2 Kings 18

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

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 when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abi, 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 He did what was right in the Lord's sight, following all that his forefather 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, 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.

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 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.

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 stayed faithful to the Lord and did not give up 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 The Lord was with him; he was successful in everything he did. He defied the king of Assyria and refused to submit to 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 all the way to Gaza and the surrounding area, from watchtower to fortified town.

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, equivalent to the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacked Samaria, besieging 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 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.

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

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

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 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.

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 paid him using all the silver from the Lord's Temple and 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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?

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 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?

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 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.

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 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’?

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 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!

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 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?

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 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.’”

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 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.”

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 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!”

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 army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from 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: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you from me!

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 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.’

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 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!

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 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.’

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 Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power 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 were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were they able to save Samaria from me?

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

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 didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't 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 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.

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.