2 Kings 18

1 In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.

And it came to pass in the third year of Osee son of Ela king of Israel [that] Ezekias son of Achaz king of Juda began to reign.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name [was] Abu, daughter of Zacharias.

3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David did.

4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

He removed the high places, and broke in pieces the pillars, and utterly destroyed the groves, and the brazen serpent which Moses made: because until those days the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called it Neesthan.

5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; and after him there was not any like him among the kings of Juda, nor among those that were before him.

6 He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.

And he clave to the Lord, he departed not from following him; and he kept his commandments, as many as he commanded Moses.

7 And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.

And the Lord was with him; and he was wise in all that he undertook: and he revolted from the king of the Assyrians, and served him not.

8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

He smote the Philistines [even] to Gaza, and to the border of it, from the tower of the watchmen even to the strong city.

9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Ezekias (this is the seventh year of Osee son of Ela king of Israel, ) [that] Salamanassar king of the Assyrians came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

10 And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.

And he took it at the end of three years, in the sixth year of Ezekias, (this [is] the ninth year of Osee king of Israel, when Samaria was taken.)

11 The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

And the king of the Assyrians carried away the Samaritans to Assyria, and put them in Alae and in Abor, [by] the river Gozan, and [in] the mountains of the Medes;

12 This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.

because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord their God, and transgressed his covenant, [even] in all things that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and hearkened not [to them], nor did [them].

13 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

And in the fourteenth year of king Ezekias came up Sennacherim king of the Assyrians against the strong cities of Juda, and took them.

14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

And Ezekias king of Juda sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians to Lachis, saying, I have offended; depart from me: whatsoever thou shalt lay upon me, I will bear. And the king of Assyria laid upon Ezekias king of Juda [a tribute of] three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

And Ezekias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.

16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

At that time Ezekias cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple, and [from] the pillars which Ezekias king of Juda [had] overlaid with gold, and gave it to the king of the Assyrians.

17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan and Raphis and Rapsakes from Lachis to king Ezekias with a strong force against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is by the way of the fuller's field.

18 Then they called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.

And they cried to Ezekias: and there came to him Heliakim the son of Chelcias the steward, and Somnas the scribe, and Joas the son of Saphat the recorder.

19 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

And Rapsakes said to them, Say now to Ezekias, Thus says the king, the great king of the Assyrians, What [is] this confidence wherein thou trustest?

20 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?

Thou hast said, (but [they are] mere words, ) [I have] counsel and strength for war. Now then in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast revolted from me?

21 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

See now, art thou trusting for thyself on this broken staff of reed, [even] upon Egypt? whosoever shall stay himself upon it, it shall even go into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust on him.

22 But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

And whereas thou hast said to me, We trust on the Lord God: [is] not this he, whose high places and altars Ezekias has removed, and has said to Juda and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

23 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

And now, I pray you, make and agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou shalt be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

24 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

How then wilt thou turn away the face of one petty governor, from among the least of my lord's servants? whereas thou trustest for thyself on Egypt for chariots and horsemen.

25 So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

And now have we come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

And Heliakim the son of Chelkias, and Somnas, and Joas, said to Rapsakes, Speak now to thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and speak not with us in the Jewish language: and why dost thou speak in the ears of the people that are on the wall?

27 But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

And Rapsakes said to them, Has my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? [has he] not [sent me] to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own water together with you.

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

And Rapsakes stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and spoke, and said, Hear the words of the great king of the Assyrians:

29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.

thus says the king, Let not Ezekias encourage you with words: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand.

30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

And let not Ezekias cause you to trust on the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly deliver us; this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians: hearken not to Ezekias:

31 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern,

for thus says the king of the Assyrians, Gain my favour, and come forth to me, and every man shall drink [of the wine] of his own vine, and every man shall eat of his own fig-tree, and shall drink water out of his own cistern;

32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’

until I come and remove you to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, and bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil, and honey, and ye shall live and not die: and do not ye hearken to Ezekias, for he deceives you, saying, The Lord shall deliver you.

33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Have the Gods of the nations at all delivered each their own land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians?

34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

Where is the god of Haemath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Seppharvaim, Ana, and Aba? for have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

35 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

Who [is there] among all the gods of the countries, who have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

36 But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

But [the men] were silent, and answered him not a word: for [there was] a commandment of the king, saying, Ye shall not answer him.

37 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

And Heliakim the son of Chelcias, the steward, and Somnas the scribe, and Joas the son of Saphat the recorder came in to Ezekias, having rent their garments; and they reported to him the words of Rapsakes.