39 Soon afterwards, the king of Babylon (Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan) sent Hezekiah a present and his best wishes,[a] for he had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick and now was well again. 2 Hezekiah appreciated this and took the envoys from Babylon on a tour of the palace, showing them his treasure-house full of silver, gold, spices, and perfumes. He took them into his jewel rooms, too, and opened to them all his treasures—everything.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to the king and said, “What did they say? Where are they from?”
“From far away in Babylon,” Hezekiah replied.
4 “How much have they seen?” asked Isaiah.
And Hezekiah replied, “I showed them everything I own, all my priceless treasures.”
5 Then Isaiah said to him, “Listen to this message from the Lord Almighty:
6 “The time is coming when everything you have—all the treasures stored up by your fathers—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left. 7 And some of your own sons will become slaves, yes, eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8 “All right,” Hezekiah replied. “Whatever the Lord says is good. At least there will be peace during my lifetime!”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 39:1 Merodach-baladan . . . sent Hezekiah a present and his best wishes. Merodach-baladan was at this time planning a revolt in the east against Sennacherib, so he was especially interested in Hezekiah’s activities in the west.