2 Kings 18

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

1 ^aIn the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^bHezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2He was ^ctwenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^dAbi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 ^eAnd he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 ^fHe removed the high places and broke the ^gpillars and cut down ^hthe Asherah. And he broke in pieces ⁱthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). ▼

▼ Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both  bronze and  serpent

5 ^kHe trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, ^lso that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 ^mFor he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 ⁿAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, ^ohe prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 ^pHe struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, ^qfrom watchtower to fortified city.

9In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^rShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in ^sHalah, and on the ^tHabor, ^uthe river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 ^vIn the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” ^wAnd the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents ▼

▼A  talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms

of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15And Hezekiah ^ygave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17And the king of Assyria sent the ^zTartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by ^aathe conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 18And when they called for the king, there came out to them ^abEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^acShebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of ^ada staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he ^aewhose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, "Go up against this land, and destroy it."’”

26Then ^afEliakim the son of Hilkiah, and ^agShebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^ahAramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my ▼

▼Hebrew his

hand. 30Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ 31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me ▼

▼Hebrew  Make a blessing with me

and come out to me. Then ^akeach one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^ala land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and ^amhoney, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 ^anHas any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 ^aoWhere are the gods of ^apHamath and ^aqArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^arIvvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, ^asthat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 37Then ^atEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^auwith their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.