Isaiah 39

Isaiah 39:1

Isaiah: God controls the nations God defends *Jerusalem An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Isaiah chapters 31 to 39 www.easyenglish.info Norman Hillyer This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 39 This chapter uses almost the same words as 2 Kings 20:12-19. Visitors from Babylon v1 About that time, the king of Babylon, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, heard that Hezekiah had recovered from a serious illness. So he sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah. v2 Hezekiah gladly accepted the visitors that the king of Babylon had sent to him. Hezekiah showed them all his stores of valuable things. He showed them the silver and the gold. And his stock of *spices and best oil. And he also showed them his weapons (military arms). There was nothing in his palace or anywhere in his country that he did not let them see.

v3 Isaiah the *prophet went to king Hezekiah. Isaiah asked him about the visitors. ‘What did those men speak to you about? Where did they come from?’ Hezekiah replied that they had come from a distant land. They came from a country called Babylon. v4 Then Isaiah asked Hezekiah what the visitors had seen in the palace. The king replied that they had seen everything in his palace. And there was nothing in the royal stores that he did not show them.

v5 Then Isaiah said to king Hezekiah: ‘The *Lord (commander of heaven’s armies) has given me this special message for you: v6 A time is coming when the *Babylonians will take away everything in your palace. They will *seize all that earlier kings of Judah had collected. Nothing will remain. This is what the *Lord says. v7 Some of your own royal sons will go to Babylon as prisoners. They will be ashamed because they will become mere servants in the palace of the king of Babylon.’

v8 Hezekiah said, ‘Whatever the *Lord says must be good.’ The king was thinking to himself, ‘This means that there will be peace in my country for the rest of my life.’

Verse 2

Hezekiah tried to impress the *Babylonian visitors with his wealth.

 But probably there was also a political reason. He wanted to show that he was well able to help in any war against the *Assyrian *empire.

 The *Assyrians were the international power at this time. But the countries that they had *seized were always looking for an opportunity to escape from the *Assyrians’ cruel rule.

Verse 3

At first, Hezekiah answers only Isaiah’s second question – about the visitors’ own country.

Verse 4

Isaiah repeats the other question. Isaiah is familiar with all the palace staff. So he would already know from them what the king had been doing.

Verse 5

God’s message shows that Hezekiah has made a serious mistake. The king is still thinking of safety in human agreements. He is not trusting the *Lord alone.

Verse 8

Hezekiah’s thoughts show the less pleasant part of his character. He has been foolish. And his family will suffer greatly because of his actions. But Hezekiah does not seem to care. He prayed about his own troubles. But he is not praying that God will save his family from these terrible troubles. Instead, he just says, ‘Whatever the *Lord says must be good.’ So Hezekiah is only thinking about himself.

© 2007, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

February 2007

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