Catholic Commentary on Isaiah 39

“Everything in my palace and all that my predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 39:6)

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

Merodach-Baladan king of Babylon sends envoys with letters and a gift to Hezekiah, who receives them warmly and shows them everything in his storehouses, the silver and gold, the spices and fine oil, his entire armory. Nothing in his palace is left that Hezekiah does not show them. Isaiah comes to him and asks: what did they see in your palace? Hezekiah answers: everything. Isaiah says: everything in my palace and all that my predecessors have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. Hezekiah accepts the word: the word of the LORD you have spoken is good.

The Catechism draws from Hezekiah's response to Isaiah's judgment the principle of accepting divine correction with humility even when the correction is personal and severe (CCC 1435).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the pride that shows Babylon everything becomes the poverty that Babylon eventually takes back. What Hezekiah displayed with pride was lost to the very nation he displayed it to. What we exhibit to the world for admiration can become what the world eventually extracts from us. Show your treasures to God, not to Babylon.

Prayer

Lord God, keep us from showing Babylon our treasures. Let us display what we have to you alone. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

39
Hezekiah Shows His Treasures
(2 Kings 20:12-19)
1 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 and recovery. 2 And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house-the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his entire 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.
 
3 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 to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
 
4 “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.”
 
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD of Hosts: 6 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. 7 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.”
 
8 But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “At least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”

Public Domain