Isaiah 39 WEB
Summary: Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, sends envoys with letters and a gift to Hezekiah after hearing of his illness and recovery, and Hezekiah, flattered, shows them everything in his treasury, armory, and storehouses, holding nothing back. Isaiah confronts Hezekiah afterward, asking what the men saw and where they came from, and upon hearing they came from Babylon and saw everything, pronounces that a day is coming when all this wealth, along with some of Hezekiah's own descendants, will be carried off to Babylon and made eunuchs in its king's palace. Hezekiah's response is notably self-focused rather than alarmed: he says the word of the LORD is good, for at least there will be peace and truth in his own days. This chapter closes the first major division of Isaiah, historically transitioning the book's outlook toward the coming Babylonian captivity and the exile that dominates the chapters ahead.
1At that time, Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered.
2Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn’t show them.
3Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and asked him, “What did these men say? From where did they come to you?” Hezekiah said, “They have come from a country far from me, even from Babylon.”
4Then he asked, “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.”
5Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh of Armies:
6‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up until today, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says Yahweh.
7‘They will take away your sons who will issue from you, whom you shall father, and they will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon’s palace.’ ”
8Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “Yahweh’s word which you have spoken is good.” He said moreover, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”
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