Thursday in Season after Pentecost

12Verse 12. At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness. 13Verse 13. And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his armory— all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his palace or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 14Verse 14. Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.” 15Verse 15. “What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.” 16Verse 16. Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17Verse 17. The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. 18Verse 18. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” 19Verse 19. But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”

9Verse 9. As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD, because of His holy words. 10Verse 10. For the land is full of adulterers — because of the curse, the land mourns and the pastures of the wilderness have dried up — their course is evil and their power is misused. 11Verse 11. “For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” 12Verse 12. “Therefore their path will become slick; they will be driven away into the darkness and fall into it. For I will bring disaster upon them in the year of their punishment,” 13Verse 13. “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray. 14Verse 14. And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.” 15Verse 15. Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says concerning the prophets: “I will feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.”