Hezekiah’s Folly

1At that timea Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil — and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.a There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.b

3Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and where did they come to you from? ”

Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”

4Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace? ”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Armies:a 6‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.a 7‘Some of your descendants — who come from you, whom you father — will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

8Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.a