Today’s
Reading : 2Kings 18 - 20 and 2Corinthians
1 (KJV)
2Kings 18
2Ki
18:1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of
Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2Ki 18:2 Twenty and five years old was he when he
began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name also was Abi,
the daughter of Zachariah.
2Ki 18:3 And he did that
which was
right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places, and broke the
images, and cut down the groves, and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that
Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to
it: and he called it Nehushtan.
2Ki 18:5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that
after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.
2Ki 18:6 For he cleaved to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his
commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.
2Ki 18:7 And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and
he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
2Ki 18:8 He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the
tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
2Ki 18:9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of
king Hezekiah, which was the seventh
year of Hoshea son of Elah
king of Israel, that Shalmaneser
king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
2Ki 18:10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea
king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
2Ki 18:11 And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel
unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river
of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
2Ki 18:12 Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD
their God, but transgressed his covenant, and
all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
2Ki 18:13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah
did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah,
and took them.
2Ki 18:14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king
of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou
puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria
appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and
thirty talents of gold.
2Ki 18:15 And Hezekiah gave him
all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of
the king's house.
2Ki 18:16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had
overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
2Ki 18:17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from
Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up
and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the
conduit of the upper pool, which is in the
highway of the fuller's field.
2Ki 18:18 And when they had called to the king, there
came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was
over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the
recorder.
2Ki 18:19 And Rab-shakeh said
unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the
great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is
this wherein thou trustest?
2Ki 18:20 Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I
have counsel and strength for the war.
Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest
against me?
2Ki 18:21 Now, behold, thou trustest
upon the staff of this bruised reed, even
upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so
is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that
trust on him.
2Ki 18:22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD
our God: is not that he, whose high
places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and
Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
2Ki 18:23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to
my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if
thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
2Ki 18:24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one
captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for
chariots and for horsemen?
2Ki 18:25 Am I now come up without the LORD against
this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and
destroy it.
2Ki 18:26 Then said Eliakim
the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna,
and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh,
Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews' language in
the ears of the people that are on the
wall.
2Ki 18:27 But Rab-shakeh said
unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these
words? hath he
not sent me
to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink
their own piss with you?
2Ki 18:28 Then Rab-shakeh
stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying,
Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
2Ki 18:29 Thus saith the
king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out
of his hand:
2Ki 18:30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the
LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be
delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
2Ki 18:31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an
agreement with me by a present, and come
out to me, and then eat ye every man of
his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters
of his cistern:
2Ki 18:32 Until I come and take you away to a land like
your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land
of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto
Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD
will deliver us.
2Ki 18:33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered
at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
2Ki 18:34 Where are
the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim,
Hena, and Ivah? have they
delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
2Ki 18:35 Who are
they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out
of mine hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
2Ki 18:36 But the people held their peace, and answered
him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
2Ki 18:37 Then came Eliakim
the son of Hilkiah, which was
over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the
recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes
rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
2Kings 19
2Ki 19:1 And it came to
pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that
he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the
house of the LORD.
2Ki 19:2 And he sent Eliakim,
which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered
with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
2Ki 19:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is
a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to
the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
2Ki 19:4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the
words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his
master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which
the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy
prayer for the remnant that are left.
2Ki 19:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to
Isaiah.
2Ki 19:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say
to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of
the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria
have blasphemed me.
2Ki 19:7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he
shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own
land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
2Ki 19:8 So Rab-shakeh
returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah:
for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
2Ki 19:9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah
king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent
messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
2Ki 19:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah,
saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive
thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of
Assyria.
2Ki 19:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of
Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
2Ki 19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them
which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and
the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
2Ki 19:13 Where is
the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the
king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
2Ki 19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand
of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the
LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
2Ki 19:15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and
said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims,
thou art the God, even thou alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
2Ki 19:16 LORD, bow down thine
ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and
hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
2Ki 19:17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have
destroyed the nations and their lands,
2Ki 19:18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for
they were no gods, but the work of men's
hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
2Ki 19:19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech
thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know
that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.
2Ki 19:20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz
sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, That which thou hast prayed to
me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
2Ki 19:21 This is
the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of
Zion hath despised thee, and laughed
thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
2Ki 19:22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and
against whom hast thou exalted thy voice,
and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One
of Israel.
2Ki 19:23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the
Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the
height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall
cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir
trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into
the forest of his Carmel.
2Ki 19:24 I have digged and
drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the
rivers of besieged places.
2Ki 19:25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and
of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that
thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
2Ki 19:26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small
power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as
the grass of the field, and as the green
herb, as the grass on the housetops, and
as corn
blasted before it be grown up.
2Ki 19:27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and
thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
2Ki 19:28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is
come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle
in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
2Ki 19:29 And this shall
be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this
year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and
reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
2Ki 19:30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house
of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
2Ki 19:31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a
remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts
shall do this.
2Ki 19:32 Therefore thus saith
the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor
shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against
it.
2Ki 19:33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he
return, and shall not come into this city, saith the
LORD.
2Ki 19:34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
2Ki 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the
angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred
fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold,
they were all dead corpses.
2Ki 19:36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and
went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
2Ki 19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in
the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons
smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And
Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
2Kings 20
2Ki
20:1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.
And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him,
and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt
die, and not live.
2Ki 20:2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and
prayed unto the LORD, saying,
2Ki 20:3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I
have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which
is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept
sore.
2Ki 20:4 And it came to pass, before Isaiah was gone
out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
2Ki 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of
my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy
father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal
thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the
house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years;
and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria;
and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
2Ki 20:7 And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And
they took and laid it on the boil, and
he recovered.
2Ki 20:8 And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be
the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of
the LORD the third day?
2Ki 20:9 And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the
thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back
ten degrees?
2Ki 20:10 And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing
for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward
ten degrees.
2Ki 20:11 And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD:
and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in
the dial of Ahaz.
2Ki 20:12 At that time Berodach-baladan,
the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and
a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
2Ki 20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed
them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the
spices, and the precious ointment, and all
the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was
nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.
2Ki 20:14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king
Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they
unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country, even from Babylon.
2Ki 20:15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All the things
that are in mine house have they seen:
there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.
2Ki 20:16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word
of the LORD.
2Ki 20:17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and
that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried
into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
2Ki 20:18 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee,
which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and
they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
2Ki 20:19 Then said Hezekiah unto Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken.
And he said, Is it not good,
if peace and truth be in my days?
2Ki 20:20 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all
his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the
city, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 20:21 And Hezekiah slept with his fathers: and
Manasseh his son reigned in his stead.
2Corinthians 1
2Co
1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will
of God, and Timothy our brother, unto
the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all
Achaia:
2Co 1:2 Grace be
to you and peace from God our Father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ.
2Co 1:3 Blessed be
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the
God of all comfort;
2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us
in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
2Co 1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for
your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same
sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for
your consolation and salvation.
2Co 1:7 And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers
of the sufferings, so shall ye be also
of the consolation.
2Co 1:8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant
of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure,
above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in
ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
2Co 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and
doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
2Co 1:11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us,
that for the gift bestowed upon us by
the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.
2Co 1:12 For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of
our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and
more abundantly to you-ward.
2Co 1:13 For we write none other things unto you, than
what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;
2Co 1:14 As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that
we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are
ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
2Co 1:15 And in this confidence I was minded to come
unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;
2Co 1:16 And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to
come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward
Judea.
2Co 1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use
lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh,
that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?
2Co 1:18 But as
God is true, our word toward you was not
yea and nay.
2Co 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was
preached among you by us, even by me and
Silvanus and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God
by us.
2Co 1:21 Now he which establisheth
us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is
God;
2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
2Co 1:23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my
soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
2Co 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your
faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.