The Daily Audio Bible

The Assyrians Want to Take Jerusalem

¹³ In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and fought against all the strong cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴ Then King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; leave me. I will pay whatever you ask.” So the king of Assyria had Hezekiah king of Judah pay him silver weighing as much as 300 men, and gold weighing as much as thirty men. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the store-rooms of the king’s house. ¹⁶ Then he cut the gold off the doors of the Lord’s house. He cut the gold from the sides of the door which King Hezekiah of Judah had covered with gold. And he gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris and Rabshakeh with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. They came and stood by the ditch of the upper pool, which is on the road to the fuller’s field. ¹⁸ When they called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah the son of Asaph came out to them. Eliakim was the head of the house. Shebnah was the writer, and Joah wrote down the things of the nation. ¹⁹ Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king of Assyria says. “What is this strength of heart that you have? ²⁰ You say with empty words, ‘I have wisdom and strength for war.’ On whom do you trust, that you have turned against me? ²¹ Look, you are trusting now in Egypt. It is a walking stick like a piece of broken river-grass. It will cut into a man’s hand if he rests on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²² You might tell me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God.’ But is it not He Whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away? And has he not said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Come now, make an agreement with my ruler the king of Assyria. And I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. ²⁴ How can you fight back one captain among the least of my ruler’s servants, when you trust Egypt for war-wagons and horsemen? ²⁵ Have I come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it. Do not speak with us in the language of Judah. The people on the wall might hear it.” ²⁷ But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my ruler sent me to speak these words to your ruler and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall? They are sure to suffer with you, eating and drinking their own body waste.” ²⁸ Then Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in the language of Judah, saying, “Hear the word of the great king of Assyria. ²⁹ The king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah lie to you. For he will not be able to save you from my power. ³⁰ Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will save us for sure. And this city will not be given to the king of Assyria.” ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria says, “Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat of his own vine and fig tree. And every one of you will drink the water of his own well. ³² Then I will come and take you away to a land like your own land. It is a land of grain and new wine. It is a land of bread and grape-fields and olive trees and honey. There you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he lies to you, saying, “The Lord will save us.” ³³ Has any one of the gods of the nations saved his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my power? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have saved their land from my power? So how should the Lord save Jerusalem from my power?’” ³⁶ But the people were quiet. They did not answer him a word. For Hezekiah had told them, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was the head of the house, and Shebna the writer, and Joah the son of Asaph who wrote down the things of the nation, came to Hezekiah. They came with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Hezekiah Talks to Isaiah

19 When King Hezekiah heard about it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with cloth made from hair. Then he went into the house of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim who was the head of the house, Shebna the writer, and the head religious leaders, to the man of God Isaiah the son of Amoz. They were covered with cloth made from hair. ³ And they said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of trouble, sharp words, and shame. For children have come to be born, but there is no strength to give birth to them. ⁴ It might be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his ruler the king of Assyria has sent to make fun of the living God. And the Lord your God might speak sharp words against what He has heard. So pray for those who are left of the Lord’s people.’” ⁵ The servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “Tell your ruler, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard spoken against Me by the servants of the king of Assyria. ⁷ See, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a made-up story and he will return to his own land. And I will have him killed by the sword in his own land.”’”

Assyrians Talk of Taking Jerusalem Again

⁸ Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that the king had left Lachish. ⁹ The king of Assyria was told, “See, King Tirhakah of Cush has come out to fight against you.” So he sent men again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in Whom you trust lie to you by saying that Jerusalem will not be given into the power of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ You have heard how the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the lands. And will you be saved? ¹² Did the gods of those nations which my fathers destroyed save them? Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar, were destroyed. ¹³ Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, the city of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?’”

¹⁴ Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the men from Assyria, and read it. Then he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread the letter out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord the God of Israel, You sit on Your throne above the cherubim. You are the God, and You alone, of all the nations of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Turn Your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has spoken against the living God. ¹⁷ O Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. ¹⁸ They have thrown their gods into the fire. For they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, made from wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now, O Lord our God, I beg You to save us from his power. Then all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are God, O Lord.”

Isaiah’s Word to the King

²⁰ Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have heard your prayer to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.’ ²¹ This is the Word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She has hated you and made fun of you, the young daughter of Zion! She has shaken her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem! ²² Whom have you spoken against? Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! ²³ You have spoken against the Lord through the men you have sent. You have said, “With my many war-wagons I have come up to the tops of the mountains, to the farthest parts of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedar trees and its best cypress trees. I went to its highest place, where its trees are close together. ²⁴ I dug wells and drank the water of other lands. I dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the bottom of my feet.”

²⁵ ’Have you not heard that I planned this long ago? From times long ago I planned it. Now I have made it happen, that you should destroy strong cities. ²⁶ That is why those who lived there did not have much strength. They were troubled and put to shame. They were like the plants of the field and the green grass. They were like grass on the roofs, killed by the sun before it is grown. ²⁷ But I know when you sit down, go out, and come in. And I know how you speak in anger against Me. ²⁸ You have spoken against Me in your anger and pride, and I have heard it. So I will put My hook in your nose, and My bit in your mouth. And I will have you return by the way you came. ²⁹ ’This will be the special thing for you to see: This year you will eat what grows of itself. In the second year you will eat what grows of the same. Then in the third year, you will plant seeds and gather food. You will plant vines and eat their fruit. ³⁰ And those who are left of the family of Judah will again take root and give fruit. ³¹ For those who are left will go out of Jerusalem. Those who are still alive will go out of Mount Zion. This will be done by the power of the Lord. ³² So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there. He will not come to it with a battle-covering or build a wall around it. ³³ He will return by the way he came. He will not come to this city, says the Lord. ³⁴ For I will help this city and save it, because of My honor, and because of My servant David.’”

Sennacherib’s Death

³⁵ That night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 men among the Assyrian tents. When those left alive got up early in the morning, they saw all the dead bodies. ³⁶ Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. ³⁷ As he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword. Then they ran away to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Paul Goes from Miletus to Tyre

21 After we left them, we got on a ship and came straight down to the island of Cos. The next day we came to the island of Rhodes and from there to the city of Patara. ² There we found a ship that was going over to the country of Phoenicia. We got on it and went along. ³ We saw the island of Cyprus to our left but went on to the country of Syria. We came to land at the city of Tyre. The ship was to leave its load of freight there.

⁴ We looked for the Christians and stayed with them seven days. The Christians had been told by the Holy Spirit to tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ⁵ When our time was up, we left there and went on our way. All of them with their wives and children went with us out of town. They got down on their knees on the shore and prayed. ⁶ After we said good-bye, we got on the ship and they went back to their houses.

Paul Goes from Tyre to Jerusalem

⁷ The same ship took us from Tyre to the city of Ptolemais. We stayed with the Christians there one day. ⁸ The next day we left and came to the city of Caesarea. We went to the house of Philip and stayed with him. He was a preacher who goes from town to town and was one of the seven church leaders. ⁹ Philip had four daughters who were not married. They spoke the Word of God.

¹⁰ While we were there a few days, a man who speaks for God named Agabus came down from the country of Judea. ¹¹ He came to see us. Then he took Paul’s belt and used it to tie his own feet and hands. He said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says, ‘The Jews at Jerusalem will tie the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the people who are not Jews.’”

¹² When we heard this, we and all the people living there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul said, “What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready to be put in chains in Jerusalem. I am also ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ Paul would not listen to us. So we stopped begging him and said, “May whatever God wants be done.”

Paul Is in Jerusalem

¹⁵ After this, we got ready and started up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the followers in Caesarea went with us. They took us to Mnason’s house. He was one of the first followers from Cyprus. We stayed with him.

¹⁷ When we got to Jerusalem, the Christians were glad to see us.

A Call to Praise God

149 Praise the Lord! Sing a new song to the Lord! Praise Him in the meeting of His people. ² Let Israel be glad in his Maker. Let the sons of Zion be full of joy in their King. ³ Let them praise His name with dancing. Let them sing praises to Him with timbrels and a harp. ⁴ For the Lord is happy with His people. He saves those who have no pride and makes them beautiful.

⁵ Let those who are God-like be full of joy and honor. Let them sing for joy on their beds. ⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and in their hand a sword that cuts both ways. ⁷ Let it be used to punish the nations and the people. ⁸ Let their kings be tied in chains, and their rulers with ropes of iron. ⁹ Let the punishment that is written be given to them. This is an honor for all His faithful ones. Praise the Lord!

⁸ The words of one who speaks about others in secret are like tempting bites of food. They go down into the inside parts of the body.