In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. ¹  The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”

“Micah from Moresheth ¹  prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. ²  He told all the people of Judah, ‘The Lord who rules over all ³  says, “Zion ⁴  will become a plowed field. Jerusalem ⁵  will become a pile of rubble. The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.”’ ⁶ 

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. ¹ 

Isaiah ordered, “Get a fig cake.” So they did as he ordered ¹  and placed it on the ulcerated sore, and he recovered. ² 

They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

Hezekiah ¹  energetically rebuilt ²  every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, ³  and fortified the terrace of the City of David. ⁴  He made many weapons and shields.

The Lord was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. ¹  He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. ² 

The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the Lord’s temple and repaired them.

¹  Isaiah ordered, “Let them take a fig cake and apply it to the ulcerated sore and he will get well.”

¹ This will be your confirmation that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own from that. But in the third year you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁵ 

¹ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own. But the year after that ⁵  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁶ 

After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them. ¹ 

He appointed military officers over the army ¹  and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them, ²  saying,

He did what the Lord approved, just as his ancestor David had done. ¹ 

In the two courtyards of the Lord’s temple he built altars for all the stars in the sky.

King Hezekiah ¹  stationed the Levites in the Lord’s temple with cymbals and stringed instruments, just as David, Gad the king’s prophet, ²  and Nathan the prophet had ordered. (The Lord had actually given these orders through his prophets.)

He did evil in the sight of ¹  the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations ²  whom the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.

They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.

When the edict was issued, ¹  the Israelites freely contributed ²  the initial portion of their grain, wine, olive oil, honey, and all the produce of their fields. They brought a tenth of everything, which added up to a huge amount.