1 At that time  * Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil — and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.  * There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.  *

3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, "What did these men say, and where did they come to you from? "

Hezekiah replied, "They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon."

4 Isaiah asked, "What have they seen in your palace? "

Hezekiah answered, "They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them."

5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the Lord of Armies:  *6 ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.  *7 ‘Some of your descendants — who come from you, whom you father — will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ "

8 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good," for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.  *