¹And it cometh to pass, in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, reigned hath Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah; ²a son of twenty and five years was he in his reigning, and twenty and nine years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother is Abi daughter of Zechariah. ³And he doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father did, ⁴he hath turned aside the high places, and broken in pieces the standing-pillars, and cut down the shrine, and beaten down the brazen serpent that Moses made, for unto these days were the sons of Israel making perfume to it, and he calleth it ‘a piece of brass.’ ⁵In Jehovah, God of Israel, he hath trusted, and after him there hath not been like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among any who were before him; ⁶and he cleaveth to Jehovah, he hath not turned aside from after Him, and keepeth His commands that Jehovah commanded Moses. ⁷And Jehovah hath been with him, in every place where he goeth out he acteth wisely, and he rebelleth against the king of Asshur, and hath not served him; ⁸he hath smitten the Philistines unto Gaza, and its borders, from a tower of watchers unto the fenced city.

⁹And it cometh to pass, in the fourth year of king Hezekiah—it is the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel—come up hath Shalmaneser king of Asshur against Samaria, and layeth siege to it, ¹⁰and they capture it at the end of three years; in the sixth year of Hezekiah—it is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel—hath Samaria been captureth, ¹¹and the king of Asshur removeth Israel to Asshur, and placed them in Halah, and in Habor by the river Gozan, and in cities of the Medes, ¹²because that they have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, and transgress His covenant—all that He commanded Moses, servant of Jehovah—yea, they have not hearkened nor done it. ¹³And in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah hath Sennacherib king of Asshur come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them, ¹⁴and Hezekiah king of Judah sendeth unto the king of Asshur to Lachish, saying, ‘I have sinned, turn back from off me; that which thou puttest on me I bear;’ and the king of Asshur layeth on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold, ¹⁵and Hezekiah giveth all the silver that is found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the house of the king; ¹⁶at that time hath Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and giveth them to the king of Asshur.

¹⁷And the king of Asshur sendeth Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the butlers, from Lachish, unto king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, to Jerusalem, and they go up and come in to Jerusalem, and they go up, and come in and stand by the conduit of the upper pool that is in the highway of the fuller’s field. ¹⁸And they call unto the king, and go out unto them doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who is over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the remembrancer. ¹⁹And the chief of the butlers saith unto them, ‘Say, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What is this confidence in which thou hast confided? ²⁰Thou hast said: Only a word of the lips! counsel and might are for battle; now, on whom hast thou trusted that thou hast rebelled against me?

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