18Hezekiah began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the third year that Hoshea was king of Israel. He was the son of Elah. Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz. ²Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother’s name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah.

³Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as King David had done. ⁴Hezekiah removed the high places. He smashed the sacred stones. He cut down the poles that were used to worship the goddess Asherah. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made. Up to that time the people of Israel had been burning incense to it. They called it Nehushtan.

⁵Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all of the kings of Judah. There was no king like him either before him or after him. ⁶Hezekiah remained true to the Lord. He didn’t stop following him. He obeyed the commands the Lord had given Moses.

⁷The Lord was with Hezekiah. He was successful in everything he did. He refused to remain under the control of the king of Assyria. He didn’t serve him. ⁸He won the war against the Philistines. He won battles at their lookout towers. He won battles at their cities that had high walls around them. He won battles against the Philistines all the way to Gaza and its territory.

⁹Shalmaneser marched to Samaria and surrounded it. It was in the fourth year of King Hezekiah. That was the seventh year of Hoshea, the king of Israel. He was the son of Elah. Shalmaneser was king of Assyria.

¹⁰At the end of three years the army of Assyria took Samaria. So it was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah. That was the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Israel. ¹¹The king of Assyria took the people of Israel away from their own land. He sent them off to Assyria. He settled some of them in Halah. He settled others in Gozan on the Habor River. And he settled still others in the towns of the Medes.

¹²Those things happened because the Israelites hadn’t obeyed the Lord their God. They had broken the covenant he had made with them. They had refused to do everything Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded. They hadn’t paid any attention to those commands. They hadn’t obeyed them.

¹³Sennacherib attacked and captured all of the cities of Judah that had high walls around them. It was in the 14th year of the rule of Hezekiah. Sennacherib was king of Assyria.

¹⁴Hezekiah, the king of Judah, sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. It said, “I have done what is wrong. Pull your troops back from me. Then I’ll pay you anything you ask me to.”

The king of Assyria forced Hezekiah, the king of Judah, to give him 11 tons of silver. Hezekiah also had to give him a ton of gold. ¹⁵So Hezekiah gave him all of the silver that was in the Lord’s temple. He also gave him all of the silver that was among the treasures in the royal palace.

¹⁶Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had covered the doors and doorposts of the Lord’s temple with gold. But now he had to strip it off. He had to give it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Warns Jerusalem

¹⁷The king of Assyria sent his highest commander from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He also sent his chief officer and his field commander along with a large army. All of them came up to Jerusalem. They stopped at the channel that brings water from the Upper Pool. It was on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ¹⁸They called for King Hezekiah. Eliakim, Shebna and Joah went out to them. Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, was in charge of the palace. Shebna was the secretary. Joah, the son of Asaph, kept the records.

¹⁹The field commander said to them, “Give Hezekiah this message. Tell him,

“ ‘Sennacherib is the great king of Assyria. He says, “Why are you putting your faith in what your king says? ²⁰You say you have a military plan. You say you have a strong army. But your words don’t mean anything. Who are you depending on? Why don’t you want to stay under my control?

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