2Ki 18:17-20:11 | NASB2020 | STEP | Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan , 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 conduit of the upper pool , which is on the road of the fuller’s field .

2 Kings 18:17-37

17 Then the king of Assyria sent ^aTartan, 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 ^bconduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the ^{▼▼I.e., launderer’s}fuller’s field. 18 Then they called to the king, and ^dEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, ^eShebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

19 And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “ ^fWhat is this confidence that you ^{▼▼Lit trust}have? 20 You say--but they are only ^{▼▼Lit a word of lips}empty words -‘I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, ⁱthat you have revolted against me? 21 Now behold, you have ^{▼▼Lit relied for yourself
,} ^krelied on the ^{▼▼Or staff}support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^{▼▼Lit palm}hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. 22 However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ⁿwhose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23 Now then, ^{▼▼Lit please exchange pledges}come 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 put riders on them! 24 How then can you drive back even ^{▼▼Lit the face of one}one ^{▼▼Or governor}official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^{▼▼Lit rely for yourself}rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I now come up without ^{▼▼Lit the Lord}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, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we ^{▼▼Lit hear}understand it; and do not speak with us in ^{▼▼I.e., Hebrew
,} ^vJudean ^{▼▼Lit in the ears of...wall}so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” 27 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me 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 up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, ^{▼▼Lit and spoke, saying,}saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: ‘ ^yDo not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from ^{▼▼MT his}my hand. 30 And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make ^{▼▼Lit with me a blessing}your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, ^abeach one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you ^acto a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will save us.” 33 ^adHas any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 ^aeWhere are the gods of Hamath and ^afArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^{▼▼In 2 Kin 17:24, Avva
,} ^ahIvvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, ^aithat the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s ^{▼▼Lit command, saying}command: “Do not answer him.” 37 Then ^akEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah ^alwith their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

2 Kings 19

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

1 ^amNow when King Hezekiah heard the report, he ^antore his clothes, ^aocovered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^apcovered with sackcloth, to ^aqIsaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 ^arPerhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^asto taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^atthe remnant that is ^{▼▼Lit found}left.’” 5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^avservants of the king of Assyria ^awhave blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that ^axhe will hear news and return to his own land. And ^ayI 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 ^azLibnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^baLachish. 9 When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of ^{▼▼Or Ethiopia}Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^{▼▼Lit Judah, saying,}Judah: ‘Do not ^bdlet your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “ ^beJerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 12 ^bfDid the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^bgGozan, ^bhHaran, Rezeph, and ^bithe sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 ^bjWhere 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 ^bkHezekiah 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, “Lord, God of Israel, ^{▼▼Lit sitting
,} ^boenthroned above the cherubim, ^bpYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 ^bqIncline Your ear, Lord, and hear; ^bropen Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^bsto taunt the living God. 17 It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have ^{▼▼Lit given}hurled their gods into the fire; ^bufor they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. 19 But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, ^bvso that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^bwLord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^bxI have heard you.’ 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

‘She, ^bythe virgin daughter of Zion, has shown contempt for you and mocked you;
She, the daughter of Jerusalem, ^bzhas shaken her head behind you!
22 ‘Whom have you ^cataunted and ^cbblasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice,
And ^{▼▼Lit on high}haughtily raised your eyes?
Against the ^cdHoly One of Israel!
23 ‘ ^ceThrough your messengers you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, “With my many chariots
I went up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choicest junipers.
And I entered its farthest resting place, its ^cfthickest forest.
24 “I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the soles of my feet I ^cgdried up
All the streams of Egypt.”

25 ‘ ^chHave you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
^ciNow I have brought it about,
That you would turn fortified cities into ruined heaps.
26 ‘Therefore their inhabitants were ^{▼▼Lit short of hand}powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame.
They were ^cklike the vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like grass on the housetops that is scorched before it has grown.
27 ‘But ^clI know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
28 ‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your complacency has come up to My ears,
I ^cmwill put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And ^cnI will turn you back by the way by which you came.
29 ‘Then this shall be ^cothe sign for you: ^{▼▼Lit to eat}you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 ^cqThe survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors ^crout of Mount Zion. ^csThe zeal of ^{▼▼Some ancient mss the Lord of armies}the Lord will perform this.

32 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “ ^cuHe will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. 33 ^cvBy the way that he came, by ^{▼▼Lit it}the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘ ^cxFor I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and ^cyfor My servant David’s sake.’”

35 ^czThen it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of ^{▼▼Lit them}the 185,000 were ^{▼▼Lit dead bodies}dead. 36 So ^dcSennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^{▼▼Lit went and returned}returned home, and lived at ^deNineveh. 37 Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^{▼▼Some ancient mss his sons Adrammelech
,} ^dgAdrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to ^dhthe land of Ararat. And his son ^diEsarhaddon became king in his place.

2 Kings 20:1-11

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

1 ^djIn those days Hezekiah became ^{▼▼Lit sick to death}mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘ ^dlSet your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Please, Lord, just ^dmremember ^dnhow I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight!” And ^doHezekiah wept ^{▼▼Lit great weeping}profusely. 4 And even before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5 “Return and say to ^dqHezekiah the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “ ^drI have heard your prayer, ^dsI have seen your tears; behold, I am going to heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add fifteen years to your ^{▼▼Lit days}life, and I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^duI will protect 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 it and placed it on the inflamed spot, and he recovered.

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