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2 Kings 20

Hezekiah receives healing and added years from God, yet the chapter closes under a warning of loss beyond his lifetime.

Hezekiah is dying when Isaiah brings YHWH’s command to put his house in order. The king turns toward the wall and prays through bitter tears. Before Isaiah has left the city, God sends him back with a promise of healing and fifteen more years. A sign follows: the shadow moves backward. Later, Hezekiah shows Babylonian visitors his treasures, and Isaiah announces that those riches and some of his descendants will be taken to Babylon.

illness or diagnosisanswered prayerdeath and what comes after
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1In those days Hezekiah was sick and dying. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Set your house in order; for you will die, and not live.’”
2Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying,
3“Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, the LORD’s word came to him, saying,
5“Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, ‘The LORD, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you will go up to the LORD’s house.
6I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”’”
7Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
8Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I will go up to the LORD’s house the third day?”
9Isaiah said, “This will be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he has spoken: should the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?”
10Hezekiah answered, “It is a light thing for the shadow to go forward ten steps. No, but let the shadow return backward ten steps.”
11Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.
12At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
13Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all the storehouse of his precious things—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, or in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
14Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, even from Babylon.”
15He said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
16Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the LORD’s word.
17‘Behold, the days come that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the LORD.
18‘They will take away some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will father; and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
19Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The LORD’s word which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “Isn’t it so, if peace and truth will be in my days?”
20Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
21Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
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Key verses
2 Kings 20:3Hezekiah appeals to his faithfulness before God, while his bitter tears reveal the weight of the death sentence.
2 Kings 20:5God answers Hezekiah’s prayer with a promise of healing and a return to YHWH’s house on the third day.
2 Kings 20:1Isaiah’s announcement makes death the urgent reality against which Hezekiah’s prayer and God’s promise of added years unfold.
Where this chapter reaches

Isaiah recounts the same illness, backward-moving shadow, and Babylonian visit, while 2 Chronicles also records Hezekiah’s sickness and dealings with Babylon’s envoys. Psalm and Job share the language of tearful prayer before God and the struggle to face death.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Hezekiah’s prayer and God’s response before Isaiah has left the city?

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How do you read Hezekiah’s relief about peace in his days alongside the warning concerning his descendants?

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Questions people ask about 2 Kings 20

Why did God give Hezekiah fifteen more years?

The account presents the added years as God’s response to Hezekiah’s prayer and tears. God also promises to defend Jerusalem for his own sake and David’s sake. The passage does not explain every question about God’s purposes, nor does it make fifteen more years a promise to every person who prays.

Did the sun go backward in 2 Kings 20?

The text says that God brought the shadow ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz after Isaiah prayed. Hezekiah had requested the backward movement as the harder sign. The account identifies God as the one who acts, without explaining the physical mechanism or stating that the earth reversed its rotation.

Why did Hezekiah show his treasures to Babylon?

The Babylonian king sent letters and a gift after hearing of Hezekiah’s illness. Hezekiah then displayed all his treasures and armaments. This chapter does not state his motive. Isaiah’s response connects the visit with a grim future: the displayed wealth will go to Babylon, along with some of Hezekiah’s descendants.

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2 Kings · 25 chapters
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What the Bible says about death →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).