Dual Panel1At that time the king of Babylon, Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, sent envoys with a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been ill.
2Hezekiah welcomed them and showed them his treasury, the silver and gold, the spices and fragrant oil, his entire armoury and everything to be found in his storehouses; there was nothing in his palace or in his whole realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
3The prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say? Where did they come from?” “They came to me from a distant country,” Hezekiah answered, “from Babylon.”
4“What did they see in your palace?” Isaiah demanded. “They saw everything,” was the reply; “there was nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”
5Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of Hosts:
6The time is coming, says the LORD, when everything in your palace, and all that your forefathers have amassed till the present day, will be carried away to Babylon; not a thing will be left.
7And some of your sons, your own offspring, will be taken to serve as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
8Hezekiah answered, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good,” for he was thinking to himself that peace and security would last his lifetime.