Berean Study Bible (BSB) Reader

2 Kings 20

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Current outline context

Elisha Succeeds Elijah 2:15–25
Elisha Heals the Waters of Jericho 2:19–22
Elisha Mocked 2:23–25
Moab’s Rebellion 3:1–27
The Shunammite Woman 4:8–37
Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son 4:19–37
Elisha Purifies the Poisonous Stew 4:38–41
Elisha Feeds a Hundred Men 4:42–44
Elisha and Naaman 5:1–27
Gehazi’s Greed and Leprosy 5:15–27
The Arameans Plot to Capture Elisha 6:8–23
The Famine of Samaria 6:24–33
The Prophesy Fulfilled 7:15–20
Jehoram of Judah 8:16–24
Edom and Libnah Rebel 8:20–22
Ahaziah Succeeds Jehoram 8:23–24
Ahaziah of Judah 8:25–29
Ahaziah the Evil King 8:25–27
Ahaziah and Joram son of Ahab Fight Hazael 8:28–29
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah 9:14–29
Jezebel’s Violent Death 9:30–37
Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal 10:18–27
Jehu Repeats Jeroboam’s Sins 10:28–33
Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu 10:34–36
Jehoiada Restores the Worship of the LORD 11:17–21
The Death of Joash 12:17–20
Jehoash of Israel 13:10–25
Elisha’s Death and Final Prophecy 13:14–25
Amaziah of Judah and Jehoash of Israel 14:1–22
The Death of Amaziah of Judah 14:17–20
Azariah Succeeds Amaziah of Judah 14:21–22
Jeroboam II of Israel 14:23–29
Jeroboam II the Evil King 14:23–28
Menahem of Israel 15:17–22
Menahem Pays Pul King of Assyria 15:19–21
Pekahiah of Israel 15:23–26
Pekahiah the Evil King 15:23–24
Pekah Kills and Succeeds Pekahiah 15:25–26
Pekah of Israel 15:27–31
Pekah the Evil King 15:27–28
Hoshea Kills and Succeeds Pekah 15:30–31
Jotham of Judah 15:32–38
Jotham the Mostly Good King 15:32–37
Ahaz of Judah 16:1–20
Hoshea of Israel 17:1–41
Israel Exiled to Assyria 17:3–23
Israel Resettled by Foreigners 17:24–41
Jerusalem’s Demise and the Babylonian Exile 18:1–25:30
Hezekiah of Judah 18:1–20:21
Assyria Sieges Jerusalem 18:17–37
Isaiah’s Prophecy and Jerusalem’s Deliverance 19:1–37
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah 20:20–21

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1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying,

3 “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I will surely heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the house of the LORD.

6 I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”

7 Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” So they brought it and applied it to the boil, and Hezekiah recovered.

8 Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”

9 And Isaiah had replied, “This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: Would you like the shadow to go forward ten steps, or back ten steps?”

10 “It is easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps,” answered Hezekiah, “but not for it to go back ten steps.”

11 So Isaiah the prophet called out to the LORD, and He brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.

12 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness.

13 And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory—all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”

15 “What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD:

17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.

18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

19 But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”

20 As for the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, along with all his might and how he constructed the pool and the tunnel to bring water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah?

21 And Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh reigned in his place.

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Study connections for 2 Kings 20

Dictionary

Babylon, kingdom of

Called "the land of the Chaldeans" (Jer. 24:5; Ezek, 12:13), was an extensive province in Central Asia along the valley of the Tigris from the Persian Gulf northward for some 300 miles. It was famed for its fertility and its riches. Its capital was the city of Babylon, a great commercial centre (Ezek. 17:4; Isa. 43:14). Babylonia was divided into the two districts of Accad in the north, and Summer (probably the Shinar of the Old Testament) in the south. Among its chief cities may be mentioned Ur (now Mugheir or Mugayyar), on the western bank of the Euphrates; Uruk, or Erech (Gen. 10:10) (now Warka), between Ur and Babylon; Larsa (now Senkereh), the Ellasar of Gen. 14:1, a little to the east of Erech; Nipur (now Niffer), south-east of Babylon; Sepharvaim (2 Kings 17:24), "the two Sipparas" (now Abu-Habba), considerably to the north of Babylon; and Eridu, "the good city" (now Abu-Shahrein), which lay originally on the shore of the Persian Gulf, but is now, owing to the silting up of the sand, about 100 miles distant from it. Another city was Kulunu, or Calneh (Gen. 10:10). The salt-marshes at the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris were called Marratu, "the bitter" or "salt", the Merathaim of Jer. 50:21. They were the original home of the Kalda, or Chaldeans. The most famous of the early kings of Babylonia were Sargon of Accad (B.C. 3800) and his son, Naram-Sin, who conquered a large part of Western Asia, establishing their power in Palestine, and even carrying their arms to the Sinaitic peninsula. A great Babylonian library was founded in the reign of Sargon. Babylonia was subsequently again broken up into more than one state, and at one time fell under the domination of Elam. This was put an end to by Khammu-rabi (Amraphel), who drove the Elamites out of the country, and overcame Arioch, the son of an Elamite prince. From this time forward Babylonia was a united monarchy. About B.C. 1750 it was conquered by the Kassi, or Kosseans, from the mountains of Elam, and a Kassite dynasty ruled over it for 576 years and 9 months. In the time of Khammu-rabi, Syria and Palestine were subject to Babylonia and its Elamite suzerain; and after the overthrow of the Elamite supremacy, the Babylonian kings continued to exercise their influence and power in what was called "the land of the Amorites." In the epoch of the Kassite dynasty, however, Canaan passed into the hands of Egypt. In B.C. 729, Babylonia was conquered by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III.; but on the death of Shalmaneser IV. it was seized by the Kalda or "Chaldean" prince Merodach-baladan (2 Kings 20:12-19), who held it till B.C. 709, when he was driven out by Sargon. Under Sennacherib, Babylonia revolted from Assyria several times, with the help of the Elamites, and after one of these revolts Babylon was destroyed by Sennacherib, B.C. 689. It was rebuilt by Esarhaddon, who made it his residence during part of the year, and it was to Babylon that Manasseh was brought a prisoner (2 Chr. 33:11). After the death of Esarhaddon, Saul-sumyukin, the viceroy of Babylonia, revolted against his brother the Assyrian king, and the revolt was suppressed with difficulty. When Nineveh was destroyed, B.C. 606, Nabopolassar, the viceroy of Babylonia, who seems to have been of Chaldean descent, made himself independent. His son Nebuchadrezzar (Nabu-kudur-uzur), after defeating the Egyptians at Carchemish, succeeded him as king, B.C. 604, and founded the Babylonian empire. He strongly fortified Babylon, and adorned it with palaces and other buildings. His son, Evil-merodach, who succeeded him in B.C. 561, was murdered after a reign of two years. The last monarch of the Babylonian empire was Nabonidus (Nabu-nahid), B.C. 555-538, whose eldest son, Belshazzar (Bilu-sar-uzur), is mentioned in several inscriptions. Babylon was captured by Cyrus, B.C. 538, and though it revolted more than once in later years, it never succeeded in maintaining its independence.

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