Through the Bible – Day 281

Bible text(s)

Isaiah 37

Hezekiah asks Isaiah for advice

₁As soon as Hezekiah heard the news, he tore off his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he went into the temple of the LORD. ₂He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell me:

₃Isaiah, these are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it's time for her baby to be born. ₄Please pray for those of us who are left alive. The king of Assyria sent his army commander to insult the living God. Perhaps the LORD heard what he said and will do something, if you will pray.

₅When these leaders came to me, ₆I told them that the LORD had this message for Hezekiah:

I am the LORD. Don't worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. ₇I will upset him with rumours about what's happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death.

₈Meanwhile the commander of the Assyrian forces heard that his king had left the town of Lachish and was now attacking Libnah. So he went there.

₉About this same time, the king of Assyria learnt that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was on his way to attack him. Then the king of Assyria sent some messengers with this note for Hezekiah:

₁₀Don't trust your God or be fooled by his promise to defend Jerusalem against me. ₁₁You have heard how we Assyrian kings have completely wiped out other nations. What makes you feel so safe? ₁₂The Assyrian kings before me destroyed the towns of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and everyone from Eden who lived in Telassar. What good did their gods do them? ₁₃The kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah have all disappeared.

Hezekiah prays

₁₄After Hezekiah had read the note from the king of Assyria, he took it to the temple and spread it out for the LORD to see. ₁₅Then he prayed:

₁₆LORD God All-Powerful of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures. You created the heavens and the earth, and you alone rule the kingdoms of this world. ₁₇Just look and see how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God.

₁₈It is true, our LORD, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts. ₁₉They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshipped. ₂₀But you are our LORD and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only LORD.

Isaiah gives the LORD's answer to Hezekiah

_21-22I went to Hezekiah and told him that the LORD God of Israel had said:

Hezekiah, you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. Now this is what I say to that king:

The people of Jerusalem

hate and make fun of you;

they laugh behind your back.

₂₃Sennacherib, you cursed,

shouted, and sneered at me,

the holy God of Israel.

₂₄You let your officials

insult me, the Lord.

And here is what you

have said about yourself,

“I led my chariots

to the highest heights

of Lebanon's mountains.

I went deep into its forest,

cutting down the best cedar

and cypress trees.

₂₅I dried up every stream

in the land of Egypt,

and I drank water

from wells I had dug.”

₂₆Sennacherib, now listen

to me, the LORD.

I planned all this long ago.

And you don't even know

that I alone am the one

who decided that you

would do these things.

I let you make ruins

of fortified cities.

₂₇Their people became weak,

terribly confused.

They were like wild flowers

or like tender young grass

growing on a flat roof

or like a field of grain

before it matures.

₂₈I know-all about you,

even how fiercely angry

you are with me.

₂₉I have seen your pride

and the tremendous hatred

you have for me.

Now I will put a hook

in your nose,

a bit in your mouth,

then I will send you back

to where you came from.

₃₀Hezekiah, I will tell you what's going to happen. This year you will eat crops that grow on their own, and the next year you will eat whatever springs up where those crops grew. But the third year, you will plant grain and vineyards, and you will eat what you harvest. ₃₁Those who survive in Judah will be like a vine that puts down deep roots and bears fruit. ₃₂I, the LORD All-Powerful, will see to it that some who live in Jerusalem will survive.

₃₃I promise that the king of Assyria won't get into Jerusalem, or shoot an arrow into the city, or even surround it and prepare to attack. ₃₄As surely as I am the LORD, he will return by the way he came and will never enter Jerusalem. ₃₅I will protect it for the sake of my own honour and because of the promise I made to my servant David.

The death of King Sennacherib

₃₆The LORD sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand of them all in one night. The next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies. ₃₇After this, King Sennacherib went back to Assyria and lived in the city of Nineveh. ₃₈One day he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon became king.

Isaiah 38

Hezekiah gets sick and almost dies

₁About this time, Hezekiah got sick and was almost dead. So I went in and told him, “The LORD says you won't ever get well. You are going to die, and so you had better start doing what needs to be done.”

₂Hezekiah turned towards the wall and prayed, ₃“Don't forget that I have been faithful to you, LORD. I have obeyed you with all my heart, and I do whatever you say is right.” After this, he cried hard.

₄Then the LORD sent me ₅with this message for Hezekiah:

I am the LORD God, who was worshipped by your ancestor David. I heard you pray, and I saw you cry. I will let you live fifteen years more, ₆while I protect you and your city from the king of Assyria.

₇Now I will prove to you that I will keep my promise. ₈Do you see the shadow made by the setting sun on the stairway built for King Ahaz? I will make the shadow go back ten steps.

Then the shadow went back ten steps.

King Hezekiah's song of praise

₉This is what Hezekiah wrote after he got well:

₁₀I thought I would die

during my best years

and stay as a prisoner for ever

in the world of the dead.

₁₁I thought I would never again

see you, my LORD,

or any of the people

who live on this earth.

₁₂My life was taken from me

like the tent that a shepherd

pulls up and moves.

You cut me off like thread

from a weaver's loom;

you make a wreck of me

day and night.

₁₃Until morning came, I thought

you would crush my bones

just like a hungry lion;

both night and day

you make a wreck of me.

₁₄I cry like a swallow;

I mourn like a dove.

My eyes are red

from looking to you, LORD.

I am terribly abused.

Please come and help me.

₁₅There's nothing I can say

in answer to you,

since you are the one

who has done this to me.

My life has turned sour;

I will limp until I die.

₁₆Your words and your deeds

bring life to everyone,

including me.

Please make me healthy

and strong again.

₁₇It was for my own good

that I had such hard times.

But your love protected me

from doom in the deep pit,

and you turned your eyes

away from my sins.

₁₈No one in the world of the dead

can thank you or praise you;

none of those in the deep pit

can hope for you to show them

how faithful you are.

₁₉Only the living can thank you,

as I am doing today.

Each generation tells the next

about your faithfulness.

₂₀You, LORD, will save me,

and every day that we live

we will sing in your temple

to the music

of stringed instruments.

Isaiah's advice to Hezekiah

₂₁I had told King Hezekiah's servants to put some mashed figs on the king's open sore, and he would get well. ₂₂Then Hezekiah asked for proof that he would again worship in the LORD's temple.

Isaiah 37:1-38:22CEVOpen in Bible reader

1 Thessalonians 1

Greetings

₁From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.

To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I pray that God will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

₂We thank God for you and always mention you in our prayers. Each time we pray, ₃we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Thessalonians' faith and example

₄My dear friends, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you to be his people. ₅When we told you the good news, it was with the power and assurance that come from the Holy Spirit, and not simply with words. You knew what kind of people we were and how we helped you. ₆So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad.

₇You became an example for all the Lord's followers in Macedonia and Achaia. ₈And because of you, the Lord's message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don't have to say a thing about it. ₉Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. ₁₀They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God's anger.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10CEVOpen in Bible reader