DO YOU know why this man is praying to Jehovah? Why has he laid these letters in front of Jehovah’s altar? The man is Hez·e·kiʹah. He is king of the southern two tribes of Israel. And he is in a lot of trouble. Why?

Because the As·syrʹi·an armies have already destroyed the northern 10 tribes. Jehovah let this happen because those people were so bad. And now the As·syrʹi·an armies have come to fight against the two-tribe kingdom.

The king of As·syrʹi·a has just sent letters to King Hez·e·kiʹah. These are the letters that Hez·e·kiʹah has put here before God. The letters make fun of Jehovah, and tell Hez·e·kiʹah to give up. So this is why Hez·e·kiʹah prays: ‘O Jehovah, save us from the king of As·syrʹi·a. Then all the nations will know that you alone are God.’ Will Jehovah listen to Hez·e·kiʹah?

Hez·e·kiʹah is a good king. He is not like the bad kings of the 10-tribe kingdom of Israel, or like his bad father King Aʹhaz. Hez·e·kiʹah has been careful to obey all of Jehovah’s laws. So, after Hez·e·kiʹah finishes praying, the prophet Isaiah sends him this message from Jehovah: ‘The king of As·syrʹi·a will not come into Jerusalem. None of his soldiers will even come close to it. They will not shoot a single arrow at the city.’

Look at the picture on this page. Do you know who all these dead soldiers are? They are the As·syrʹi·ans. Jehovah sent his angel, and in one night the angel killed 185,000 As·syrʹi·an soldiers. So the king of As·syrʹi·a gives up and goes back home.

The two-tribe kingdom is saved, and the people have peace for a while. But after Hez·e·kiʹah dies his son Ma·nasʹseh becomes king. Ma·nasʹseh and his son Aʹmon after him are both very bad kings. So again the land is filled with crime and violence. When King Aʹmon is murdered by his own servants, his son Jo·siʹah is made king of the two-tribe kingdom.