Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from 2 Chronicles
chapter 32, as well as 2 Kings chapters 21 and
22. 2 Chronicles chapter 32. After these deeds
of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria
came and entered Judah. He encamped against the
fortified cities. thinking to win them over to
himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib
had come, and that his purpose was to make war
against Jerusalem, he consulted with his leaders
and commanders to stop the water from the springs
which were outside the city, and they helped
him. Thus many people gathered together who stopped
all the springs and the brook that ran through
the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria
come and find much water? And he strengthened
himself, built up all the wall that was broken,
raised it up to the towers, and built another
wall outside. Also he repaired the Milo in the
city of David, and made weapons and shields in
abundance. Then he set military captains over
the people, gathered them together to him in
the open square of the city gate, and gave them
encouragement, saying, Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king
of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that
is with him. For there are more with us than
with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with
us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight
our battles. And the people were strengthened
by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. After
this, Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants
to Jerusalem, but he and all the forces with
him laid siege against Lashish, to Hezekiah king
of Judah and to all Judah who were in Jerusalem,
saying, Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria,
In what do you trust that you remain under siege
in Jerusalem? Does not Hezekiah persuade you
to give yourselves over to die by famine and
by thirst, saying, The Lord our God will deliver
us from the hand of the king of Assyria? Has
not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places
and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem,
saying, You shall worship before one altar and
burn incense on it? Do you not know what I and
my fathers have done to all the peoples of other
lands? Were the gods of the nations of those
lands in any way able to deliver their lands
out of my hand? Who was there among all the gods
of those nations that my fathers utterly destroyed
that could deliver his people from my hand, that
your God should be able to deliver you from my
hand? Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive
you or persuade you like this. And do not believe
him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was
able to deliver his people from my hand or the
hand of my fathers. How much less will your God
deliver you from my hand? Furthermore, his servants
spoke against the Lord God and against his servant
Hezekiah. He also wrote letters to revile the
Lord God of Israel and to speak against him,
saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands
have not delivered their people from my hand,
so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people
from my hand. Then they called out with a loud
voice in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who
were on the wall to frighten them and trouble
them that they might take the city. And they
spoke against the God of Jerusalem as against
the gods of the people of the earth, the work
of man's hands. Now because of this, King Hezekiah
and the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, prayed
and cried out to heaven. Then the Lord sent an
angel who cut down every mighty man of valor,
leader and captain in the camp of the king of
Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own
land. And when he had gone into the temple of
his God, some of his own offspring struck him
down with the sword there. Thus the Lord saved
Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from
the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria,
and from the hand of all others, and guided them
on every side. And many brought gifts to the
Lord at Jerusalem and presents to Hezekiah king
of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight
of all nations thereafter. In those days Hezekiah
was sick and near death, and he prayed to the
Lord, and he spoke to him and gave him a sign.
But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor
shown him, for his heart was lifted up. Therefore
wrath was looming over him and over Judah and
Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for
the pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did
not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. Hezekiah
had very great riches and honor. And he made
himself treasuries for silver, for gold, for
precious stones, for spices, for shields, and
for all kinds of desirable items, storehouses
for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil, and
stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds
for flocks. Moreover, he provided cities for
himself, and possessions of flocks and herds
in abundance. For God had given him very much
property. This same Hezekiah also stopped the
water outlet of Upper Gihon. and brought the
water by tunnel to the west side of the city
of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes
of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire
about the wonder that was done in the land, God
withdrew from him, in order to test him, that
he might know all that was in his heart. Now
the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his goodness,
indeed, they are written in the vision of Isaiah
the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the book
of the kings of Judah and Israel. So Hezekiah
rested with his fathers, and they buried him
in the upper tombs of the sons of David. And
all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored
him at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned
in his place. Manasseh was twelve years old when
he became king, and he reigned fifty -five years
in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.
And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according
to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord
had cast out before the children of Israel. For
he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his
father had destroyed. He raised up altars for
Baal and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of
Israel had done. And he worshipped all the hosts
of heaven and served them. He also built altars
in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had
said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. and he
built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the
two courts of the house of the lord also he made
his son pass through fire practice who saying
used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and
mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the
Lord to provoke him to anger. He even set a carved
image of Asherah that he had made, in the house
of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon
his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which
I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,
I will put my name forever. And I will not make
the feet of Israel wander any more from the land
which I gave their fathers, only if they are
careful to do according to all that I have commanded
them, and according to all the law that my servant
Moses commanded them. But they paid no attention,
and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than
the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before
the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke by
his servants the prophets, saying, because manasseh
king of judah has done these abominations he
has acted more wickedly than all the amorites
who were before him and has also made judah sin
with his idols Therefore thus says the Lord God
of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such calamity
upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears
of it, both his ears will tingle. And I will
stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of
Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab.
I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping
it and turning it upside down. so I will forsake
the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them
into the hand of their enemies. And they shall
become victims of plunder to all their enemies,
because they have done evil in my sight, and
have provoked me to anger since the day their
fathers came out of Egypt even to this day. Moreover,
Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till
he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.
besides his sin by which he made Judah sin in
doing evil in the sight of the Lord. Now the
rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did,
and the sin that he committed, are they not written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
Judah? So Manasseh rested with his fathers and
was buried in the garden of his own house, in
the garden of Uzzah. Then his son Amon reigned
in his place. Amon was 22 years old when he became
king and reigned two years in Jerusalem. His
mother's name was Meshulamit, the daughter of
Haruz of Jodhba. And he did evil in the sight
of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.
So he walked in all the ways that his father
had walked, and he served the idols that his
father had served, and worshipped them. He forsook
the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk
in the way of the Lord. Then the servants of
Amon conspired against him, and killed the king
in his own house. But the people of the land
executed all those who had conspired against
king Amon. Then the people of the land made his
son Josiah king in his place. Now the rest of
the acts of Ammon, which he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Judah? And he was buried in his tomb
in the garden of Uzzah. Then Josiah his son reigned
in his place. Chapter 22 Josiah was eight years
old when he became king, and he reigned thirty
-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was
Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. And
he did what was right in the sight of the Lord,
and walked in all the ways of his father David.
He did not turn aside to the right hand or to
the left. Now it came to pass in the eighteenth
year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan
the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshulam,
to the house of the Lord, saying, Go up to Hilkiah
the high priest, that he may count the money
which has been brought into the house of the
Lord, which the doorkeepers have gathered from
the people. and let them deliver it into the
hands of those doing the work, who are the overseers
in the house of the Lord. Let them give it to
those who are in the house of the Lord doing
the work, to repair the damages of the house,
to carpenters and builders and masons, and to
buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.
However, there need be no accounting made with
them of the money delivered into their hand,
because they deal faithfully. Then Hilkiah the
high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have
found the book of the law in the house of the
Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and
he read it. So Shaphan the scribe went to the
king, bringing the king word, saying, Your servants
have gathered the money that was found in the
house, and have delivered it into the hand of
those who do the work, who oversee the house
of the Lord. Then Shaphan the scribe showed the
king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me
a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
Now it happened when the king heard the words
of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes.
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam
the son of Shaphan, Akbor the son of Micaiah,
Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the
king, saying, Go inquire of the Lord for me,
for the people and for all Judah. concerning
the words of this book that has been found. For
great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused
against us, because our fathers have not obeyed
the words of this book, to do according to all
that is written concerning us. So Hilkiah the
priest, Ahikam, Akbar, Shafan, and Asaiah went
to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom,
the son of Tikva, the son of Harhas, keeper of
the wardrobe. She dwelt in Jerusalem in the second
quarter, and they spoke with her. Then she said
to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell
the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord,
Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and
on its inhabitants, all the words of the book
which the king of Judah has read, because they
have forsaken me and burned incense to other
gods, that they might provoke me to anger with
all the works of their hands. Therefore my wrath
shall be aroused against this place and shall
not be quenched. But as for the king of Judah,
who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this
manner you shall speak to him, Thus says the
Lord God of Israel concerning the words which
you have heard because your heart was tender
and you humbled yourself before the Lord when
you heard what I spoke against this place and
against its inhabitants that they would become
a desolation and a curse and you tore your clothes
and wept before me. I also have heard you. says
the lord surely therefore i will gather you to
your fathers and you shall be gathered to your
grave in peace and your eyes shall not see all
the calamity which i will bring on this place
so they brought back word to the king i hope
you enjoyed today's reading as much as i did
and i look forward to seeing you again tomorrow
to continue on our journey god bless you and
have a great day