899. After he died, there was no person IN THE WORLD who became ill and did not die from that illness until Hezekiah came. What is written about him? "In those days Hezekiah fell mortally sick... " (Yeshayah 38:1). Come and see what is written, "Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to Hashem" (Ibid. 2). He said TO THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE, Does it please You that people should be healed from their illness, and they should thank Your Name and recognize, and return later on in complete repentance. The inhabitants of the world will be meritorious in Your eyes. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'It pleases Me, and you will be a sign to the world,' THAT IT WILL START WITH YOU. So it was, what never was before. This is what is meant by, "The writing of Hezekiah King of Judah when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness" (Ibid. 9). We learned that the sun turned BACKWARD ten degrees.

900. We also learned that Merodach Baladan used to always eat daily at the fourth hour OF THE DAY, and also that he slept until the ninth hour OF THE DAY. That day TOO, he slept until the ninth hour. When he awoke, he saw that the sun stood at the fourth hour OF THE DAY. He said, What is this. Is this a plot to starve me with hunger? They said to him, Why? He said, For I have slept one and a third days, BECAUSE HE THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS THE FOURTH HOUR OF THE NEXT DAY AND THAT HE HAD SLEPT ONE FULL DAY FROM FOUR HOURS AND A THIRD OF THE SECOND DAY, BECAUSE IT WAS ALREADY AT THE FOURTH HOUR OF THE SECOND DAY. They said to him that it was not so, but that the Elohim of Hezekiah performed two miracles on that day. One is that He cured Hezekiah of his illness and the second is that He returned the sun to this hour. He said, Is there a great Elohim in this world except for my Elohim? And they said, The Elohim of Hezekiah.

901. He arose and wrote his letter, 'Peace to Hezekiah, the King of Judah, and peace to his Elohim and peace to Jerusalem, the Holy City. 'Afterwards, he changed his mind, arose from his throne, took three steps and wrote another letter, 'Peace to the Great Elohim in Jerusalem and peace to Hezekiah, the King of Judah, and peace to Jerusalem, the Holy City. 'The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'You took three steps in My honor. I swear that three kings will descend from you, rulers and princes who will rule over the whole world.' And the first of them was Nebuchadnezzar.

902. Come and see what Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, "You are this head of gold. And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and another third kingdom of brass... " (Daniel 2:38-39). What is written? "Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and the breadth of which was six cubits" (Daniel 3:1). Nebuchadnezzar said, 'The idol that I saw IN THE DREAM had a head of gold and his innards were silver. I shall make it entirely of gold and there shall be a golden crown on its head.'

903. We learned that he gathered all the nations and peoples and tongues on that day to worship that idol. And he took a vessel of the vessels of the Temple upon which was engraved the Holy Name, and placed it in the mouth of that idol. At that moment, the idol spoke great things until Daniel came and approached that idol, saying, 'I am the messenger of the supernal Master. I decree upon you to leave here.' When he mentioned the Holy Name, that vessel came out of the idol's mouth, and the idol fell and broke. This is the meaning of that which is written, "And I will take out of his mouth which he has swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow together any more to him" (Yirmeyah 51:44). Rabbi Yehuda got up and kissed RAV HUNA on his head. He said, If I had not brought you close to the friends here, we would not recognize you. From that day onwards, they were in awe of him.