2 Kings 18–20

CHAPTER 18

Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

¹Now it happened ^ain the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^bHezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.

²He was ^atwenty-five years old when he became king; and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

^3aAnd he did what was right in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that David his father had done.

^4aHe took away the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the ¹Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^bthe bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel were burning incense to it; and it was called ²Nehushtan.

^5aHe trusted in Yahweh, the God of Israel; ^bso that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.

⁶So he ^aclung to Yahweh; he did not turn away from following Him, but kept His commandments, which Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Prospers

^7aAnd Yahweh was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^bhe rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

^8aHe struck the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^bwatchtower to fortified city.

⁹Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^aShalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it.

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

¹¹Then the king of Assyria took Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^aHalah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

¹²because they ^adid not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, but trespassed against His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Sennacherib Comes Up Against Judah

^13aNow in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them.

¹⁴Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^aI have done wrong. Turn away from me; whatever penalty you give to me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria set a penalty on Hezekiah king of Judah ¹three hundred talents of silver and ²thirty talents of gold.

^15aThus Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the king’s house.

¹⁶At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahweh and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷Then the king of Assyria sent ^aTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^bconduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ¹fuller’s field.

¹⁸Then they called to the king, and ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^bShebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^aWhat is this trust that you have?

²⁰“You say (but they are ¹only empty words), ‘I have counsel and might for the war.’ Now on whom do you trust, ^athat you have rebelled against me?

²¹“Now behold, you ^1atrust in the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ²hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

²²“But if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^awhose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

²³“So now, ¹come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them.

²⁴“How then can you ¹turn away one ²official of the least of my master’s servants, and trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

²⁵“So now, have I come up ¹without the approval of Yahweh against this place to make it a ruin? Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and make it a ruin.’”

²⁶Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ¹understand it; and do not speak with us in ^2aJudean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

²⁷But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ¹saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

²⁹“Thus says the king, ‘^aDo not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ¹his hand;

³⁰and do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

³¹‘Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “¹Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^aeach of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,

³²until I come and take you away ^ato a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “Yahweh will deliver us.”

³³‘^aHas any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

³⁴‘^aWhere are the gods of Hamath and ^bArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^1cIvvah? When have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

³⁵‘Who among all the gods of the lands ¹have delivered their land from my hand, ^athat Yahweh would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

³⁶But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.”

³⁷Then ^aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^bwith their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

CHAPTER 19

Isaiah Tells Hezekiah Not to Be Afraid

^1aNow it happened that when King Hezekiah heard it, he ^btore his clothes, ^ccovered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh.

²Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^acovered with sackcloth, to ^bIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

³And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth.

⁴‘^aPerhaps Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^bto ¹reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for ^cthe remnant that is left.’”

⁵So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

⁶And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^ayoung men of the king of Assyria ^bhave blasphemed Me.

⁷“Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^ahe will hear a report and return to his own land. And ^bI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”

Sennacherib Deceives Hezekiah

⁸Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^aLibnah, for he had heard that ¹the king had set out from ^bLachish.

⁹Then he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ¹Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying,

¹⁰“Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ¹Judah, ‘Do not ^alet your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “^bJerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

¹¹‘Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, devoting them to destruction. So will you be delivered?

¹²‘^aDid the gods of ¹those nations which my fathers brought to ruin deliver them, even ^bGozan and ^cHaran and Rezeph and ^dthe sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

¹³‘^aWhere is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴Then ^aHezekiah took the ¹letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of Yahweh and ²spread it out before Yahweh.

¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, the God of Israel, ^awho is ¹enthroned above the cherubim, ^bYou are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

¹⁶“^aIncline Your ear, O Yahweh, and hear; ^bopen Your eyes, O Yahweh, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, who sent them ^cto ¹reproach the living God.

¹⁷“Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands

¹⁸and have put their gods into the fire, ^afor they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

¹⁹“But now, O Yahweh our God, I pray, save us from his hand ^athat all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O ^bYahweh, are God.”

Isaiah Speaks of Sennacherib’s Fall

²⁰Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^aI have heard you.’

²¹“This is the word that Yahweh has spoken against him:

‘She has despised you and mocked you,

^aThe virgin daughter of Zion;

She ^bhas shaken her head behind you,

The daughter of Jerusalem!

²²‘Whom have you ^1areproached and ^bblasphemed?

And against whom have you heightened your voice,

And ²haughtily lifted up your eyes?

Against the ^cHoly One of Israel!

²³‘^aThrough your messengers you have ¹reproached the…