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  Praise for

  Isaiah’s Daughter

  “Danger, dark schemes, and political intrigue wrestle against truth, valor, and determined obedience to Yahweh in this compelling tale of Hezekiah—the boy who would be king—and a beautiful but broken orphan girl taken in by Isaiah, the Lord’s prophet. While alternately angered and devastated by the faithlessness of Yahweh’s people in one chapter, in the next I was revitalized and filled with hope in the unfolding prophecies and mercy of our Sovereign God. Andrews has woven a love story, a beautifully written novel to savor, and a reminder that despite our fallen humanity, God’s best is yet to come.”

  —CATHY GOHLKE, Christy Award–winning author of Until We Find Home

  “Mesu Andrews brings the prophet Isaiah to life with her usual brilliance at weaving deep historical threads together with the story of a little-known woman of the Bible. Isaiah’s Daughter is an excellent reminder that the truth of God’s words will be proven, even when His people cannot see through the veil of suffering to the ultimate victory.”

  —CONNILYN COSSETTE, CBA best-selling author of the Out from Egypt series

  “Epic drama, adventure, love, treachery—Isaiah’s Daughter is all of that and more in this latest stellar novel by Mesu Andrews. The author brings to life Judah’s queen, the lovely Hephzibah, infusing each page with heart-stopping emotion and a pure romantic love for her friend and king, Hezekiah, that touched my soul. When I finished reading, I could only marvel at the novel’s depth and breadth and how Andrews portrayed this daughter of a prophet rising to the greatness of God’s promise, resilient in a time of disobedience. Keeping faith with Yahweh amid war and death and pestilence might be the only means to survive. A thoroughly catch-your-breath kind of experience in an impressive body of work, Isaiah’s Daughter is a story fans of biblical fiction will love!”

  —KATE BRESLIN, award-winning author of For Such a Time

  BOOKS BY MESU ANDREWS

  Miriam

  The Pharaoh’s Daughter

  In the Shadow of Jezebel

  Love in a Broken Vessel

  Love’s Sacred Song

  Love Amid the Ashes

  ISAIAH’S DAUGHTER

  Scripture quotations and paraphrases are taken from the following versions: The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of historical fiction based closely on real people and real events. Details that cannot be historically verified are purely products of the author’s imagination.

  Trade Paperback ISBN 9780735290259

  Ebook ISBN 9780735290266

  Copyright © 2018 by Mesu Andrews

  Cover design and photography by Kristopher K. Orr

  Interior map created by Stanford Campbell

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published in the United States by WaterBrook, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  WATERBROOK® and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Andrews, Mesu, 1963– author.

  Title: Isaiah’s daughter / Mesu Andrews.

  Description: First Edition. | Colorado Springs, Colorado : WaterBrook, 2018.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017032698| ISBN 9780735290259 (paperback) | ISBN 9780735290266 (electronic)

  Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Christian / Historical. | FICTION / Historical. | FICTION / Religious. | GSAFD: Bible fiction. | Christian fiction.

  Classification: LCC PS3601.N55274 I83 2018 | DDC 813/.6—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2017032698

  v5.1

  ep

  Contents

  Cover

  Books by Mesu Andrews

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Character List

  Map

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Part 2

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Part 3

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Part 4

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Readers Guide

  To my husband, Roy.

  Like Hezi and Zibah, who knew each other since childhood…

  There is only we.

  CHARACTER LIST

  Amram* One of the king’s Mighty Men; Queen Hephzibah’s personal guard

  Aya* Isaiah’s wife

  Azariah High priest during Hezekiah’s reign

  Dinah* Servant girl in Isaiah’s household

  Eliakim Royal official during Hezekiah’s reign

  Hephzibah Hezekiah’s wife; Queen of Judah

  Hilkiah Royal treasurer under both Ahaz and Hezekiah*

  Isaiah God’s prophet in Judah

  Ishma* Orphan girl who becomes Hezekiah’s friend

  Jalon ben Enoch* Commander of forced labor

  Jashub (Shear-Jashub) Isaiah’s firstborn son

  Joah Recorder during Hezekiah’s reign

  Jokim ben Hanan* Commander of Judah’s army

  Joseph* Shebna’s abba

  Kadmiel* Isaiah’s second son

  King Ahaz 11th King of Judah; Hezekiah’s abba

  King Hoshea Paid Assyria to become 19th King of Israel

  King Jotham 10th King of Judah; Ahaz’s abba

  King Pekah 18th King of Israel

  King Sargon King of Assyria (722–705 BCE); completed Samarian siege and Israel’s exile during Ahaz’s reign

  King Sennacherib King of Assyria (705–681 BCE); besieged Judean fortified cities, including Jerusalem, during Hezekiah’s reign

  King Shalmaneser King of Assyria (727–722 BCE); began the sieg
e on Samaria during Ahaz’s reign

  King Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria (747–727 BCE); destroyed Damascus and attacked Samaria when Ahaz paid tribute

  Leah* Servant girl in Isaiah’s household

  Maher (Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz) Isaiah’s third-born son (Scripture names only two sons)

  Micah God’s prophet in Judah; Yaira’s brother*

  Oded God’s prophet in Samaria

  Prince Bocheru* Ahaz’s firstborn son

  Prince/King Hezekiah Ahaz’s son—second-born* (Bible doesn’t order Ahaz’s sons); 12th King of Judah

  Prince Mattaniah* Ahaz’s third-born son

  Queen Abijah Ahaz’s wife; daughter of Zechariah, the high priest

  Rabshakeh, the Assyrian general during Sennacherib’s reign

  Rizpah* Ahaz’s second wife

  Samuel* One of the king’s Mighty Men; Hezekiah’s personal guard

  Selah* Ahaz’s youngest widow

  Shebna Royal official during Hezekiah’s reign

  Tirhakah General of Egypt’s (Cush’s) army

  Uriah Priest in Jerusalem Temple

  Yaira* Orphaned caregiver of Ishma; Micah’s younger sister

  BOLD names are mentioned in the Bible and/or historical documents

  * Denotes fictional character or description

  ISAIAH’S WORLD 732 B.C.

  Songs are written of sons, but daughters are left to whispers.

  So gather near, friend, to hear of a daughter beyond imagining. She had the heart of a lion. Braver than a soldier. Wiser than a king. She was queen in Judah long after King David’s bones had turned to dust. Long after the arrogance of Solomon’s son split Israel into two nations.

  When the northern tribes seized the name Israel, the southern tribes called their new nation Judah and placed David’s descendants on their throne. Judah’s capital was the city of Jerusalem and its God was named Yahweh. But Israel bowed to pagan gods and even led some of Judah’s kings astray.

  Yahweh’s prophets spewed warnings, and Judah’s brave daughter, the lion-hearted queen, dared ask the prophets why? When? And how will Yahweh’s judgment fall?

  One incomparable prophet answered, foretelling Assyria’s cruelty as Yahweh’s weapon of wrath. Isaiah, a man born to royalty, shouted at kings and comforted beggars. The records proclaim him husband to a prophetess and father of two sons. This is recorded, detailed, written.

  But what of his daughter?

  Her story begins when the northern kingdom of Israel joins forces with Aram, a neighboring nation. They attack Judah in retribution for refusing to join their coalition against Assyria. Isaiah prophesies to Judah’s King Ahaz—a promise and a warning. Ahaz ignores both. His decision forever changes the life of Isaiah’s daughter.

  PART I

  Now [Ahaz, King of Judah] was told, “Aram has allied itself with [Israel]”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken…

  Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son [Jashub], to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool….Say to him,…‘Don’t be afraid…because of the fierce anger of…Aram and [Israel]….This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

  “ ‘It will not take place…

  [but] if you do not stand firm in your faith,

  you will not stand at all.’ ”

  Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.”

  But Ahaz said, “I will not ask…”

  Then Isaiah said, “…The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since [Israel] broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.”

  Isaiah 7:2–4, 7, 9–13, 17

  1

  The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand wives, sons and daughters. They also took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.

  —2 Chronicles 28:8

  732 BCE (Spring)

  Judean Wilderness

  My friend Yaira said to be brave—but why? Brave or scared, we kept marching. She told me to be a big girl, not to cry, but I’m only five, and I’ve seen big men crying. The raw brand on my arm throbbed and smelled like burning meat. I lost count of the days we’d been marching in the desert. Long enough that the sun baked blisters all over me.

  These Israel-soldiers called us “captives.” They whipped the ones who walked too slowly or cried too much. The woman in front of me kept crying for her dead children. I guess one of them looked like me because she grabbed me sometimes, as if I belonged to her. She didn’t seem to care if we were whipped for slowing the march to wherever we’re going—somewhere in Israel. Yaira would help me push her away, but it wasn’t always quick enough, and then we were all beaten. The woman was whipped until she couldn’t fight anymore. She screamed for her children until she had no voice.

  I haven’t had a voice since the Israel-soldiers attacked us in Bethlehem. When soldiers came through the city gates, I screamed to my abba, but my words didn’t save him. I ran into the house, crying, but my words didn’t save Yaira from the soldiers who took her into the stable. They hurt her. More soldiers branded me even though I begged them to stop.

  After all that, my words were gone.

  “Ishma.” Yaira nudged me from behind. “Eat this.” My friend laid her hand on my shoulder, a small piece of bread hiding in her fist.

  I shook my head. She needed it more than me.

  “Take it,” she whispered louder. “Before they see.”

  Yaira was twelve so I did what she said. I took the morsel and I ate it. The crumbs stuck in my mouth. We’d had no water since yesterday. Please, Yahweh, give us water when we stop tonight.

  Sometimes my prayers worked. Sometimes they didn’t. Mostly they didn’t.

  As if she knew what I was thinking, Yaira whispered again. “Every day I pray for Micah to rescue us.” Her voice sounded dry like my throat. “He’ll come, Ishma. I promise. He’ll come. Yahweh will tell him and the other prophets where to find us.”

  I kept walking, glad I had no words. Yaira wouldn’t like my questions. Why didn’t Yahweh stop the soldiers before they killed my family? Who could ever find us among so many captives? Still, Yaira had as much faith in her brother, Micah, as she did in Yahweh. Micah was her only family because their parents died a long time ago. When he couldn’t take care of her because he lived with the other prophets at their camp in Tekoa, Abba heard about Yaira and said she could live with us and serve as Ima’s maid. Yaira said Yahweh and Micah took care of her, but it seemed to me that my family did.

  My face felt prickly when I thought too much about Ima and Abba. My tummy hurt too. I missed them. Who would make my favorite bread now that Ima was gone? Who would tickle me and make me giggle like Abba did?

  Back in Bethlehem I held Ima’s head in my lap and watched the light leave her eyes after the soldiers speared her through. I didn’t see what they did to Abba. When the soldiers dragged me out of the house, Abba was lying by the stable with the same empty eyes as Ima. The soldiers wouldn’t let me say good-bye.

  “Ishma, look!” Yaira pointed toward a gleaming white palace with black trimmings. It sat on a tall hill.

  I’d never seen anything like it. Our house had been the nicest in Bethlehem because Abba was the chief elder, but it seemed tiny compared to the palace on the hill.

  “That must be Samaria, Israel’s capital,” Yaira whispered. “Micah told me that he prophesied here with Hosea.” Her breaths rumbled loud and fast as we climbed the steep hill. We kept walking, walking, walking toward the gates of the white city.

  My legs ached and I stumbled, but Yaira tugged on my arms. “Don’t stop, Ishma. We’re almost there.”

  I was too tired. My legs felt like water.

  “Think of something else, little one,” she said. “What was Micah wearing the last time we saw him?”

  That was a silly question. Micah al
ways wore the same thing—a dirty brown robe. Abba said all prophets wore camel-hair robes, and I asked if all prophets were as serious as Micah. Abba laughed. Micah was kind but always frowning—especially on his last visit. He shouted at Abba that we must leave Bethlehem and go to Jerusalem where we would be safe behind its high walls. Ima took Yaira and me into the courtyard, but I could still hear them shouting. Abba was angry and told Micah to leave. Yaira started to cry. I hid against Ima’s legs and wrapped her cloak around me.

  I wish Abba had taken us to Jerusalem.

  Finally, the captive train slowed to a stop halfway up the hill, and I fell against Yaira. I covered my face with both arms, bracing for the soldier’s whip. But they didn’t beat me.

  The crowd’s spreading whispers made me curious, so I lowered my arms to get a better look at Samaria’s palace on the hill. I couldn’t see over the captives and soldiers, but they all asked the same question. “Why are they closing the city gates?” The sun hadn’t set, and we needed food, water, and clothes.

  One of the captives pointed to a tall tower casting a long shadow over us. A gray-haired man dressed like Micah stood at the top and looked over the edge. He began shouting at the Israel-soldiers, and they shouted back. The captives huddled together while the soldiers’ faces got redder and they beat their fists against the air.