Chapter 39
Embassy from Merodach-baladan. 1 At that time Merodach-baladan,[a] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah, when he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.(A) 2 Hezekiah was pleased at their coming, and then showed the messengers his treasury, the silver and gold, the spices and perfumed oil, his whole armory, and everything in his storerooms; there was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(B)
3 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say to you? Where did they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant land, from Babylon.” 4 He asked, “What did they see in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They saw everything in my house. There is nothing in my storerooms that I did not show them.” 5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 The time is coming when all that is in your house, everything that your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried off to Babylon;[b] nothing shall be left, says the Lord.(C) 7 Some of your own descendants, your progeny, shall be taken and made attendants in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(D) 8 Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.”[c] For he thought, “There will be peace and stability in my lifetime.”
Footnotes
- 39:1 Merodach-baladan: twice king of Babylon, probably from 721 to 710 B.C., and again for nine months, in 704–703. This visit of his messengers, certainly before 701, was in reality a political one. Babylon hoped to lead an anti-Assyrian confederation composed of neighboring states and wanted Judah to join.
- 39:6 Because Judah preferred to follow a pro-Babylonian policy, instead of trusting in the Lord, it would later be exiled to Babylon.
- 39:8 Hezekiah was relieved that the disaster would not occur in his lifetime.