2 Chronicles 32 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Sennacherib Invades Judah

(2Ki 18:13—19:34; Isa 36:1–22 )

After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, intending to take them for himself.

2Ch 32:2

2Ch 32:2When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to go to war against Jerusalem,

2Ch 32:3

2Ch 32:3he decided, together with his officers and his soldiers, to stop up the water [supply] from the springs which were outside the city [by enclosing them with masonry and concealing them], and they helped him.

2Ch 32:4

2Ch 32:4So many people came together, and they stopped up all the springs and the brook which flowed [underground] through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find an abundance of water?”

2Ch 32:5

2Ch 32:5Also Hezekiah resolutely set to work and rebuilt all the wall that had been broken down, and erected towers on it, and he built another wall outside and strengthened the Millo (fortification) in the City of David, and made a great number of weapons and shields.

2Ch 32:6

2Ch 32:6He also appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and spoke [fn]encouragingly to them, saying,

2Ch 32:7

2Ch 32:7“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the army that is with him; for the One with us is greater than the one with him.

2Ch 32:8

2Ch 32:8“With him there is only an arm of flesh, but with 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

2Ch 32:9

After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, while he was at Lachish [besieging it] with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem, to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

2Ch 32:10

2Ch 32:10“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘In what do you trust that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

2Ch 32:11

2Ch 32:11‘Is not Hezekiah misleading you in order to let you die by famine and thirst, while saying, “The LORD our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria?”

2Ch 32:12

2Ch 32:12‘Has the same Hezekiah not taken away [fn]his [Baal’s] high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “You shall worship before [only] one altar and burn incense on it”?

2Ch 32:13

2Ch 32:13‘Do you not know what I and my fathers (ancestors) have done to all the peoples of the [other] lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands able to rescue their lands from my hand at all?

2Ch 32:14

2Ch 32:14‘Who [was there] among all the gods of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed who was able to rescue his people from my hand, that your God should be able to rescue you from my hand?

2Ch 32:15

2Ch 32:15‘So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God rescue you from my hand!’”

2Ch 32:16

And his servants said even more against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah.

2Ch 32:17

2Ch 32:17The Assyrian king also wrote letters insulting and taunting the LORD God of Israel, and speaking against Him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of other lands have not rescued their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not rescue His people from my hand.”

2Ch 32:18

2Ch 32:18They shouted it loudly 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 [without a long siege].

2Ch 32:19

2Ch 32:19They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as [they spoke of] the gods of the peoples of the earth, [which are only] the work of the hands of men.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

(2Ki 19:35–37 )

2Ch 32:20

But Hezekiah the king and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven [for help].

2Ch 32:21

2Ch 32:21And the LORD sent an angel who destroyed every brave warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king returned to his own land in shame. And when he entered the house (temple) of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.

2Ch 32:22

2Ch 32:22Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and He gave them rest on every side.

2Ch 32:23

2Ch 32:23And many brought gifts to the LORD at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so from then on he was exalted in the sight of all nations.

(2Ki 20:1–11; Isa 38:1–8 )

2Ch 32:24

In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill; and he prayed to the LORD, and He answered him and gave him a [miraculous] sign.

2Ch 32:25

2Ch 32:25But Hezekiah did nothing [for the LORD] in return for the benefit bestowed on him, because his heart had become proud; therefore God’s wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

2Ch 32:26

2Ch 32:26However, Hezekiah humbled his proud heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.

(2Ki 20:12–21; Isa 39:1–8 )

2Ch 32:27

Now Hezekiah had immense wealth and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of delightful articles,

2Ch 32:28

2Ch 32:28and storehouses for the produce of grain, new wine, and [olive] oil, and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds for the flocks.

2Ch 32:29

2Ch 32:29Moreover, he made cities for himself and acquired an abundance of flocks and herds, for God gave him very many possessions.

2Ch 32:30

2Ch 32:30This same Hezekiah also stopped up the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and channeled them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything that he did.

2Ch 32:31

2Ch 32:31And so in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, in order to know everything that was in his heart.

2Ch 32:32

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his godly achievements, 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.

2Ch 32:33

2Ch 32:33So Hezekiah slept with his fathers [in death] and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the descendants of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.

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AMP Footnotes

(32:6)

Lit to their heart.

(32:12)

Sennacherib does not distinguish between the true God of Israel and the pagan gods (see 31:1; 33:3), thinking that the people were still loyal to idols and offended at Hezekiah’s removal of them.

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2 Chronicles Chapter 32 — Additional Translations: