19 The field commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What makes you so confident? 20 You give useless advice about getting ready for war. Whom, then, do you trust for support in your rebellion against me? 21 Now, look! When you trust Egypt, you're trusting a broken stick for a staff. If you lean on it, it stabs your hand and goes through it. This is what Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) is like for everyone who trusts him. 22 Suppose you tell me, "We're trusting Yahweh our Elohim ." He's the god whose places of worship and altars Hezekiah got rid of. He told Judah and Jerusalem, "Worship at this altar in Jerusalem."'

23 "Now, make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you 2,000 horses if you can put riders on them. 24 How can you defeat my master's lowestranking officers when you trust Egypt for chariots and horses?

25 "Have I come to destroy this place without Yahweh on my side? Yahweh said to me, Attack this country, and destroy it.'"

26 Then Eliakim (son of Hilkiah), Shebnah, and Joah said to the field commander, "Speak to us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in the Judean language as long as there are people on the wall listening."

27 But the field commander asked them, "Did my master send me to tell these things only to you and your master? Didn't he send me to the men sitting on the wall who will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine with you?"

28 Then the field commander stood and shouted loudly in the Judean language, "Listen to the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah deceive you. He can't rescue you from me. 30 Don't let Hezekiah get you to trust Yahweh by saying, 'Yahweh will certainly rescue us, and this city will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria.' 31 Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me! Come out and give yourselves up to me! Everyone will eat from his own grapevine and fig tree and drink from his own cistern. 32 Then I will come and take you away to a country like your own. It's a country with grain and new wine, a country with bread and vineyards, a country with olive trees, olive oil, and honey. Live! Don't die! Don't listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying to you, 'Yahweh will rescue us.' 33 Did any of the gods of the nations rescue their countries from the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria from my control? 35 Did the gods of those countries rescue them from my control? Could Yahweh then rescue Jerusalem from my control?"

36 But the people were silent and didn't say anything to him because the king commanded them not to answer him.

37 Then Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace and was the son of Hilkiah, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, who was the royal historian and the son of Asaph, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief. They told him the message from the field commander.

19 1 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in grief, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh's temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and the leaders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day filled with misery, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a woman who is about to give birth but doesn't have the strength to do it. 4 Yahweh your Elohim may have heard all the words of the field commander. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to defy Elohim Chay . Yahweh your Elohim may punish him because of the message that Yahweh your Elohim heard. Pray for the few people who are left."

5 So King Hezekiah's men went to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah answered them, "Say this to your master, 'This is what Yahweh says: Don't be afraid of the message that you heard when the Assyrian king's assistants slandered me. 7 I'm going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own country. I'll have him assassinated in his own country.'"

8 The field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. He had heard that the king left Lachish. 9 Now, Sennacherib heard that King Tirhakah of Sudan was coming to fight him.

Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, 'Don't let the god whom you trust deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria. 11 You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries, how they totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations which my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'"

14 Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers, read them, and went to Yahweh's temple. He spread them out in front of Yahweh 15 and prayed to Yahweh, "Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, you are enthroned over the angels.a You alone are Elohim of all the kingdoms of the world. You made heaven and earth. 16 Turn your ear toward me, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib sent to defy Elohim Chay . 17 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have leveled nations.b 18 They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren't real gods. They're only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. 19 Now, Yahweh our Elohim , rescue us from Assyria's control so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are Yahweh Elohim ."

Isaiah's Prophecy against King Sennacherib of Assyria-Isaiah 37:21-38 20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, "This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you. 21 This is the message that Yahweh speaks to him, 'My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you.

My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.

22 Whom are you defying and slandering?

Against whom are you shouting?

Who are you looking at so arrogantly?

It is Qedosh Yisrael !

23 Through your servantsa you defy Adonay and say, "With my many chariots I'll ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon.

I'll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses.

I'll come to its most distant borders and its most fertile forests.

24 I'll dig wells and drink foreign water.

I'll dry up all the streams of Egypt with the trampling of my feet."

25 "'Haven't you heard? I did this long ago.

I planned it in the distant past.

Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.

26 Those who live in these cities are weak, discouraged, and ashamed.

They will be like plants in the field, like fresh, green grass on the roofs, scorched before it sprouted.

27 I know when you get up and sit down, when you go out and come in, and how you rage against me.

28 Since you rage against me and your boasting has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your mouth.

I will make you go back the way you came.

29 "'And this will be a sign for you, Hezekiah: You will eat what grows by itself this year and next year. But in the third year you will plant and harvest, plant vineyards, and eat what is produced. 30 Those few people from the nation of Judah who escape will again take root and produce crops. 31 Those few people will go out from Jerusalem, and those who escape will go out of Mount Zion. Yahweh is determined to do this.'

32 "This is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria: He will never come into this city, shoot an arrow here, hold a shield in front of it, or put up dirt ramps to attack it.

33 He will go back the way he came, and he won't come into this city,"

declares Yahweh.

34 "I will shield this city to rescue it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David."

35 It happened that night. Yahweh's angel went out and killed 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When the Judeans got up early in the morning, they saw all the corpses.

36 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left. He went home to Nineveh and stayed there. 37 While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer assassinated him and escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.

Hezekiah's Illness-2 Chronicles 32:24; Isaiah 38:1-8, 21-22 20 1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was about to die. The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came to him and said, "This is what Yahweh says: Give final instructions to your household, because you're about to die. You won't get well."

2 Hezekiah turned to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, 3 "Please, Yahweh, remember how I've lived faithfully and sincerely in your presence. I've done what you consider right." And he cried bitterly.

4 Isaiah hadn't gone as far as the middle courtyard when Yahweh spoke his word to him: 5 "Go back and say to Hezekiah, leader of my people, 'This is what Yahweh Elohim of your ancestor David says: I've heard your prayer. I've seen your tears. Now I'm going to heal you. The day after tomorrow you will go to Yahweh's temple. 6 I'll give you 15 more years to live. I'll rescue you and defend this city from the control of the king of Assyria for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.'"

7 Then Isaiah said, "Get a fig cake, and put it on the boil so that the king will get well."

8 Hezekiah asked Isaiah, "What is the sign that Yahweh will heal me and that I'll go to Yahweh's temple the day after tomorrow?"

9 Isaiah said, "This is your sign from Yahweh that Yahweh will do what he promises. Do you want the shadow to go forward ten steps or come back ten steps?"

10 Hezekiah replied, "It's easy for the shadow to extend ten more steps forward. No, let it come back ten steps."

11 Then the prophet Isaiah called on Yahweh, and Yahweh made the shadow that had gone down on Ahaz's stairway go back up ten steps.

Hezekiah Shows the Babylonians His Treasures-2 Chronicles 32:31-33; Isaiah 39:1-8 12 At that time Baladan's son, King Merodach Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 Hezekiah was so happy with them that he showed the messengers his warehouse: the silver, gold, balsam, fine olive oil, his entire armory, and everything in his treasury. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and every corner of his kingdom.

14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked, "What did these men say? And where did they come from?"

Hezekiah answered, "They came to me from the distant country of Babylon."

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

Hezekiah answered, "They saw everything in my palace, and I showed them everything in my treasury."

16 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh! 17 Yahweh says, 'The days are going to come when everything in your palace, everything your ancestors have stored up to this day, will be taken away to Babylon. Nothing will be left. 18 Some of your own descendants will be taken away. They will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

19 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "Yahweh's word that you have spoken is good." He added, "Isn't it enough if there is peace and security as long as I live?"

20 Isn't everything else about Hezekiah, all his heroic acts and how he made the pool and tunnel to bring water into the city, written in the official records of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah lay down in death with his ancestors. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.

QEDOSH YISRAEL.

HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL.

To understand the title Holy One of Israel, Qedosh Yisrael (ke-DOSH yis-ra-AIL), we need first to understand that holiness is grounded in God's nature. It refers not to one of his attributes but to the totality of his being. In his holiness, God exists above and apart from the world he has made.

Things, times, places, people, and other created beings can become holy by virtue of their connection to God. Thus, the people of Israel became holy because God had chosen them. Their holiness was to be expressed and maintained through their adherence to ritual practices and moral laws, which set them apart for the service of God. It is important to realize that God's holiness involves not just separation from sin but his absolute hostility toward it.

The term most frequently used for "holy" in the New Testament is hagios. The holiness of Jesus was recognized even by demons, who called him "the Holy One of God." When Christ made himself an offering for our sins, he bridged the infinite chasm between a holy God and sinful human beings. As believers, we are called to reflect the character of Christ, to be holy even as he is holy.

Praying to Qedosh Yisrael Imagine for a moment that you have never heard of the Bible, let alone Jesus Christ. One day, when you unwrap the fish you are planning to eat for dinner, you notice that something is written on the scrap of paper it is wrapped in. You carefully unwrap it and then read through the paper, down to the very last words, which are these: "Leviticus 19:1-18."

God is speaking to someone named Moses. He's peppering him with a series of commands and instructing him to share these with the rest of the people: Be holy because I, Yahweh your Elohim, am holy.

Leave some grain in your fields for poor people and foreigners.

Don't cheat anybody.

Don't oppress anyone.

Don't stick your foot out to make a blind person stumble.

Don't say something nasty about someone who's deaf, assuming the person can't hear you.

Forget about revenge.

Never hold a grudge.

Pay a working man right away because he might need the money.

Don't rob anybody.

As you read down the list, you notice something else. Each command is punctuated by the statement "I am the LORD your God." Over and over, "I am the LORD your God." Is this a non sequitur? Why is God linking himself so closely to each of these commands?

If this were the only passage of Scripture you had ever read, what would it lead you to believe about the Supreme Being issuing all the commands? Well, for one thing, he seems very concerned about the little guy-the blind man, the foreigner, the working stiff. He's kind, sensitive to people's weakness, knowledgeable of their needs. What's more, he can't stand cheating, and he's generous. Remember that bit about not harvesting the corner of your fields? And he must be forgiving, because he's telling Moses not to hold grudges or try to get revenge. In fact, he seems to be saying, don't do any of these things, because I don't do them. If you want to be my friend, if you want to hang around with me, do what I would do in all these situations and avoid doing what I wouldn't do.

Leviticus isn't the most popular book in the Bible. But this passage shows what even a little bit of Leviticus can teach us about God and about holiness-that we worship a God who hears the cries of the poor, who loves justice and abhors sin, and who wants to forge a relationship with people made in his image. That's what holiness is about for us: God restoring the fractured image of his nature in fallen human beings, who are nevertheless destined to bear his likeness.

Qedosh Yisrael, Holy One of Israel, thank you for speaking the truth about who you are and what you expect, for showing me how to live. I revere you and want to be like you, but you know that's impossible unless you help me. Please draw me into a true and deep repentance. Fix what is broken and give me your heart and your mind. I want to be holy because you, my LORD and God, are holy.

Promises Associated with the Name QEDOSH YISRAEL.

When that day comes, the deaf will hear the words written in the book. The blind will see out of their gloom and darkness. Humble people again will find joy in Yahweh. The poorest of people will find joy in Qedosh Yisrael. (Isaiah 29:18-19) With one sacrifice he [Christ] accomplished the work of setting them apart for God forever. The Holy Spirit tells us the same thing: "This is the promise that I will make to them after those days, says the Lord: 'I will put my teachings in their hearts and write them in their minds.'" (Hebrews 10:14-16)

King Manasseh of Judah-2 Chronicles 33:1-20 21 1 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 55 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah.

2 He did what Yahweh considered evil by copying the disgusting things done by the nations that Yahweh had forced out of the Israelites' way. 3 He rebuilt the illegal places of worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He set up altars dedicated to Baal and made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah as King Ahab of Israel had done. Manasseh, like Ahab, worshiped and served the entire army of heaven. 4 He built altars in Yahweh's temple, where Yahweh had said, "I will put my name in Jerusalem." 5 In the two courtyards of Yahweh's temple, he built altars for the entire army of heaven. 6 He burned his son as a sacrifice, consulted fortunetellers, cast evil spells, and appointed royal mediums and psychics. He did many things that made Yahweh furious. 7 Manasseh had an idol of Asherah made. Then he set it up in the temple, where Yahweh had said to David and his son Solomon, "I have chosen this temple and Jerusalem from all the tribes of Israel. I will put my name here forever. 8 I will never again make Israel's feet wander from the land that I gave to their ancestors if they will obey all the commands and all the Teachings that my servant Moses gave them." 9 (But they wouldn't obey.) Manasseh misled Israel so that they did more evil things than the nations that Yahweh had destroyed when the Israelites arrived in the land.

10 Then Yahweh spoke through his servants the prophets: 11 "King Manasseh of Judah has done disgusting things, things more evil than what the Amorites who were here before him had done. Manasseh has also made Judah sin by worshiping his idols. 12 So this is what I, Yahweh Elohim of Israel, said: I'm going to bring such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring. 13 I will measure Jerusalem with the measuring line used for Samaria and the plumb line used for Ahab's dynasty. I will wipe out Jerusalem in the same way that a dish is wiped out and turned upside down. 14 I will abandon the rest of my people. I will put them under the control of their enemies, and they will become property that their enemies capture. 15 I will do this because they have done what I consider evil and have been making me furious from the time their ancestors left Egypt until this day."

16 In addition to his sin that he led Judah to commit in front of Yahweh, Manasseh also killed a lot of innocent people from one end of Jerusalem to the other. 17 Isn't everything else about Manasseh-everything he did, the sins he committed-written in the official records of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh lay down in death with his ancestors. He was buried in the garden of his own palace, in the garden of Uzza. His son Amon succeeded him as king.

King Amon of Judah-2 Chronicles 33:21-25 19 Amon was 22 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 2 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz from Jotbah. 20 He did what Yahweh considered evil, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 He lived like his father in every way and worshiped and prayed to the idols his father had worshiped. 22 He abandoned Yahweh Elohim of his ancestors and didn't live Yahweh's way. 23 Amon's officials plotted against him and killed him in his palace. 24 Then the people of the land killed everyone who had plotted against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king in his place. 25 Isn't everything else about Amon-the things he did-written in the official record of the kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. His son Josiah succeeded him as king.

King Josiah of Judah-2 Chronicles 34:1-2 22 1 Josiah was 8 years old when he began to rule, and he was king for 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. 2 Josiah did what Yahweh considered right. He lived in the ways of his ancestor David and never stopped.

The Book of the LORD'S Teachings Found in the Temple-2 Chronicles 34:8-28 3 In Josiah's eighteenth year as king of Judah, he sent the scribe Shaphan, son of Azaliah and grandson of Meshullam, to Yahweh's temple with these instructions: 4 "Go to the chief priest Hilkiah. Have him count the money that has been brought into Yahweh's temple, the money that the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Give some of it to the foremen who are in charge of Yahweh's temple. They should give it to the workmen who are making repairs on Yahweh's temple. 6 (These workers include the carpenters, builders, and masons.) Also, use the rest of the money to buy lumber and quarried stones to repair the temple. 7 Since the workmen are honest, don't require them to account for the money you give them."

8 The chief priest Hilkiah told the scribe Shaphan, "I have found the Book of Moses' Teachings in Yahweh's temple." Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who then read it.

9 The scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, "We have taken the money donated in the temple and have given it to the workmen who are in charge of Yahweh's temple." 10 Then the scribe Shaphan told the king, "The priest Hilkiah has given me a book." And Shaphan read it to the king.

11 When the king heard what the book of the Teachings said, he tore his clothes in distress. 12 Then the king gave an order to the priest Hilkiah, to Ahikam (son of Shaphan), Achbor (son of Micaiah), the scribe Shaphan, and the royal official Asaiah. He said, 13 "On behalf of the people, all of Judah, and me, ask Yahweh about the words in this book that has been found. Yahweh's fierce anger is directed towards us because our ancestors did not obey the things in this book or do everything written in it."a 14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum, son of Tikvah and grandson of Harhas. Shallum was in charge of the royal wardrobe. Huldah was living in the Second Part of Jerusalem.

15 She told them, "This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 'This is what Yahweh says: I'm going to bring disaster on this place and on the people living here according to everything written in the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 I will do this because they have abandoned me and sacrificed to other gods in order to make me furious. Therefore, my burning anger directed at this place will never be extinguished.'"

18 Huldah added, "But tell Judah's king who sent you to me to ask Yahweh a question, 'This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says about the words you heard: 19 You had a change of heart and humbled yourself in front of Yahweh when you heard my words against this place and those who live here. I had said that those who live here will be destroyed and cursed. You also tore your clothes in distress and cried in front of me. So I will listen to you, declares Yahweh . 20 That is why I'm going to bring you to your ancestors. I'm going to bring you to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see any of the disaster I'm going to bring on this place.'"