2 Kings 18

1 In the third year of Osee the son of Ela king of Israel, reigned Ezechias the son of Achaz king of Juda.

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

2 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abi the daughter of Zacharias.

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

3 And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

He did what was right in the Lord's sight, following all that his forefather David had done.

4 He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its name Nohestan.

He removed the high places, smashed the stone idols, and cut down the Asherah poles. He ground to pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, because up to then the Israelites had been sacrificing offerings to it. It was called Nehushtan.

5 He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel: so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were before him:

Hezekiah put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel. Among the kings of Judah there was no one like him, neither before him nor after him.

6 And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.

He stayed faithful to the Lord and did not give up following him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses.

7 Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and served him not.

The Lord was with him; he was successful in everything he did. He defied the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.

8 He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

He defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and the surrounding area, from watchtower to fortified town.

9 In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh year of Osee the son of Ela king of Israel, Salmanasar king of the Assyrians came up to Samaria, and besieged it,

In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, equivalent to the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacked Samaria, besieging it.

10 And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee king of Israel, Samaria was taken:

The Assyrians conquered it after three years. This was during the sixth year of Hezekiah, equivalent to the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel.

11 And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in Hale, and in Habor by the rivers of Gozan in the cities of the Medes:

The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.

12 Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, they would not hear nor do.

This happened because they refused to listen to the Lord their God and broke his agreement—all that Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. They refused to listen and did not obey.

13 In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against the fenced cities of Juda: and took them.

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah.

14 Then Ezechias king of Juda sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

So Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent a message to the king of Assyria who was at Lachish, saying, “I've made a terrible mistake! Please retreat and leave me alone, and I'll pay you whatever you want!” The king of Assyria demanded Hezekiah, king of Judah, pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15 And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures.

Hezekiah paid him using all the silver from the Lord's Temple and the treasuries of the royal palace.

16 At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians.

He even stripped the gold he had used to overlay the doors and doorposts of the Lord's Temple and gave everything to the king of Assyria.

17 And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan and Rabsaris, and Rabsaces from Lachis to king Ezechias with a strong army to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller’s field.

Even so, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his head officer, and his army general, along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They approached Jerusalem and made camp beside the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to where laundry is washed.

18 And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim the son of Helcias who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder.

They called for the king. Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with them.

19 And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein thou trustest?

The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence?

20 Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel?

You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me?

21 Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.

Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him.

22 But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’?

23 Now therefore come over to my master the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them.

Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them!

24 And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my master’s servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

25 Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land and destroy it.

More than that—would I have come to attack this pace without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliacim the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: We pray thee speak to us thy servants in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.

Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, together with Shebnah and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”

27 And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?

But the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”

28 Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.

Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria!

29 Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand.

This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you from me!

30 Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.

Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’

31 Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns,

Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well!

32 Till I come, and take you away to a land, like to your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil and honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver us.

I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. But don't listen to Hezekiah, for he's tricking you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’

33 Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria?

34 Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were they able to save Samaria from me?

35 Who are they among all the gods of the nations, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”

36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for they had received commandment from the king that they should not answer him.

But the people remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”

37 And Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.

Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.