2 Kings · Bible in Basic English
2 Kings 20 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 In those days Hezekiah was ill and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, The Lord says, Put your house in order, for your death is near.
1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and dying. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.’”
2 Then, turning his face to the wall, he made his prayer to the Lord, saying,
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Yahweh, saying,
3 O Lord, keep in mind how I have been true to you with all my heart, and have done what is good in your eyes. And Hezekiah gave way to bitter weeping.
3 “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Now before Isaiah had gone out of the middle of the town, the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
4 Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, Yahweh’s word came to him, saying,
5 Go back and say to Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, The Lord, the God of David your father, says, Your prayer has come to my ears, and I have seen your weeping; see, I will make you well: on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord.
5 “Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to Yahweh’s house.
6 I will give you fifteen more years of life; and I will keep you and this town safe from the hands of the king of Assyria; I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.
6 I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’”
7 Then Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs. So they took it and put it on his wound, and he got better.
7 Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What is to be the sign that the Lord will make me well, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?
8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that Yahweh will heal me, and that I will go up to Yahweh’s house the third day?”
9 And Isaiah said, This is the sign the Lord will give you, that he will do what he has said; will the shade go forward ten degrees or back?
9 Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”
10 And Hezekiah said in answer, It is a simple thing for the shade to go forward; but let it go back ten degrees.
10 Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”
11 Then Isaiah the prophet made prayer to the Lord, and he made the shade go back ten degrees from its position on the steps of Ahaz.
11 Isaiah the prophet cried to Yahweh; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
12 At that time, Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters with an offering to Hezekiah, because he had news that Hezekiah had been ill.
12 At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13 And Hezekiah was glad at their coming and let them see all his store of wealth, the silver and the gold and the spices and the oil of great price, and the house of his arms, and everything there was in his stores; there was nothing in all his house or his kingdom which Hezekiah did not let them see.
13 Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, What did these men say and where did they come from? And Hezekiah said, They came from a far country, even from Babylon.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, even from Babylon.”
15 And he said, What have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said in answer, They saw everything in my house: there is nothing among my stores which I did not let them see.
15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
16 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Give ear to the word of the Lord.
16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear Yahweh’s word.
17 Truly, days are coming when everything in your house, and whatever your fathers have put in store till this day, will be taken away to Babylon: all will be gone, says the Lord.
17 ‘Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh.
18 And your sons, the offspring of your body, they will take away to be unsexed servants in the house of the king of Babylon.
18 ‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which you have said. Then he said, ... if in my time there is peace and righteousness?
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Yahweh’s word which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?”
20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his power, and how he made the pool and the stream, to take water into the town, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Judah?
20 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21 And Hezekiah went to rest with his fathers; and Manasseh his son became king in his place.
21 Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Amoz
Named as the father of the prophet Isaiah.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 19:2; 2 Kings 19:20; 2 Kings 20:1
Baladan
Named as the father of Merodach-baladan king of Babylon.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 20:12; Isaiah 39:1
Hezekiah
A great reformer who trusted God and saw Jerusalem delivered from Assyria.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 18-20; 2 Chron. 29-32; Isa. 36-39; Matt. 1:9-10
Isaiah
The prophet, son of Amoz, who told Hezekiah that Sennacherib would not enter Jerusalem, foretold his illness and recovery, brought back the shadow ten steps, and warned of the…
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 19:2; 2 Kings 19:20; 2 Kings 20:1
Merodach-baladan
Son of Baladan and king of Babylon, who sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah after hearing of his illness.
Cited in the guide: 2 Kings 20:12; Isaiah 39:1
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 38:1–22; 2 Chronicles 32:24–26; Philippians 2:27; Jonah 3:4–10; 2 Kings 19:20
- 2 Psalm 50:15; Matthew 6:6; 1 Kings 8:30; Isaiah 38:2–3
- 3 Nehemiah 13:14; Nehemiah 13:22; 2 Kings 18:3–6; Nehemiah 5:19; Nehemiah 13:31
- 4 1 Kings 7:8; 2 Kings 22:14
- 5 Psalm 66:19–20; Isaiah 38:5; 1 Samuel 9:16; Psalm 39:12; 2 Kings 19:20
- 6 2 Kings 19:34; Acts 27:24; Isaiah 10:24; Psalm 116:15; 2 Chronicles 32:22
- 7 Isaiah 38:21; 2 Kings 2:20–22; 2 Kings 4:41
- 8 Isaiah 7:11; Judges 6:17; 2 Kings 20:5; Hosea 6:2; 2 Kings 19:29
- 9 Isaiah 38:7–8; Matthew 16:1–4; Luke 11:29–30; Mark 8:11–12
- 10 2 Kings 2:10; 2 Kings 3:18; John 14:12; Isaiah 49:6; Mark 9:28–29
- 11 Isaiah 38:8; Joshua 10:12–14; 2 Chronicles 32:24; Acts 9:40; Exodus 14:15
- 12 2 Chronicles 32:31; Isaiah 39:1–8; Genesis 10:10; Genesis 11:9; Isaiah 14:4
- 13 Isaiah 39:2; Proverbs 23:5; 2 Chronicles 32:25–27; 1 Kings 10:15; 1 Kings 10:25
- 14 Jeremiah 26:18–19; Joshua 9:9; Deuteronomy 28:49; 2 Samuel 12:7–15; Isaiah 13:5
- 15 2 Kings 20:13; Job 31:33; 1 John 1:8–10; Proverbs 28:13; Joshua 7:19
- 16 1 Kings 22:19; 2 Kings 7:1; Amos 7:16; Isaiah 1:10
- 17 2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chronicles 36:10; Jeremiah 27:21–22; Jeremiah 52:17–19; 2 Kings 25:13–15
- 18 2 Chronicles 33:11; 2 Kings 24:12; Daniel 1:3; 2 Kings 25:6
- 19 1 Samuel 3:18; Job 1:21; Zechariah 8:19; Luke 2:10; Psalm 39:9
- 20 Nehemiah 3:16; 2 Chronicles 32:32; 2 Chronicles 32:4; 2 Chronicles 32:30; Isaiah 22:9–11
- 21 2 Chronicles 32:33; 1 Kings 14:31; 2 Kings 21:18; 2 Chronicles 26:23; 1 Kings 2:10
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
For when he had fallen sick, Esaias said to him, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)