nd
was, "Do not answer him." But Eliakim, the steward of the palace, and
Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, came to Hezekiah with
torn clothes and told him the words of the high official. And as soon as
Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with
sackcloth and went into the temple of Jehovah. And he sent Eliakim, who
was in charge of the palace, and Shebnah, the scribe and the oldest of
the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the prophet. And they
said to him, Hezekiah says, "This is a day of trouble, of discipline and
of shame. It may be Jehovah your God will hear all the words of the high
official, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to defy the
living God, and will punish him for them; therefore lift up your prayer
for the people."

When the servants of Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, "Take
back this answer to your master: Jehovah says, 'Do not be afraid of the
words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of
Assyria have insulted me. I will put a spirit in him, so that he will
hear bad news and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall
by the sword in his own land.'"

So the high official returned and found the king of Assyria making war
against Libnah, for he had heard that he had gone from Lachish. But the
king of Assyria had heard that Tirkakah, king of Ethiopia, had come out
to fight against him. Now that very night the angel of Jehovah went out
and struck down in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five
thousand. And when men arose early the next morning, these were all
dead.

Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went away and returned to Nineveh.
While he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, his sons
struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of
Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, became king in his place.

JEREMIAH'S COURAGE IN DANGER

The command came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, "Stand in the door of the
temple and speak this message: 'Hear the word of Jehovah, all you people
of Judah who enter these gates to worship him. Jehovah, the God of
Israel, says: Change your ways and your deeds and I will let you live in
this place. Trust not in misleading words, thinking, this is the temple
of Jehovah. For if you really change your ways and your deeds, if you
faithfully see that justice is done between a man and his neighbor, if
you do no wrong to the foreigners who live among