1At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. 2And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them 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 shewed them not.39.2 precious things: or, spicery39.2 armour: or, jewels: Heb. vessels, or, instruments
3¶ 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 unto me, even from Babylon. 4Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
5Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts: 6Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. 7And 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. 8Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.
ከባቢሎን የመጡ መልእክተኞች
1በዚያን ጊዜ የባቢሎን ንጉሥ፣ የባልዳን ልጅ፣ መሮዳክ ባልዳን የሕዝቅያስን መታመምና መፈወስ ሰምቶ ስለ ነበር፣ ደብዳቤና ስጦታ ላከለት። 2ሕዝቅያስም መልእክተኞቹን በደስታ ተቀበለ፤ ለእነርሱም በግምጃ ቤቱ ውስጥ ያለውን ብሩን፣ ወርቁን፣ ቅመማ ቅመሙን፣ ምርጡን ዘይት እንዲሁም የጦር መሣሪያውን በሙሉ፣ ያለውንም ንብረት አንዳች ሳያስቀር አሳያቸው። በቤተ መንግሥቱም ሆነ በግዛቱ ሁሉ ሕዝቅያስ ያላሳያቸው ነገር አልነበረም።
3ከዚያም ነቢዩ ኢሳይያስ ወደ ንጉሡ ሕዝቅያስ መጥቶ፣ “እነዚያ ሰዎች ምን አሉህ? ወደ አንተ ዘንድ የመጡትስ ከየት ነው?” አለው።
ሕዝቅያስም፣ “ወደ እኔ የመጡት ከሩቅ አገር፣ ከባቢሎን ነው” አለው።
4ነቢዩም፣ “በቤተ መንግሥትህ ያዩት ምንድን ነው?” አለው።
ሕዝቅያስም፣ “በቤተ መንግሥቴ ያለውን ሁሉ አይተዋል፤ ከንብረቴ ያላሳየኋቸው ምንም ነገር የለም” አለ።
5ኢሳይያስም ሕዝቅያስን እንዲህ አለው፤ “የሰራዊት ጌታ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስማ፤ 6እነሆ፤ በቤተ መንግሥትህ ያለው ሁሉ፣ አባቶችህ እስከዚህች ቀን ድረስ ያከማቹትም ሁሉ ወደ ባቢሎን ተማርኮ የሚወሰድበት ቀን ይመጣል፤ አንዳች የሚተርፍ ነገር የለም፤ ይላል እግዚአብሔር። 7ከአብራክህ ከሚከፈሉት፣ ከዘርህ፣ ከአንተ ከሚወለዱት ልጆች ተወስደው፣ በባቢሎን ንጉሥ ቤተ መንግሥት ጃንደረባዎች ይሆናሉ።”
8ሕዝቅያስም፣ “የተናገርኸው የእግዚአብሔር ቃል መልካም ነው” አለው፤ “በዘመኔ ሰላምና ጸጥታ ከኖረ ዘንድ” ብሎ ዐስቦ ነበርና።
