2Ki 18-20 | NASB1995 | STEP | Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea , the son of Elah king of Israel , that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king .

2 Kings 18

1 Now it came about ^ain the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^bHezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. 2 He was ^ctwenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 ^dHe did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. 4 ^eHe removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the ^{▼▼ I.e. a wooden symbol of a female deity}Asherah. He also broke in pieces ^gthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called ^{▼▼ I.e. a piece of bronze}Nehushtan. 5 ⁱHe trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; ^jso that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. 6 For he ^kclung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

7 ^lAnd the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^mhe rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 ⁿHe ^{▼▼ Lit smote}defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^pwatchtower to fortified city.

9 Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^qShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 10 At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^rthe ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. 11 Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^sHalah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they ^tdid not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of Judah

13 ^uNow in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, ^v“I have done wrong. ^{▼▼ Lit Return}Withdraw from me; whatever you ^{▼▼ Lit give}impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria ^{▼▼ Lit put on}required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 ^zHezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

17 Then the king of Assyria sent ^aaTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^abconduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^{▼▼ I.e. launderer’s}fuller’s field. 18 When they called to the king, ^adEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^aeShebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

19 Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, ^af“What is this confidence that you ^{▼▼ Lit trust}have? 20 “You say (but they are ^{▼▼ Lit a word of the lips}only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, ^aithat you have rebelled against me? 21 “Now behold, you ^{▼▼ Lit rely for yourself
,} ^akrely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^{▼▼ Lit palm}hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. 22 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^amwhose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23 “Now therefore, ^{▼▼ Lit please exchange pledges}come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 “How then can you ^{▼▼ Lit turn away the face of}repulse one ^{▼▼ Or governor}official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^{▼▼ Lit rely for yourself}rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 “Have I now come up ^{▼▼ Lit without the Lord}without the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ^{▼▼ Lit hear}understand it; and do not speak with us in ^{▼▼ I.e. Hebrew
,} ^auJudean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ^{▼▼ Lit and spoke, saying,}saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 “Thus says the king, ‘ ^awDo not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ^{▼▼ Heb his}my hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 31 ‘Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, ^{▼▼ Lit Make with me a blessing}“Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^azeach of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away ^bato a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 ‘ ^bbHas any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 ‘ ^bcWhere are the gods of Hamath and ^bdArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and ^{▼▼ In 2 Kin 17:24, Avva
,} ^bfIvvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 ‘Who among all the gods of the lands ^{▼▼ Lit who have}have delivered their land from my hand, ^bhthat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

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

2 Kings 19

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

1 ^bkAnd when King Hezekiah heard it, he ^bltore his clothes, ^bmcovered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^bncovered with sackcloth, to ^boIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver. 4 ‘ ^bpPerhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^bqto reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^brthe remnant that is left.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^bsservants of the king of Assyria ^bthave blasphemed Me. 7 “Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^buhe will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ^bvI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^bwLibnah, for he had heard that ^{▼▼ Lit he}the king had left ^byLachish. 9 When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ^{▼▼ Or Ethiopia}Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^{▼▼ Lit Judah, saying,}Judah, ‘Do not ^cblet your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, ^cc“Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 ‘Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be ^{▼▼ Lit delivered}spared? 12 ‘ ^ceDid the gods of ^{▼▼ Lit the}those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even ^cgGozan and ^chHaran and Rezeph and ^cithe sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 ‘ ^cjWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Then ^ckHezekiah took the ^{▼▼ Lit letters...read them}letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^{▼▼ Lit Hezekiah spread}spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^cnwho are ^{▼▼ Lit seated}enthroned above the cherubim, ^cpYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 ^cq“Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^cropen Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^csto reproach the living God. 17 “Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, ^ctfor they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 “Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand ^cuthat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O ^cvLord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^cwI have heard you.’ 21 “This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She has despised you and mocked you,
^cxThe virgin daughter of Zion;
She ^cyhas shaken her head behind you,
The daughter of Jerusalem!
22 ‘Whom have you ^czreproached and ^dablasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And ^{▼▼ Lit on high}haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the ^dcHoly One of Israel!
23 ‘ ^ddThrough your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I ^{▼▼ So with some ancient versions; M.T. will cut...will enter}cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses.
And I ^{▼▼ So with some ancient versions; M.T. will cut...will enter}entered its farthest lodging place, its ^dgthickest forest.
24 “I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the sole of my feet I ^{▼▼ So with some ancient versions; M.T. will dry up
,} ^didried up
All the rivers of ^{▼▼ Lit the besieged place}Egypt.”

25 ‘ ^dkHave you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
^dlNow I have brought it to pass,
That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
26 ‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength,
They were dismayed and put to shame;
They were ^dmas the vegetation of the field and as the green herb,
As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.
27 ‘But ^dnI know your sitting down,
And your going out and your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 ‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your ^{▼▼ Lit complacency}arrogance has come up to My ears,
Therefore I ^dpwill put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And ^dqI will turn you back by the way which you came.

29 ‘Then this shall be ^drthe sign for you: ^{▼▼ Lit eating}you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ‘ ^dtThe surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 ‘For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and ^duout of Mount Zion ^{▼▼ Lit those who escape}survivors. ^dwThe zeal of ^{▼▼ Some ancient mss read the Lord of hosts}the Lord will perform this.

32 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, ^dy“He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 ^dz“By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘ ^eaFor I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and ^ebfor My servant David’s sake.’”

35 ^ecThen it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when ^{▼▼ Lit they}men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were ^{▼▼ Lit dead bodies}dead. 36 So ^efSennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at ^egNineveh. 37 It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^{▼▼ Some ancient mss read Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him
,} ^eiAdrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into ^ejthe land of Ararat. And ^ekEsarhaddon his son became king in his place.

2 Kings 20

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

1 ^elIn those days Hezekiah became ^{▼▼ Lit sick to the point of death}mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘ ^enSet your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 ^eo“Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, ^ephow I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And ^eqHezekiah wept ^{▼▼ Lit great weeping}bitterly. 4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 “Return and say to ^esHezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, ^et“I have heard your prayer, ^euI have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 “I will add fifteen years to your ^{▼▼ Lit days}life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^ewI will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” 7 Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

8 Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?” 9 Isaiah said, ^ex“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” 10 So Hezekiah ^{▼▼ Lit said}answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” 11 Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and ^ezHe brought the shadow on the ^{▼▼ Lit steps}stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^{▼▼ Lit steps}stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

12 ^fcAt that time ^{▼▼ Many mss and ancient versions read Merodach-baladan; cf Is 39:1}Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them ^feall his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^{▼▼ Lit said}answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord. 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when ^fgall that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. 18 ‘Some ^fhof your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become ^fiofficials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is ^fjgood.” For he ^{▼▼ Lit said}thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”

20 ^flNow the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^fmmade the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 21 ^fnSo Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.