2 Kings 18-19, 2 Chronicles 32, Psalm 67, 1 Corinthians 9 - NASB Bible Online

2 Kings 18-19

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

Now it came about ^ain the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^bHezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. 2 He 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 ^aHe did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. 4 ^aHe removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the ¹Asherah. He also broke in pieces ^bthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called ²Nehushtan. 5 ^aHe trusted in the Lord, 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. 6 For he ^aclung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

7 ^aAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^bhe rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 ^aHe ¹defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^bwatchtower to fortified city.
9 Now 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. 10 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. 11 Then the king of Assyria carried 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, 12 because they ^adid not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of 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. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^aI have done wrong. ¹Withdraw from me; whatever you ²impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria ³required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 ^aHezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17 Then the king of Assyria sent ^aTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army 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. 18 When they called to the king, ^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.
19 Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^aWhat is this confidence that you ¹have? 20 You say (but they are ¹only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, ^athat you have rebelled against me? 21 Now behold, you ¹^arely on 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 rely on him. 22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord 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 Now therefore, 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 set riders on them. 24 How then can you ¹repulse one ²official of the least of my master’s servants, and ³rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Have I now come up ¹without the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”
26 Then 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.” 27 But 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?”
28 Then 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 ¹my hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord 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, 32 until 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 trees and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord 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? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands ¹have delivered their land from my hand, ^athat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”
36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then ^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.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

^aAnd when King Hezekiah heard it, he ^btore his clothes, ^ccovered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^acovered with sackcloth, to ^bIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver. 4 ^aPerhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^bto reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^cthe remnant that is left.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^aservants of the king of Assyria ^bhave blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^ahe will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ^bI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^aLibnah, for he had heard that ¹the king had left ^bLachish. 9 When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ¹Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ¹Judah, ‘Do not ^alet your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, “^bJerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be ¹spared? 12 ^aDid the gods of ¹those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even ^bGozan and ^cHaran and Rezeph and ^dthe sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 ^aWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Then ^aHezekiah took the ¹letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ²spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^awho are ¹enthroned above the cherubim, ^bYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 ^aIncline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^bopen Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^cto reproach the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, ^afor they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand ^athat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O ^bLord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^aI have heard you.’ 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

‘She has despised you and mocked you,

^aThe virgin daughter of Zion;

She ^bhas shaken her head behind you,

The daughter of Jerusalem!

‘Whom have you ^areproached and ^bblasphemed?

And against whom have you raised your voice,

And ¹haughtily lifted up your eyes?

Against the ^cHoly One of Israel!

‘^aThrough your messengers you have reproached the Lord,

And you have said, “With my many chariots

I came up to the heights of the mountains,

To the remotest parts of Lebanon;

And I ¹cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses.

And I ¹entered its farthest lodging place, its ^bthickest forest.

“I dug wells and drank foreign waters,

And with the sole of my feet I ¹^adried up

All the rivers of ²Egypt.”

‘^aHave you not heard?

Long ago I did it;

From ancient times I planned it.

^bNow I have brought it to pass,

That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,

They were dismayed and put to shame;

They were ^aas the vegetation of the field and as the green herb,

As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

‘But ^aI know your sitting down,

And your going out and your coming in,

And your raging against Me.

‘Because of your raging against Me,

And because your ¹arrogance has come up to My ears,

Therefore I ^awill put My hook in your nose,

And My bridle in your lips,

And ^bI will turn you back by the way which you came.

29 ‘Then this shall be ^athe sign for you: ¹you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ^aThe surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and ^aout of Mount Zion ¹survivors. ^bThe zeal of ²the Lord will perform this.
32 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “^aHe will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 ^aBy the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘^aFor I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and ^bfor My servant David’s sake.’”
35 ^aThen it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when ¹men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were ²dead. 36 So ^aSennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at ^bNineveh. 37 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ¹^aAdrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into ^bthe land of Ararat. And ^cEsarhaddon his son became king in his place.

2 Chronicles 32

Sennacherib Invades Judah

After these ¹acts of faithfulness ^aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and ²thought to break into them for himself. 2 Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that ¹he intended to make war on Jerusalem, 3 he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him. 4 So many people assembled ^aand stopped up all the springs and ^bthe stream which flowed ¹through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?” 5 And he took courage and ^arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and ¹erected towers on it, and built ^banother outside wall and strengthened the ^cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number. 6 He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and ^aspoke ¹encouragingly to them, saying, 7 “^aBe strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde 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 the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

9 After 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 misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord 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 ²burn incense”? 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 those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? 15 Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead 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?’”
16 His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. 17 He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^aAs the gods of the nations of the lands ¹have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” 18 ^aThey called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city. 19 They spoke ¹of the God of Jerusalem as of ^athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

20 But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. 21 And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ¹in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword. 22 So the Lord ^asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and ¹guided them on every side. 23 And ^amany were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that ^bhe was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.
24 ^aIn those days Hezekiah became ¹mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and ²the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit ¹he received, ^abecause his heart was ²proud; ^btherefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 However, ^aHezekiah ¹humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.
27 Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, 28 storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and ¹sheepfolds for the flocks. 29 He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for ^aGod had given him very great ¹wealth. 30 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 prospered in all that he did. 31 Even in the matter of ^athe envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of ^bthe wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only ^cto test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, 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. 33 So 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 his son Manasseh became king in his place.

Psalm 67

The Nations Exhorted to Praise God.

For the choir director; with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

God be gracious to us and ^abless us,

And ^bcause His face to shine ¹upon us⁠— ²Selah.

That ^aYour way may be known on the earth,

^bYour salvation among all nations.

Let the ^apeoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

Let the ^anations be glad and sing for joy;

For You will ^bjudge the peoples with uprightness

And ^cguide the nations on the earth. Selah.

Let the ^apeoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

The ^aearth has yielded its produce;

God, our God, ^bblesses us.

God blesses us,

¹That ^aall the ends of the earth may fear Him.

1 Corinthians 9

Paul’s Use of Liberty

Am I not ^afree? Am I not an ^bapostle? Have I not ^cseen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^dmy work in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the ^aseal of my ^bapostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 ¹^aDo we not have a right to eat and drink? 5 ¹^aDo we not have a right to take along a ²believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^bbrothers of the Lord and ^cCephas? 6 Or do only ¹^aBarnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? 7 Who at any time serves ^aas a soldier at his own expense? Who ^bplants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not ¹use the milk of the flock?
8 I am not speaking these things ^aaccording to ¹human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “^aYou shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.” God is not concerned about ^boxen, is He? 10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, ^afor our sake it was written, because ^bthe plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. 11 ^aIf we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^adid not use this right, but we endure all things ^bso that we will cause no hindrance to the ^cgospel of Christ. 13 ^aDo you not know that those who ^bperform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share ¹from the altar? 14 So also ^athe Lord directed those who proclaim the ^bgospel to ^cget their living from the gospel.
15 But I have ^aused none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make ^bmy boast an empty one. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for ^aI am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach ^bthe gospel. 17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^areward; but if against my will, I have a ^bstewardship entrusted to me. 18 What then is my ^areward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^bwithout charge, so as ^cnot to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For though I am ^afree from all men, I have made myself ^ba slave to all, so that I may ^cwin more. 20 ^aTo the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under ¹the Law, as under ¹the Law though ^bnot being myself under ¹the Law, so that I might win those who are under ¹the Law; 21 to those who are ^awithout law, ^bas without law, though not being without the law of God but ^cunder the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the ^aweak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become ^ball things to all men, ^cso that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
24 ^aDo you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives ^bthe prize? ^cRun in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who ^acompetes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable ^bwreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I ^arun in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not ^bbeating the air; 27 but I ¹discipline ^amy body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

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