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 son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah 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.

Twenty-five years old, was he when he began to reign, and, twenty-nine years, reigned he in Jerusalem, —and, his mother’s name, was Abi, daughter of Zachariah.

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 eyes of Yahweh, —according to all that, David his father, 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 brake in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Sacred Stem, —and beat in pieces the serpent of bronze that, Moses, had made, because, until those days, had the sons of Israel been burning incense thereunto, so he called it Nehushtan.

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

In Yahweh, God of Israel, did he trust, —so that, after him, was none like him, among all the kings of Judah, nor 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 did cleave unto Yahweh, he turned not away from following him, —but kept his commandments, which, Yahweh, 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.

So Yahweh 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, smote the Philistines, as far as Gazah, and her boundaries, —from the watchmen’s tower even 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—the same, was the seventh year of Hosea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and laid siege against 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 captured it at the end of three years, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, —the same, is the ninth year of Hoshea 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.

So the king of Assyria drave away Israel to Assyria, —and settled them in Halah, and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and the mountains 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 hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh their God, but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded, —they neither hearkened nor performed.

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, came up Sennacherib king of Assyria, against all the fortified cities of Judah, 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.

Then sent Hezekiah king of Judah unto the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying—I have sinned, Return from me, What thou shalt lay upon me, I will bear. So the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah 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 delivered up all the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasuries of the house of the king.

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, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh, and the columns, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, —and gave them unto 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 Tartan and Rab-saris and Rab-shakeh, from Lachish unto King Hezekiah, with a heavy force to Jerusalem, —so they came up and drew near to Jerusalem, and took their stand by the upper channel of the pool, which is in the highway 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.

Then called they for the king, and there went out unto them Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, —and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, 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 Rab-shakeh said unto them—Pray you, say unto Hezekiah, —Thus, saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What trust is this wherewith thou dost trust?

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—they are only words of the lips!—Counsel and might [have I] for the war. Now, in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled 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, lo! thou dost trust thyself on the support of this bruised cane, on Egypt, whereon, if a man lean, it will enter his hand and lay it open, —so, is Pharaoh king of Egypt, to all who trust upon 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 Yahweh our God, do we trust, Then is that not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, and said unto Judah, and unto Jerusalem—Before this altar, shall ye bow down, 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!

Now, therefore, pledge thyself, I pray thee, with my lord, the king of Assyria, —that I supply thee with two thousand horses, if thou, on thy part, be able 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 one pasha of the least of my lord’s servants? Or hast thou, on thy part, trusted to 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, is it, without Yahweh, that I have come up against this place, to destroy it? Yahweh himself, said unto me, Go thou 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 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh: Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants in the, Syrian, language, for, we, can, understand, it, —and do not speak with us in, the Jews’, language, in the ears of the people who are upon 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 Rab-shakeh said unto them—Is it, concerning thy lord, and concerning thee, that my lord hath sent me to speak these things? Is it not concerning the men who are tarrying upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own water with you?

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

So then Rab-shakeh took his stand, and cried out with a loud voice, in, the Jews’, language, —and spake, and said, Hear ye the message 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, saith the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not he 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 cause you to trust in Yahweh, saying, Yahweh, will, certainly deliver, us, —this city, therefore, shall not be given over 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,

Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, —for, thus, saith the king of Assyria, Deal with me thankfully, and come out unto me, then shall ye eat—every one of his own vine, and every one of his own fig-tree, and drink every one the waters 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 take you, into a land like your own land—A land of corn and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and honey, so shall ye live, and not die, —But do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for he would persuade you, saying, Yahweh, 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, at all delivered, any one of them, his country, 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 Hamath, and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Yea, did they deliver 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, Yahweh, 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 held their peace, and answered him not a word, —for, the command of the king, it was, saying—Ye must 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 in Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, unto Hezekiah, with rent clothes, —and they told him the words of Rab-shakeh.