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JULY 18
looming over him and over Judah and Jerusa- rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his
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lem. Then Hezekiah humbled himself for the father had broken down; he raised up altars
pride of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Je- for the Baals, and made wooden images; and
rusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not he worshiped all the host of heaven and
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come upon them in the days of Hezekiah. served them. He also built altars in the house
27 Hezekiah had very great riches and honor. of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In
And he made himself treasuries for silver, for Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” And he
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gold, for precious stones, for spices, for shields, built altars for all the host of heaven in the two
and for all kinds of desirable items; store- courts of the house of the LORD. Also he
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houses for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil; caused his sons to pass through the fire in the
and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced
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flocks. Moreover he provided cities for him- soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and
self, and possessions of flocks and herds in consulted mediums and spiritists. He did
abundance; for God had given him very much much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke
property. This same Hezekiah also stopped the Him to anger. He even set a carved image, the
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water outlet of Upper Gihon, and brought the idol which he had made, in the house of God,
water by tunnel to the west side of the City of of which God had said to David and to Sol-
David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works. omon his son, “In this house and in Jerusa-
31 However, regarding the ambassadors of the lem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes
princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to of Israel, I will put My name forever; and I will
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inquire about the wonder that was done in the not again remove the foot of Israel from the
land, God withdrew from him, in order to test land which I have appointed for your fathers—
him, that He might know all that was in his only if they are careful to do all that I have
heart. commanded them, according to the whole law
32 Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and and the statutes and the ordinances by the
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his goodness, indeed they are written in the hand of Moses.” So Manasseh seduced Judah
vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more
and in the book of the kings of Judah and Is- evil than the nations whom the LORD had
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rael. So Hezekiah rested with his fathers, and destroyed before the children of Israel.
they buried him in the upper tombs of the 10 And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his
sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabi- people, but they would not listen. Therefore
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tants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. the LORD brought upon them the captains of
Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place. the army of the king of Assyria, who took
Manasseh was twelve years old when Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze
33 he became king, and he reigned fifty- fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now
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five years in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the when he was in affliction, he implored the
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sight of the LORD, according to the abomina- LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly
tions of the nations whom the LORD had cast
out before the children of Israel. For he
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33:12,13 Manasseh.This king was very wicked
and idolatrous,a murderer of his children,and a
32:30 A 1,700-foot-long tunnel cut through desecrater of the temple. God graciously for-
solid rock (below Jerusalem) redirected water gave this “chief of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15) when
from the spring Gihon outside of Jerusalem he repented. He did what he could to reverse
(to the east) toward the south of Jerusalem the effect of his life (vv. 15–17). Although the
into the pool of Siloam within the city to pro- people worshiped God and not idols, they
vide water in time of siege. The tunnel was a were doing it in the wrong place and wrong
remarkable feat of engineering and boring way.God had commanded them to offer sacri-
skill,often 60 feet below the ground and large fices only in certain places (Deut. 12:13,14) to
enough to walk through. It was discovered in keep them from corrupting the prescribed
1838, but not until 1909 was it cleared of the forms and to protect them from pagan reli-
debris left by the destruction of Jerusalem back gious influence. Disobedience to God’s
in 586 B.C.This may not have been the first requirements in this matter surely contributed
water shaft, since David may have entered to the decline under the next king, Amon (vv.
Jerusalem 300 years earlier through a water 21–23), whose corruption his successor,
shaft (2 Sam.5:6–8). Josiah, had to eliminate (34:3–7).

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