TODAY’S BIBLE READING (ISAIAH 38:1-6, 21-22)

I HAVE HEARD YOUR PRAYER AND SEEN YOUR TEARS.

Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “The Lord says this, ‘Put your affairs in order, for you are going to die, you will not live.'” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and addressed this prayer to the Lord, “Ah, Lord, remember, I beg you, how I have behaved faithfully and with sincerity of heart in your presence and done what is right in your eyes.” And Hezekiah shed many tears.

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘The Lord, the God of David your ancestor, says this: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will cure you: in three days’ time you shall go up to the Temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. I will save you from the hands of the king of Assyria, I will protect this city.'”

“Bring a fig poultice,” Isaiah said. “Apply it to the ulcer and he will recover.” Hezekiah said, “What is the sign to tell me that I shall be going up to the Temple of the Lord?” “Here” Isaiah replied “is the sign from the Lord that he will do what he has said. Look, I shall make the shadow cast by the declining sun go back ten steps on the steps of Ahaz.” And the sun went back the ten steps by which it had declined.

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.

 

BIBLE READING (2 KINGS 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-36)

I WILL PROTECT THIS CITY AND SAVE IT FOR MY OWN SAKE AND FOR THE SAKE OF DAVID.

Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah again, saying, “Tell this to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God on whom you are relying deceive you, when he says: Jerusalem shall not fall into the power of the king of Assyria. You have learnt by now what the kings of Assyria have done to every country, putting them all under the ban. Are you likely to be spared?'”

Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of the messenger and read it; he then went up to the Temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. Hezekiah said this prayer in the presence of the Lord, “Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned on the cherubs, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth, you have made heaven and earth.

“Give ear, Lord, and listen.
Open your eyes, Lord, and see.
Hear the words of Sennacherib
who has sent to insult the living God.

“It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have exterminated all the nations, they have thrown their gods on the fire, for these were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, and hence they have destroyed them. But now, Lord our God, save us from his hand, I pray you, and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that you alone are God, Lord.”

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah. “The Lord, the God of Israel” he said “says this, ‘I have heard the prayer you have addressed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.’ Here is the oracle that the Lord has pronounced against him:
“‘A remnant shall go out from Jerusalem,
and survivors from Mount Zion.
The jealous love of the Lord of Hosts shall accomplish this.’
“This, then, is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city,
he will let fly no arrow against it,
confront it with no shield,
throw up no earthwork against it.
By the road that he came on he will return;
he shall not enter this city. It is the Lord who speaks.
I will protect this city and save it
for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.'”

That same night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. Sennacherib struck camp and left; he returned home and stayed in Nineveh.

V. The word of the Lord.
R. Thanks be to God.