2 Kings 18

1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

After King Hoshea had been ruling Israel for almost three years, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, began to rule Judah.

2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.

He was 25 years old when he became the king [of Judah] and he ruled from Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of [a man whose name was] Zechariah.

3 And he did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

Hezekiah did things that Yahweh considered to be right, like his ancestor King David had done.

4 He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah; and he broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did offer to it; and it was called Nehushtan.

He destroyed the places where people worshiped Yahweh on the tops of hills, and he broke into pieces the stone pillars [for worshiping the goddess Asherah]. He also broke into pieces the bronze [replica/statue of a] snake that Moses had made. He did that because the people had named it Nehushtan, and they were burning incense in front of it to honor it.

5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him.

Hezekiah trusted in Yahweh, the God whom the Israelis [worshiped.] There was no king who ruled Judah before him or after him who was as [devoted to Yahweh as] he was.

6 For he cleaved to the LORD, he departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

He remained loyal to Yahweh and never disobeyed him. He carefully obeyed all the commandments that Yahweh had given to Moses.

7 And the LORD was with him: whithersoever he went forth he prospered; and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

Yahweh always (helped/was with) him. He was successful in everything that he did. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to (pay taxes to him/do what the king of Assyria wanted him to do).

8 He smote the Philistines unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

His army defeated [the soldiers of] Philistia as far [south] as Gaza [city] and the nearby villages. They conquered the entire area, from the smallest watchtower to the largest cities surrounded by walls.

9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.

After King Hezekiah had been ruling Judah for almost four years, and when King Hoshea had been ruling Israel for almost seven years, [the army of] King Shalmaneser of Assyria invaded Israel and surrounded Samaria [city].

10 And at the end of three years they took it; even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

In the third year they captured the city. That was when Hezekiah has been ruling Judah for almost six years, and when Hoshea had been ruling Israel for almost nine years.

11 And the king of Assyria carried Israel away unto Assyria, and put them in Halah, and in Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;

The king of Assyria commanded that the people of Israel be taken to Assyria. Some of them were taken to Halah [town], some were taken to a place near the Habor [River] in [the] Gozan [region], and some were taken to cities where the Mede people-group live.

12 because they hearkened not to the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.

That happened because the Israelis did not obey Yahweh their God. They disobeyed the agreement that Yahweh had made with their ancestors, and all the laws that Moses, the man who served Yahweh [very well], had told them to obey. They would not obey those laws; they would not even listen to them.

13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

After King Hezekiah had been ruling Judah for almost 14 years, [the army of] King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the cities in Judah that had walls around them. They [did not capture Jerusalem, but they] captured all the other cities.

14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying: 'I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear.' And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

King Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib, while Sennacherib was in Lachish, saying “What I have done was wrong. Please [tell your soldiers to] stop attacking us. If you do that, I will pay you whatever you tell me to.” So the king of Assyria said that Hezekiah must pay to him (ten tons/9,000 kg.) of silver and (one ton/900 kg.) of gold.

15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house.

So Hezekiah gave to him all the silver that was in the temple and that was stored in the king’s palace.

16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the door-posts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah’s men also stripped the gold from the doors of the temple and the gold that he himself had put on the doorposts, and he sent all that gold to the king of Assyria.

17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army unto Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fullers' field.

But the king of Assyria sent a large army with some of his important officials from Lachish [city] to [persuade] King Hezekiah [to surrender]. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they stood alongside the aqueduct/channel in which water flows from the upper pool into Jerusalem, near the road to the field where the women wash clothes.

18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

They sent a message requesting King Hezekiah to come to them, but the king sent three of his officials [to talk to them]. He sent Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who supervised the palace; Shebna, the official secretary; and Asaph’s son Joah, who communicated the king’s messages to the people.

19 And Rab-shakeh said unto them: 'Say ye now to Hezekiah: Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

One of Sennacherib’s important officials told them to take this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the king of Assyria, the great king, says: ‘What are you trusting in [to rescue you] [RHQ]?

20 Sayest thou that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for the war? Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?

You say that you have weapons to fight us, and some country promises [to help you], [and that will enable you to defeat us, ] but that is only talk [RHQ]. Who do you think will help you to rebel against my [soldiers from Assyria]?

21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

Listen to me! You are relying on [the army of] Egypt. But that is like [MET] using a broken reed for a walking stick on which you could lean. But it would pierce the hand of anyone who would lean on it! That is what the king of Egypt would be like for anyone who relied on him [for help].

22 But if ye say unto me: We trust in the LORD our God; is not that He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem: Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

But perhaps you will say to me, “No, we are (relying on/trusting in) Yahweh our God [to help us].” [I would reply, ] “Is he not the one whom you [insulted by] tearing down his shrines and altars and forcing everyone in Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah to worship only in front of the altar [in Jerusalem]?”’

23 Now therefore, I pray thee, make a wager 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.

So I suggest that you make a deal between you and my master/boss, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses, but [I do not think that] you are able to find 2,000 of your men who can ride on them!

24 How then canst thou turn away the face of one captain, even of the least of my masters servants? and yet thou puttest thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen!

You are expecting the king of Egypt to send chariots and men riding horses [to assist you]. But they certainly would not [RHQ] be able to resist/defeat even the most insignificant/unimportant official in the army of Assyria!

25 Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said unto me: Go up against this land, destroy it.'

Furthermore, (do you think that we have come to destroy Jerusalem without Yahweh’s help?/do not think that we have come to Jerusalem without Yahweh’s help.) [RHQ] It is Yahweh himself who told us to come here and destroy this land!”

26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh: 'Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Aramean language; for we understand it; and speak not with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.'

Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the official from Assyria, “Sir, please speak to us in your Aramaic language, because we understand it. Do not speak to us in our Hebrew language, because the people who are standing on the wall will understand it [and be frightened].”

27 But Rab-shakeh said unto them: 'Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?'

But the official replied, “Do you think [RHQ] that my master sent me to say these things only to you and not to the people who are standing on the wall? [If you reject this message, ] the [people in this city] will soon need to eat their own dung and drink their own urine, just like you will, [because there will be nothing more for you to eat or drink].”

28 Then Rab-shakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, saying: 'Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Then the official stood up and shouted in the Hebrew language [to the people sitting on the wall]. He said, “Listen to this message from the great king, the king of Assyria. He says,

29 Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah beguile you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand;

‘Do not allow Hezekiah to deceive you. He will not be able to rescue you from my power [MTY].

30 neither let Hezekiah 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 Assyria.

Do not allow him to persuade you to rely on Yahweh, saying that Yahweh will rescue you, and that the army of Assyria will never capture this city!’

31 Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus saith the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

“Do not pay attention to what Hezekiah says! This is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Come out of the city and surrender to me. If you do that, I will arrange for each of you to drink the juice from your own grapevines, and to eat figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells.

32 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 olive-trees and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying: The LORD will deliver us.

You will be able to do that until we come and take you to a land that is like your land—a land where there is grain to make bread and vineyards to [produce grapes for making] wine. It will be a land that has plenty of olive trees and honey. If you do what the king of Assyria commands, you will not die. You will continue to live. ‘Do not allow Hezekiah to persuade you to trust in Yahweh saying that he will rescue you!

33 Hath any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

The gods that people of other nations worship have never rescued them from the power [MTY] of the king of Assyria [RHQ]!

34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Why were the gods of Hamath and Arpad [cities] unable to rescue their people from the king of Assyria [RHQ]? What happened to the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah, [towns that we completely destroyed and their gods disappeared] [RHQ]? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?

35 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?'

No, none of the gods of the countries [that my army attacked] rescued their people [RHQ] from me! So why do you think that Yahweh will rescue you people of Jerusalem from my power [MTY]?’”

36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying: 'Answer him not.'

But the people [who were listening] stayed silent. No one said anything, because King Hezekiah had told them, “[When the official from Assyria talks to you, ] do not answer him.”

37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.

Then Eliakim the palace administrator and Shebna the court secretary and Joah the royal historian went back to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [because they were extremely distressed], and they told him what the official from Assyria had said.