroyed the Lord's shrines and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem to worship and burn incense at one altar only.
13Don't you know what my ancestors and I have done to the people of other nations? Did the gods of any other nation save their people from the emperor of Assyria?
14When did any of the gods of all those countries ever save their country from us? Then what makes you think that your god can save you?
15Now don't let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like that. Don't believe him! No god of any nation has ever been able to save his people from any Assyrian emperor. So certainly this god of yours can't save you!”
16The Assyrian officials said even worse things about the Lord God and Hezekiah, the Lord's servant.
17The letter that the emperor wrote defied the Lord, the God of Israel. It said, “The gods of the nations have not saved their people from my power, and neither will Hezekiah's god save his people from me.”
18The officials shouted this in Hebrew in order to frighten and discourage the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall, so that it would be easier to capture the city.
19They talked about the God of Jerusalem in the same way that they talked about the gods of the other peoples, idols made by human hands.
20Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed to God and cried out to him for help.
21The Lord sent an angel that killed the soldiers and officers of the Assyrian army. So the emperor went back to Assyria disgraced. One day when he was in the temple of his god, some of his sons killed him with their swords.
22In this way the Lord rescued King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the power of Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria, and also from their other enemies. He let the people live in peace with all the neighboring countries.
23Many people came to Jerusalem, bringing offerings to the Lord and gifts to Hezekiah, so that from then on all the nations held Hezekiah in honor.
Hezekiah's Illness and Pride
24About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. He prayed, and the Lord gave him a sign that he would recover.
25But Hezekiah was too proud to show gratitude for what the Lord had done for him, and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it.
26Finally, however, Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem humbled themselves, and so the Lord did not punish the people until after Hezekiah's death.
Hezekiah's Wealth and Splendor
27King Hezekiah became very wealthy, and everyone held him in honor. He had storerooms built for his gold, silver, precious stones, spices, shields, and other valuable objects.
28In addition, he had storehouses built for his grain, wine, and olive oil; barns for his cattle; and pens for his sheep.
29Besides all this, God gave him sheep and cattle and so much other wealth that he built many cities.
30It was King Hezekiah who blocked the outlet for Gihon Spring and channeled the water to flow through a tunnel to a point inside the walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did,
31and even when the Babylonian ambassadors came to inquire about the unusual event that had happened in the land, God let Hezekiah go his own way only in order to test his character.
The End of Hezekiah's Reign
32Everything else that King Hezekiah did and his devotion to the Lord are recorded in The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz and in The History of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
33Hezekiah died and was buried in the upper section of the royal tombs. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem paid him great honor at his death. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
Psalms
Ch. 145
A Hymn of Praise
1I will proclaim your greatness, my God and king; I will thank you forever and ever.
2Every day I will thank you; I will praise you forever and ever.
3The Lord is great and is to be highly praised; his greatness is beyond understanding.
4What you have done will be praised from one generation to the next; they will proclaim your mighty acts.
5They will speak of your glory and majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful deeds.
6People will speak of your mighty deeds, and I will proclaim your greatness.
7They will tell about all your goodness and sing about your kindness.
8The Lord is loving and merciful, slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9He is good to everyone and has compassion on all he made.
10All your creatures, Lord, will praise you, and all your people will give you thanks.
11They will speak of the glory of your royal power and tell of your might,
12so that everyone will know your mighty deeds and the glorious majesty of your kingdom.
13Your rule is eternal, and you are king forever. The Lord is faithful to his promises; he is merciful in all his acts.
14He helps those who are in trouble; he lifts those who have fallen.
15All living things look hopefully to you, and you give them food when they need it.
16You give them enough and satisfy the needs of all.
17The Lord is righteous in all he does, merciful in all his acts.
18He is near to those who call to him, who call to him with sincerity.
19He supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries and saves them.
20He protects everyone who loves him, but he will destroy the wicked.
21I will always praise the Lord; let all his creatures praise his holy name forever.