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 Hoshea' the son of Elah the king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Achaz the king of Judah, became king.

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.

Twenty and five years old was he when he became king, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

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

And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with all that David his father had done.

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 it was that removed the high-places, and broke the statues, and cut down the groves, and stamped in pieces the copper serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days were the children of Israel burning incense to it; and he called it Nechushtan.

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

In the Lord the God of Israel did he trust; and after him there was not his like among all the kings of Judah, 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 adhered to the Lord, and turned not away from following him; but he kept his commandments, which the Lord had 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; whithersoever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

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

He it was that smote the Philistines, as far as Gazzah, and its territory, from the tower of the watchmen up to the fortified 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 Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea' the son of Elah the king of Israel, that Shalmanesser the king of Assyria 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 they captured it at the end of three years, —in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea' the king of Israel, was Samaria captured.

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 Assyria led away Israel as exiles unto Assyria, and transported them to Chalach and to Chabor, by the river of Gozan, and to the cities of Media;

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 had not obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, but had transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and had not obeyed, nor done accordingly.

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 Hezekiah did Sennacherib the king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and seized on 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 Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have sinned; retire from me: what thou wilt impose on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah the king of Judah 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 Hezekiah gave up 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 did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the door-sills which Hezekiah the king of Judah had overlaid, and gave the same to the king of Assyria.

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 Assyria sent Tharthan and Rub-sariss and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a strong army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem; and when they were come up, they came and halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the washer'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 called for the king, when there came out to them Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph 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 Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus hath said the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted?

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 saidst, but it was only a word uttered with the lips, [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom didst thou trust, that thou rebelledst against 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.

Now, behold, thou trustedst thee upon yon cracked reed-staff, upon Egypt, which, if a man lean on it, will enter into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt unto 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’?

But if ye should say unto me, In the Lord our God have we trusted: is he not the one whose high-places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves 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 thee, enter into a contest with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou 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 back the face of a single chieftain among the least of my master's servants, while thou hast put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for 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.’”

Now am I come up without the Lord ['s will] against this place to destroy it? The Lord hath 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.”

Then said Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, and Shebnah, and Yoach, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with us in the Jewish language before 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?”

But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master then sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? is it not rather to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own excrement, and drink their own urine with you?

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

Then stood Rabshakeh up and called out with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and spoke, and said, Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:

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

Thus hath said the king. Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will 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.’

Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria:

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,

Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, and come out to me, and eat ye every man of his own vine, and every man of his fig-tree, and drink ye every man the waters of his 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 take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil-olive trees, and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah; for he will mislead you, saying, The Lord will deliver us.

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 delivered in anywise each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

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 are the gods of Chamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvayim, Hena', and 'Ivvah? have they then 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 are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country 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 people remained silent, and answered him not a word; for it was the king's command, 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.

Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyah, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent; and they told unto him the words of Rabshakeh.