2 Kings 18

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

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

2 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.

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

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

And he did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.

4 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.

He removed the high places, and broke the columns, and cut down the Asherahs, and broke in pieces the serpent of brass that Moses had made; for to those days the children of Israel burned incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

5 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.

He trusted in Jehovah the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [among any] that were before him.

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

And he clave to Jehovah, and did not turn aside from following him, but kept his commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses.

7 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).

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

8 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.

He smote the Philistines unto Gazah and its borders, from the watchmen's tower to the fortified city.

9 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].

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

10 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.

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

11 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.

And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;

12 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.

because they hearkened not to the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded; and they would not hear nor do it.

13 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.

And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

14 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.

And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have sinned; retire from me: I will bear what thou layest upon me. And the king of Assyria laid upon Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

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

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

16 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.

At that time Hezekiah stripped the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the posts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria.

17 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.

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish, with a strong force, against king Hezekiah, to Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the fuller's field.

18 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.

And they called to the king. Then came forth to them Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler.

19 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]?

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

20 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]?

Thou sayest — but it is a word of the lips — There is counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou rely, that thou hast revolted against me?

21 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].

Now behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him.

22 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]?”’

And if ye say to me, We rely upon Jehovah our God: is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

23 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!

And now, engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou canst set the riders upon them.

24 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!

How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants? And thou reliest upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen!

25 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!”

Am I now come up without Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

26 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].”

And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, and Shebnah and Joah said to Rab-shakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it, and talk not with us in the Jewish [language] in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

27 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].”

And Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to thy master and to thee that my master sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men that sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?

28 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,

And Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish [language], and spoke and said, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

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

Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of the [king's] hand.

30 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!’

Neither let Hezekiah make you rely upon Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will certainly deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

31 “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.

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

32 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!

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 to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us.

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

Have any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

34 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?

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

35 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]?’”

Which are they among all the gods of the countries, who have delivered their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

36 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.”

But the people were silent and answered him not a word; for the king's command was, saying, Answer him not.

37 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.

And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler, came to Hezekiah with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.