2 Kings 18

1 And it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea' the son of Elah the king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Achaz the king of Judah, became king.

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

2 Twenty and five years old was he when he became king, and twenty and nine years did he reign in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

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 what is right in the eyes of the Lord, in accordance with 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 it was that removed the high-places, and broke the statues, and cut down the groves, and stamped in pieces the copper serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days were the children of Israel burning incense to it; and he called it Nechushtan.

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 In the Lord the God of Israel did he trust; and after him there was not his like among all the kings of Judah, nor among those 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 adhered to the Lord, and turned not away from following him; but he kept his commandments, which the Lord had 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 And the Lord was with him; whithersoever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, 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 it was that smote the Philistines, as far as Gazzah, and its territory, from the tower of the watchmen up to the fortified city.

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

9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea' the son of Elah the king of Israel, that Shalmanesser the king of Assyria came up against 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 they captured it at the end of three years, —in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea' the king of Israel, was Samaria captured.

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 Assyria led away Israel as exiles unto Assyria, and transported them to Chalach and to Chabor, by the river of Gozan, and to the cities of Media;

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 had not obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, but had transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and had not obeyed, nor done accordingly.

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 And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib the king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and seized on them.

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

14 And Hezekiah the king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have sinned; retire from me: what thou wilt impose on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah the king of Judah 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 Hezekiah gave up all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.

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

16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the door-sills which Hezekiah the king of Judah had overlaid, and gave the same to the king of Assyria.

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 Assyria sent Tharthan and Rub-sariss and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a strong army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem; and when they were come up, they came and halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the washer'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, when there came out to them Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph 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 Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus hath said the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted?

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 Thou saidst, but it was only a word uttered with the lips, [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom didst thou trust, that thou rebelledst against me?

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 Now, behold, thou trustedst thee upon yon cracked reed-staff, upon Egypt, which, if a man lean on it, will enter into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt unto all that trust on 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 ye should say unto me, In the Lord our God have we trusted: is he not the one whose high-places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves 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 And now, I pray thee, enter into a contest 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.

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 How then wilt thou turn back the face of a single chieftain among the least of my master's servants, while thou hast put thy trust on 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 Now am I come up without the Lord ['s will] against this place to destroy it? The Lord hath said to me, Go up against 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 said Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, and Shebnah, and Yoach, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with us in the Jewish language before the ears of the people that are on 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 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master then sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? is it not rather to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own excrement, and drink their own 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 stood Rabshakeh up and called out with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and spoke, and said, Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:

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

29 Thus hath said the king. Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand;

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

30 Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria:

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 Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, and come out to me, and eat ye every man of his own vine, and every man of his fig-tree, and drink ye every man the waters of his cistern;

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 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 oil-olive trees, and of honey, that ye may live, and not die; and hearken not unto Hezekiah; for he will mislead 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 the gods of the nations delivered in anywise each his land out of 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 are the gods of Chamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvayim, Hena', and 'Ivvah? have they then 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 countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should 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 remained silent, and answered him not a word; for it was the king's command, saying, Ye shall not answer him.

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

37 Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyah, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent; and they told unto him the words of Rabshakeh.

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.