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2 Kings 18:9-19:37
New King James Version
2 Kings 18:9-19:37
New King James Version
9 Now (A)it 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. 10 And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, (B)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 (C)Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them (D)in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they (E)did 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.
13 And (F)in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 Then 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. 15 So Hezekiah (G)gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At 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 [a]it to the king of Assyria.
Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord(H)
17 Then the king of Assyria sent the [b]Tartan, the [c]Rabsaris, and the [d]Rabshakeh 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 (I)aqueduct from the upper pool, (J)which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 18 And when they had called to the king, (K)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the [e]scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: (L)“What confidence is this in which you trust? 20 You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are [f]mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 21 (M)Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand 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 the Lord our God,’ is it not He (N)whose [g]high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’ 23 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”
26 (O)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in (P)Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in [h]Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”
28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in [i]Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: (Q)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ 31 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me [j]by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own (R)vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, (S)a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 (T)Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of (U)Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and (V)Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, (W)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”
36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah (X)with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Isaiah Assures Deliverance(Y)
19 And (Z)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with (AA)sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to [k]bring them forth. 4 (AB)It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to (AC)reproach the living God, and will (AD)rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 (AE)And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be (AF)afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the (AG)servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Surely I will send (AH)a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer(AI)
8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed (AJ)from Lachish. 9 And (AK)the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God (AL)in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 (AM)Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of (AN)Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (AO)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”
14 (AP)And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One (AQ)who dwells between the cherubim, (AR)You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 (AS)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; (AT)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, (AU)which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were (AV)not gods, but (AW)the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, (AX)that all the kingdoms of the earth may (AY)know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”
The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(AZ)
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (BA)‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, (BB)I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:
‘The virgin, (BC)the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
(BD)Has shaken her head behind your back!
22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against (BE)the Holy One of Israel.
23 (BF)By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: (BG)“By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.
24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have (BH)dried up
All the brooks of defense.”
25 ‘Did you not hear long ago
How (BI)I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That (BJ)you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As (BK)the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.
27 ‘But (BL)I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.
28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore (BM)I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back
(BN)By the way which you came.
29 ‘This shall be a (BO)sign to you:
‘You shall eat this year such as grows [l]of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
30 (BP)And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
(BQ)The zeal of the Lord [m]of hosts will do this.’
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:
‘He shall (BR)not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the Lord.
34 ‘For (BS)I will (BT)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and (BU)for My servant David’s sake.’ ”
Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death(BV)
35 And (BW)it came to pass on a certain night that the [n]angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at (BX)Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons (BY)Adrammelech and Sharezer (BZ)struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then (CA)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 18:16 Lit. them
- 2 Kings 18:17 A title, probably Commander in Chief
- 2 Kings 18:17 A title, probably Chief Officer
- 2 Kings 18:17 A title, probably Chief of Staff or Governor
- 2 Kings 18:18 secretary
- 2 Kings 18:20 Lit. a word of the lips
- 2 Kings 18:22 Places for pagan worship
- 2 Kings 18:26 Lit. Judean
- 2 Kings 18:28 Lit. Judean
- 2 Kings 18:31 By paying tribute
- 2 Kings 19:3 give birth
- 2 Kings 19:29 Without cultivation
- 2 Kings 19:31 So with many Heb. mss. and ancient vss. (cf. Is. 37:32); MT omits of hosts
- 2 Kings 19:35 Or Angel
2 Kings 18:9-19:37
New International Version
2 Kings 18:9-19:37
New International Version
9 In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,(A) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king(B) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.(C) 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant(D)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.(E) They neither listened to the commands(F) nor carried them out.
13 In the fourteenth year(G) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah(H) and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:(I) “I have done wrong.(J) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[a] of silver and thirty talents[b] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave(K) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors(L) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(M)(N)
17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(O) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,(P) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 18 They called for the king; and Eliakim(Q) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna(R) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.
19 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence(S) of yours? 20 You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 21 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt,(T) that splintered reed of a staff,(U) which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 22 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?
23 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 How can you repulse one officer(V) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen[c]? 25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?(W) The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(X) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
27 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(Y) you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(Z) and drink water from your own cistern,(AA) 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life(AB) and not death!
“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god(AC) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath(AD) and Arpad?(AE) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(AF)
36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
37 Then Eliakim(AG) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(AH) and told him what the field commander had said.
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(AI)
19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(AJ) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(AK) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(AL) all wearing sackcloth,(AM) to the prophet Isaiah(AN) son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(AO) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(AP) the living God, and that he will rebuke(AQ) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(AR) that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(AS) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(AT) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(AU) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(AV)’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(AW) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(AX)
9 Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[d] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(AY) on deceive(AZ) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver(BA) them—the gods of Gozan,(BB) Harran,(BC) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(BD)
Hezekiah’s Prayer(BE)
14 Hezekiah received the letter(BF) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(BG) you alone(BH) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(BI) Lord, and hear;(BJ) open your eyes,(BK) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(BL) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(BM) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BN) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(BO) of the earth may know(BP) that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(BQ)(BR)
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(BS) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(BT) him:
“‘Virgin Daughter(BU) Zion
despises(BV) you and mocks(BW) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head(BX) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(BY)
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One(BZ) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(CA)
“With my many chariots(CB)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(CC) its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
25 “‘Have you not heard?(CD)
Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(CE) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.(CF)
26 Their people, drained of power,(CG)
are dismayed(CH) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,(CI)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
scorched(CJ) before it grows up.
27 “‘But I know(CK) where you are
and when you come and go
and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(CL) in your nose
and my bit(CM) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(CN)
by the way you came.’
29 “This will be the sign(CO) for you, Hezekiah:
“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(CP)
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
plant vineyards(CQ) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(CR) of the kingdom of Judah
will take root(CS) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(CT)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(CU)
“The zeal(CV) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(CW)
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(CX) this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David(CY) my servant.’”
35 That night the angel of the Lord(CZ) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(DA) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(DB) He returned to Nineveh(DC) and stayed there.
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(DD) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(DE) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(DF) And Esarhaddon(DG) his son succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons
- 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 1 ton or about 1 metric ton
- 2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers
- 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.