16. And Sennacherib’s officers further mocked the lord God and his servant Hezekiah, heaping insult upon insult.
17. The king also sent letters scorning the lord, the God of Israel. He wrote, “Just as the gods of all the other nations failed to rescue their people from my power, so the God of Hezekiah will also fail.”
18. The Assyrian officials who brought the letters shouted this in Hebrew to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to terrify them so it would be easier to capture the city.
19. These officers talked about the God of Jerusalem as though he were one of the pagan gods, made by human hands.
20. Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven.
21. And the lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.
22. That is how the lord rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the others who threatened them. So there was peace throughout the land.
23. From then on King Hezekiah became highly respected among all the surrounding nations, and many gifts for the lord arrived at Jerusalem, with valuable presents for King Hezekiah, too.
24. About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill. He prayed to the lord, who healed him and gave him a miraculous sign.
25. But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud. So the lord’s anger came against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.
26. Then Hezekiah humbled himself and repented of his pride, as did the people of Jerusalem. So the lord’s anger did not fall on them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.
27. Hezekiah was very wealthy and highly honored. He built special treasury buildings for his silver, gold, precious stones, and spices, and for his shields and other valuable items.