2 Chronicles 32:1–22

Sennacherib Invades Judah

¹After these ¹acts of faithfulness ^aSennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities, and ²thought to break into them for himself.

²Now when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that ¹he intended to make war on Jerusalem,

³he decided with his officers and his warriors to cut off the supply of water from the springs which were outside the city, and they helped him.

⁴So many people assembled ^aand stopped up all the springs and ^bthe stream which flowed ¹through the region, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find abundant water?”

⁵And he took courage and ^arebuilt all the wall that had been broken down and ¹erected towers on it, and built ^banother outside wall and strengthened the ^cMillo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in great number.

⁶He appointed military officers over the people and gathered them to him in the square at the city gate, and ^aspoke ¹encouragingly to them, saying,

⁷“^aBe strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; ^bfor the one with us is greater than the one with him.

⁸“With him is only ^aan arm of flesh, but ^bwith us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

⁹After this ^aSennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ¹besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,

¹⁰“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege?

¹¹‘Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the ¹hand of the king of Assyria”?

¹²‘^aHas not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ¹Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall ²burn incense”?

¹³‘Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^aWere the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand?

¹⁴‘^aWho was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand?

¹⁵‘Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ^ano god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’ ”

¹⁶His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^aAs the gods of the nations of the lands ¹have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”

^18aThey called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.

¹⁹They spoke ¹of the God of Jerusalem as of ^athe gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

²⁰But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven.

²¹And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ¹in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword.

²²So the Lord ^asaved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and ¹guided them on every side.