2 Kings 18:1–20

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

18Now it came to pass in the third year of ^aHoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that ^bHezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. ²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was ^cAbi ¹the daughter of Zechariah. ³And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.

^4dHe removed the ²high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the ³wooden image and broke in pieces the ^ebronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it ⁴Nehushtan. ⁵He ^ftrusted in the Lord God of Israel, ^gso that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. ⁶For he ^hheld fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷The Lord ⁱwas with him; he ^jprospered wherever he went. And he ^krebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8lHe ⁵subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, ^mfrom watchtower to fortified city.

⁹Now ⁿit 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. ¹⁰And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, ^othe ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ^11pThen the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them ^qin Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹²because they ^rdid not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.

¹³And ^sin the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵So Hezekiah ^tgave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave ⁶it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord

¹⁷Then the king of Assyria sent the ⁷Tartan, the ⁸Rabsaris, and the ⁹Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the ^uaqueduct from the upper pool, ^vwhich was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. ¹⁸And when they had called to the king, ^wEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the ¹scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. ¹⁹Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ^x“What confidence is this in which you trust? ²⁰You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are ²mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?