2 Kings 22

2 Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.

2 Kings 22:2 He did what was right in Yahveh’s sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left.

2 Kings 22:3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan, son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to Yahveh’s temple, saying,

2 Kings 22:4 “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah so that he may total up the silver brought into Yahveh’s temple — the silver the doorkeepers have collected from the people.

2 Kings 22:5 It is to be given to those doing the work—those who oversee Yahveh’s temple. They, in turn, are to give it to the workmen in Yahveh’s temple to strengthen the damaged area.

2 Kings 22:6 They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to make the temple strong.

2 Kings 22:7 But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”

2 Kings 22:8 The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in Yahveh’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

2 Kings 22:9 Then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your slaves have emptied the silver that was found in the temple and have given it to those doing the work– those who oversee Yahveh’s temple.”

2 Kings 22:10 Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the king’s presence.

2 Kings 22:11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

2 Kings 22:12 Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s slave Asaiah:

2 Kings 22:13 “Go and inquire of Yahveh for me, the people, and all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is Yahveh’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

2 Kings 22:14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.

2 Kings 22:15 She said to them, “This is what Yahveh God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me,

2 Kings 22:16 ‘This is what Yahveh says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read,

2 Kings 22:17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

2 Kings 22:18 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of Yahveh: ‘This is what Yahveh God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard,

2 Kings 22:19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before Yahveh when you heard what I spoke against this place and its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I have heard’ — this is Yahveh’s declaration.

2 Kings 22:20 ‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.'” Then, they reported to the king.

links:

“To be gathered to his people”
a right relationship with God
blaspheming heaven – Revelation 13-6
Excursus- “To Be Gathered”
gathered in peace – Devotions
Gender Equality in Ministry
The consequences of separation

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 21

2 Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.

2 Kings 21:2 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that Yahveh had dispossessed before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah, as King Ahab of Israel had done; he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and slaved for them.

2 Kings 21:4 He built altars in Yahveh’s temple, where Yahveh had said, “Jerusalem is where I will put my name.”

2 Kings 21:5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his son in the fire, practiced witchcraft and divination and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in Yahveh’s sight, angering him.

2 Kings 21:7 Manasseh set up the carved image of Asherah, which he made, in the temple that Yahveh had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: “I will establish my name forever in this temple and Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.

2 Kings 21:8 I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land I gave to their ancestors if only they will be careful to do all I have commanded them — the whole law that my slave Moses commanded them.”

2 Kings 21:9 But they did not listen; Manasseh caused them to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations Yahveh had destroyed before the Israelites.

2 Kings 21:10 Yahveh said through his slaves the prophets,

2 Kings 21:11 “Since King Manasseh of Judah has committed all these detestable acts — worse evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done — and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin,

2 Kings 21:12 this is what Yahveh God of Israel says: ‘I am about to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder.

2 Kings 21:13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line used on Samaria and the mason’s level used on the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl—wiping it and turning it upside down.

2 Kings 21:14 I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies,

2 Kings 21:15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have angered me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.'”

2 Kings 21:16 Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another. This was in addition to his sin that he caused Judah to commit, so that they did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight.

2 Kings 21:17 The rest of Manasseh’s reign, including all his accomplishments and sins, is written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 21:18 Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, the garden of Uzza. His son Amon became king in his place.

2 Kings 21:19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah.

2 Kings 21:20 He did what was evil in Yahveh’s sight, just as his father Manasseh had done.

2 Kings 21:21 He walked in all the ways his father had walked; he slaved for the idols his father had slaved for, and he bowed in worship to them.

2 Kings 21:22 He abandoned Yahveh, God of his ancestors, and did not walk in the ways of Yahveh.

2 Kings 21:23 Amon’s slaves conspired against him and put the king to death in his own house.

2 Kings 21:24 The common people killed all who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place.

2 Kings 21:25 The rest of the events of Amon’s reign, along with his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 21:26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and his son Josiah became king in his place.

links:

business as usual
normal can be deadly – Devotions

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 20

2 Kings 20:1 In those days, Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him, “This is what Yahveh says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.'”

2 Kings 20:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahveh,

2 Kings 20:3 “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

2 Kings 20:4 Isaiah had not yet gone out of the inner courtyard when the word of Yahveh came to him:

2 Kings 20:5 “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘This is what Yahveh God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. On the third day from now, you will go up to Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 20:6 I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and the sake of my slave David.'”

2 Kings 20:7 Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of pressed figs.” So, they brought it and applied it to his infected skin, and he recovered.

2 Kings 20:8 Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What is the sign that Yahveh will heal me and that I will go up to Yahveh’s temple on the third day?”

2 Kings 20:9 Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from Yahveh that he will do what he has promised: Should the shadow go ahead ten steps or go back ten steps?”

2 Kings 20:10 Then Hezekiah answered, “It’s easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, let the shadow go back ten steps.”

2 Kings 20:11 So the prophet Isaiah called out to Yahveh, and he brought the shadow back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.

2 Kings 20:12 At that time, Merodach-baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick.

2 Kings 20:13 Hezekiah listened to the letters and showed the envoys his whole treasure house—the silver, gold, spices, and precious oil—his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

2 Kings 20:14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from, and what did they say to you?” Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant country, from Babylon.”

2 Kings 20:15 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

2 Kings 20:16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahveh:

2 Kings 20:17 ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says Yahveh.

2 Kings 20:18 ‘Some of your descendants — who come from you, whom you father — will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'”

2 Kings 20:19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahveh that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: Why not if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?

2 Kings 20:20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool and the tunnel and brought water into the city, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.

2 Kings 20:21 Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

links:

caring about the future – Devotions
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, October 20, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, October 22, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, October 22, 2019
thinking about the future
WORSHIP CORRUPTED

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 19

2 Kings 19:1 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahveh’s temple.

2 Kings 19:2 He sent Eliakim, who oversaw the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.

2 Kings 19:3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

2 Kings 19:4 Perhaps Yahveh your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his lord king of Assyria sent to mock the living God and will rebuke him for the words that Yahveh your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.'”

2 Kings 19:5 So the slaves of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,

2 Kings 19:6 who said to them, “Tell your lord, ‘Yahveh says this: Don’t be afraid because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s boys have blasphemed me.

2 Kings 19:7 I am about to put a breath in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.'”

2 Kings 19:8 When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish, he left and found him fighting against Libnah.

2 Kings 19:9 The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So, he again sent agents to Hezekiah, saying,

2 Kings 19:10 “Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 19:11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: They destroyed them. Will you be rescued?

2 Kings 19:12 Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors destroyed rescue them– nations such as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar?

2 Kings 19:13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ‘”

2 Kings 19:14 Hezekiah took the letter from the agents’ hands, read it, then went up to Yahveh’s temple and spread it out before Yahveh.

2 Kings 19:15 Then Hezekiah prayed before Yahveh: Yahveh, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God—you alone—of all the kingdoms of the land. You made the heavens and the land.

2 Kings 19:16 Listen closely, Yahveh, and hear; open your eyes, Yahveh, and see. Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.

2 Kings 19:17 Yahveh, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.

2 Kings 19:18 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands—wood and stone. So, they have destroyed them.

2 Kings 19:19 Now, Yahveh our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the land may know that you, Lord, are God– you alone.

2 Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah: ” Yahveh, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’

2 Kings 19:21 This is the word Yahveh has spoken against him: Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and scorns you; Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head behind your back.

2 Kings 19:22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

2 Kings 19:23 You have mocked Yahveh through your agents. You have said, ‘With my many chariots, I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its choice cypress trees. I came to its farthest outpost, its densest forest.

2 Kings 19:24 I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands. I dried up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.’

2 Kings 19:25 Have you not heard? I designed it long ago; I planned it in days gone by. I have now brought it to pass, and you have crushed fortified cities into piles of rubble.

2 Kings 19:26 Their inhabitants have become powerless, dismayed, and ashamed. They are wild plants, tender grass, and grass on the rooftops, blasted by the east wind.

2 Kings 19:27 But I know your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against me.

2 Kings 19:28 Because your raging against me and your arrogance have reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth; I will make you go back the way you came.

2 Kings 19:29 “This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

2 Kings 19:30 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

2 Kings 19:31 Because a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors, from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahveh of Armies will accomplish this.

2 Kings 19:32 Therefore, Yahveh says about the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow here, come before it with a shield, or build a siege ramp against it.

2 Kings 19:33 He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city. This is Yahveh’s declaration.

2 Kings 19:34 I will defend this city and rescue it for my sake and the sake of my slave David.”

2 Kings 19:35 That night, the agent of Yahveh went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the following day — there were all the dead bodies!

2 Kings 19:36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.

2 Kings 19:37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then, his son Esar-haddon became king in his place.

links:

death while worshipping
God alone is Immortal
God is Different
Sennacherib’s fate
Sennacherib’s fate – Devotions

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library

2 Kings 18

2 Kings 18:1 In the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah, Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king of Judah.

2 Kings 18:2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.

2 Kings 18:3 He did what was right in Yahveh’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.

2 Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, for until then, the Israelites had been burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.

2 Kings 18:5 Hezekiah relied on Yahveh, God of Israel; not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

2 Kings 18:6 He remained faithful to Yahveh and did not turn from following him but kept the commands Yahveh had commanded Moses.

2 Kings 18:7 Yahveh was with him, and wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not slave for him.

2 Kings 18:8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

2 Kings 18:9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah, Assyria’s King Shalmaneser marched against Samaria and besieged it.

2 Kings 18:10 The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Samaria was captured.

2 Kings 18:11 The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes,

2 Kings 18:12 because they did not listen to Yahveh their God but violated his covenant– all he had commanded Moses, the slave of Yahveh. They did not listen, and they did not obey.

2 Kings 18:13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Assyria’s King Sennacherib attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

2 Kings 18:14 So King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay.” The king of Assyria demanded eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold from King Hezekiah of Judah.

2 Kings 18:15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in Yahveh’s temple and the treasuries of the king’s palace.

2 Kings 18:16 At that time, Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of Yahveh’s sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 18:17 Then the king of Assyria sent the field marshal, the chief of staff, and his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field.

2 Kings 18:18 They called for the king, but Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who oversaw the palace, Shebnah, the court secretary, and Joah, son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them.

2 Kings 18:19 Then the royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?

2 Kings 18:20 You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?

2 Kings 18:21 Now look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is to all who rely on him.

2 Kings 18:22 Suppose you say to me, “We rely on Yahveh our God.” Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem”? ‘

2 Kings 18:23 “So now, make a bargain with my lord king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them!

2 Kings 18:24 How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my lord’s slaves? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

2 Kings 18:25 Now, have I attacked this place to destroy it without Yahveh’s approval?  Yahveh said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.'”

2 Kings 18:26 Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your slaves in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak with us in Hebrew within earshot of the people on the wall.”

2 Kings 18:27 But the royal spokesman said to them, “Has my lord sent me to speak these words only to your lord and to you? Hasn’t he also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, destined with you to eat their excrement and drink their urine?”

2 Kings 18:28 The royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 18:29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you; he can’t rescue you from my power.

2 Kings 18:30 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on Yahveh by saying, “Certainly Yahveh will rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ‘

2 Kings 18:31 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace with me and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his vine, and his fig tree, and each may drink water from his cistern

2 Kings 18:32 until I come and take you away to 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– so that you may live and not die. But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, ” Yahveh will rescue us.”

2 Kings 18:33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?

2 Kings 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my power?

2 Kings 18:35 Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued his land from my power? So, will Yahveh rescue Jerusalem from my power? ‘”

2 Kings 18:36 But the people kept silent; they did not answer him at all, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.”

2 Kings 18:37 Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who oversaw the palace, Shebna, the court secretary, and Joah, son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman.

links:

ACST 2 The Promise
The desert snake
the LORD will deliver
trusting in his deliverance – Devotions

The 2 KINGS shelf in Jeff’s library