Hezekiah’s illness
1In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’
2Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3‘Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: 5‘Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. 6I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.” ’
7Then Isaiah said, ‘Prepare a poultice of figs.’ They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.
8Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, ‘What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?’
9Isaiah answered, ‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?’
10‘It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,’ said Hezekiah. ‘Rather, let it go back ten steps.’
11Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
Envoys from Babylon
12At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses – the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine oil – his armoury and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
14Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, ‘What did those men say, and where did they come from?’
‘From a distant land,’ Hezekiah replied. ‘They came from Babylon.’
15The prophet asked, ‘What did they see in your palace?’
‘They saw everything in my palace,’ Hezekiah said. ‘There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.’
16Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: 17the time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’
19‘The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,’ Hezekiah replied. For he thought, ‘Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?’
20As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.
Kudwala kwa Hezekiya
1Masiku amenewo Hezekiya anadwala ndipo anali pafupi kufa. Mneneri Yesaya, mwana wa Amozi anapita kukamuona ndipo anamuwuza kuti, “Yehova akuti: Konza nyumba yako chifukwa umwalira ndipo suchira.”
2Hezekiya anatembenuka nayangʼana ku khoma ndipo anapemphera kwa Yehova kuti, 3“Inu Yehova, kumbukirani ndithu mmene ndayendera mokhulupirika ndi mtima wonse ndipo ndachita zolungama pamaso panu.” Hezekiya analira kwambiri.
4Yesaya asanatuluke mʼbwalo lapakati, Yehova anayankhula kuti, 5“Bwerera, kamuwuze Hezekiya mtsogoleri wa anthu anga kuti, ‘Yehova Mulungu wa Davide kholo lako akuti: Ndamva pemphero lako ndipo misozi yako ndayiona ndipo ndidzakuchiritsa. Tsiku lachitatu kuchokera lero udzapita ku Nyumba ya Yehova. 6Ndidzawonjezera zaka khumi ndi zisanu pa moyo wako. Ndidzakupulumutsa iwe pamodzi ndi mzinda umenewu mʼdzanja la mfumu ya ku Asiriya. Ndidzateteza mzinda umenewu chifukwa cha Ine mwini ndiponso chifukwa cha Davide mtumiki wanga.’ ”
7Pamenepo Yesaya anati, “Konzani phala lankhuyu.” Iwo anakonza phalalo nalipaka pa chithupsacho ndipo Hezekiya anachira.
8Tsono Hezekiya anafunsa Yesaya kuti, “Kodi padzakhala chizindikiro chanji choonetsa kuti Yehova adzandichiritsa ndi kuti ndidzapita ku Nyumba ya Yehova pa tsiku lachitatu kuchokera lero lino?”
9Yesaya anayankha kuti, “Chizindikiro cha Yehova chosonyeza kuti Iye adzachita chimene walonjeza ndi ichi: Kodi chithunzithunzi chipite patsogolo kapena chibwerere pambuyo makwerero khumi?”
10Hezekiya anati, “Nʼchapafupi kuti chithunzithunzi chipite patsogolo makwerero khumi, kulekana nʼkuti chithunzithunzicho chibwerere mʼmbuyo makwerero khumi.”
11Pamenepo mneneri Yesaya anapemphera kwa Yehova ndipo Yehova anachititsa kuti chithunzithunzi chibwerere mʼmbuyo makwerero khumi pa makwerero amene mfumu Ahazi anamanga.
Akazembe Ochokera ku Babuloni
12Pa nthawi imeneyo Merodaki-Baladani mwana wa Baladani mfumu ya Babuloni anatumiza amithenga kwa Hezekiya kukapereka makalata ndi mphatso, chifukwa nʼkuti atamva za kudwala kwa Hezekiyayo. 13Hezekiya analandira amithengawo ndipo anawaonetsa zonse zimene zinali mʼnyumba zake zosungiramo chuma. Anawaonetsa siliva, golide, zonunkhiritsa zakudya ndi mafuta abwino kwambiri, zida zake zankhondo ndiponso china chilichonse chimene chinali mosungiramo zinthu zake. Panalibe chinthu mʼnyumba yake yaufumu kapena mu ufumu wake wonse chimene Hezekiya sanawaonetse.
14Tsono mneneri Yesaya anapita kwa Mfumu Hezekiya namufunsa kuti, “Kodi anthu aja anakuwuzani zotani ndipo anachokera kuti?”
Hezekiya anayankha kuti, “Anachokera ku dziko lakutali, ku Babuloni.”
15Mneneriyo anafunsa kuti, “Kodi anaona chiyani mʼnyumba yanu yaufumu?”
Hezekiya anayankha kuti, “Anaona china chilichonse mʼnyumba yanga yaufumu ndipo palibe ndi chinthu chimodzi chomwe chimene sindinawaonetse mʼnyumba zanga zosungiramo chuma.”
16Pamenepo Yesaya anawuza Hezekiya kuti, “Imvani zimene Yehova akunena: 17Taonani, masiku akubwera ndithu pamene zonse za mʼnyumba yanu yaufumu, zonse zimene makolo anu anazisunga mpaka lero, zidzatengedwa kupita ku Babuloni. Palibe chimene chidzatsale, akutero Yehova. 18Ndipo ena mwa ana anu omwe, amene mudzabereke adzatengedwa ndipo adzawasandutsa anthu ofulidwa mʼnyumba yaufumu ya mfumu ya Babuloni.”
19Hezekiya anayankha kuti, “Mawu a Yehova amene mwayankhulawa ndi abwino. Pakuti iye ankaganiza kuti, ‘Kodi pa nthawi yanga sipadzakhala mtendere ndi bata?’ ”
20Ntchito zina za Hezekiya ndi zonse zimene anachita, kodi sizinalembedwe mʼbuku la mbiri ya mafumu a Yuda? 21Hezekiya anamwalira nagona pamodzi ndi makolo ake. Ndipo Manase mwana wake analowa ufumu mʼmalo mwake.
