The messengers from the king of Babylonia

12 At that time, King Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan the previous King of Babylonia, heard a report that King Hezekiah had been very sick. So he wrote some letters and gave them to some messengers to take to Hezekiah, along with a gift. 13 When the messengers arrived, Hezekiah welcomed them gladly. Then he showed them everything that was in his ◄treasure houses/places where very valuable things were stored►—the silver and gold, the spices, the nice-smelling olive oil, and all the weapons for his soldiers. He showed them all the valuable things in his storerooms and everywhere else in his kingdom [HYP]; he showed them everything.

14 Then the prophet Isaiah went to Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country very far from here. They came from Babylonia.”

15 Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

Hezekiah replied, “They saw everything. I showed them absolutely everything that I own—all my valuable things.”

16 Isaiah knew that Hezekiah had done a very foolish thing. So Isaiah said to him, “Listen to what Yahweh says to you. 17 There will be a time when everything that is still in your palace, all the valuable things that were put there by you and your ancestors, will be carried away to Babylon. There will be nothing left here! That is what Yahweh says to you 18 Furthermore, some of your own descendants will be forced to go there, and they will be castrated in order that they may become servants in the palace of the King of Babylon.”

19 Then Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “That message from Yahweh that you have given to me is good.” He said that because he was thinking, “Even if that happens, there will be peace and security in Israel all the rest of my life.”

20 If you want to know more about [RHQ] all the other things that Hezekiah did, about his brave deeds in battle, about his ordering a reservoir to be built in the city and a tunnel to be dug to bring water into the reservoir, they are all written in the scroll called ‘The History of the Kings of Judah’. 21 Later Hezekiah died [EUP], and his son Manasseh became the king.