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.

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

He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah; she was the daughter of Zechariah.

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

He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, following the example of all that David, his ancestor, had done.

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, destroyed the stone pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke to pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because in those days the people of Israel were burning incense to it; it was called “Nehushtan.”

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.

Hezekiah trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel, so that after him there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among the kings who 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.

For he held on to Yahweh. He did not stop following him but kept his commandments, which Yahweh 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.

So Yahweh was with Hezekiah, and wherever he went he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

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

He attacked the Philistines to Gaza and the borders around, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified 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.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria 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.

At the end of three years they took it, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; in this way Samaria was captured.

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.

So the king of Assyria carried Israel away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and at the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities 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.

He did this because they did not obey the voice of Yahweh their God, but they violated the terms of his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded. They refused to listen to it or do it.

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

Then in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured 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.

So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, saying, “I have offended you. Withdraw from me. Whatever you put on me I will bear.” The king of Assyria required Hezekiah king of Judah to pay 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.

So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the king's palace.

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.

Then Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahweh and from the pillars that he had overlaid; he gave the gold to the king of Assyria.

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.

But the king of Assyria mobilized his great army, sending Tartan and Rabsaris and the chief commander from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They traveled up the roads and arrived outside Jerusalem. They approached the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the launderers' field, and stood by it.

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.

When they had called to King Hezekiah, Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, went out to meet them.

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?

So the chief commander said to them to tell Hezekiah what the great king, the king of Assyria, said: “What is the source of your confidence?

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?

You speak only useless words, saying there are allies and strength for war. In whom are you trusting, that you should rebel against 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.

Look, you trust in the walking stick of this bruised reed of Egypt, but if a man leans on it, it will stick into his hand and pierce it. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is to anyone who trusts in 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’?

But if you say to me, 'We are trusting in Yahweh our God,' is not he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You must 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!

Now therefore, I want to make you a good offer from my master the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to find riders for 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 could you resist even one captain of the least of my master's servants? You have put your trust in 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.’”

Have I traveled up here without Yahweh to fight against this place and destroy it? Yahweh said to me, 'Attack 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.”

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah said to the chief commander, “Please speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it. Do not speak with us in the language of Judah in the ears of the people who 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!”

But the chief commander said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, who will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

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

Then the chief commander stood and shouted in a loud voice in the Jews' language, saying, “Listen to the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

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

The king says, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my power.

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.’

Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely rescue us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”'

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!

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 from his own fig tree, and drink from the water in 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.’

You will do this until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, 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.' Do not listen to Hezekiah when he tries to persuade you, saying, 'Yahweh will rescue us.'

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

Has any of the gods of the peoples rescued them out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

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 are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they rescued 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?”

Among all the gods of the lands, is there any god who has rescued his land from my power? How could Yahweh save Jerusalem from my might?”

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

But the people remained silent and did not respond, for the king had commanded, “Do 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.

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household; Shebna the scribe; and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and reported to him the words of the chief commander.