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2 Kings 18
English Standard Version

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

18 (A)In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, (B)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was (C)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was (D)Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 (E)And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 4 (F)He removed the high places and broke the (G)pillars and cut down (H)the Asherah. And he broke in pieces (I)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).[a] 5 (J)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, (K)so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. 6 (L)For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. 7 (M)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, (N)he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. 8 (O)He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, (P)from watchtower to fortified city.

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, (Q)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, 10 and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 11 The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in (R)Halah, and on the (S)Habor, (T)the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, 12 because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

13 (U)In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” (V)And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[b] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah (W)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 doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 17 And the king of Assyria sent the (X)Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by (Y)the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. 18 And when they called for the king, there came out to them (Z)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and (AA)Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19 And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of (AB)a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such 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 (AC)whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

26 Then (AD)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and (AE)Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in (AF)Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my[c] hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will 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 your peace with me[d] and come out to me. Then (AG)each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, (AH)a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and (AI)honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 33 (AJ)Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 (AK)Where are the gods of (AL)Hamath and (AM)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and (AN)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, (AO)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” 37 Then (AP)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah (AQ)with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent
  2. 2 Kings 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  3. 2 Kings 18:29 Hebrew his
  4. 2 Kings 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me
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2 Kings 18
International Standard Version

Hezekiah Becomes King of Judah(A)

18 Now it happened that during the third year of the reign of[a] Elah’s son Hoshea, king of Israel, that Ahaz’ son Hezekiah became king. 2 He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Zechariah’s daughter Abi. 3 He did what the Lord considered to be right, according to everything that his ancestor David had done.

Hezekiah’s Reforms(B)

4 He removed the high places, demolished the sacred pillars, and tore down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted, because the Israelis had been burning incense to it right up until that time. Hezekiah[b] called it a piece of brass.[c] 5 He trusted the Lord God of Israel, and after him there were none like him among all the kings of Judah, 6 because he depended on the Lord, not abandoning pursuit of him, and keeping the Lord’s commands that he had commanded Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him. 8 He attacked the Philistines, invading Gaza and its borders from watchtower to fortified garrison.

Shalmaneser Attacks Samaria

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (that is, during the seventh year of Elah’s son Hoshea’s reign as king of Israel), King Shalmaneser from Assyria invaded Samaria and besieged it. 10 Three years later, they captured Samaria during the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign,[d] which was the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign as king of Israel. 11 After this, the king of Assyria carried Israel off into exile in Assyria, settling them in Halah, on the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities controlled by the Medes, 12 because they would not obey the voice of the Lord their God. Instead, they transgressed his covenant, including everything that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded, by neither listening nor putting what he had commanded[e] into practice.

13 During the fourteenth year of the reign of[f] King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria approached all of the walled cities of Judah and seized them. 14 So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I’ll accept whatever tribute you impose.” So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents[g] of silver and 30 talents[h] of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the Lord’s Temple and from the treasuries in the king’s palace. 16 At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the Lord’s Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold,[i] and gave the gold[j] to the king of Assyria.

Assyria’s King Taunts Hezekiah(C)

17 Sometime later, the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, accompanied with a large army. 18 When they called for the king, Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder went out to them. 19 Rab-shakeh told them, “Tell Hezekiah right now, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says:

‘“Why are you so confident? 20 You’re saying—but they’re only empty words—‘I have enough[k] advice and resources to conduct warfare!’

‘“Now who are you relying on, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Look, you’re trusting on Egypt to lean on like a staff, but it’s a crushed reed, and if you lean on it, it will collapse and pierce your hand. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just like that to everyone who relies on him!

22 ‘“Of course, you might tell me, “We rely on the Lord our God!” But isn’t it he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has demolished, all the while telling Jerusalem, “You’re to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem?”’

23 ‘“Come now, and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria, and I’ll give you 2,000 horses, if you can furnish them with riders. 24 How can you refuse even one official from the least of my master’s servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 “Now then, haven’t I come up—apart from the Lord—to attack and destroy this place? The Lord told me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it!’”’”

26 At this, Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah asked Rab-shakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it, but don’t speak the language of Judah to us within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

27 But Rab-shakeh spoke to them, “Has my master sent me to talk about this just to your master and to you, and not also to the men who are sitting on the wall, who will soon be eating their own feces and drinking their own urine[l]—along with you?” 28 Then Rab-shakeh stood up and cried out loud, “Listen to what the great king, the king of Assyria has to say. 29 This is what the king says:

‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, because he will prove to be unable to deliver you from my control.[m] 30 And don’t let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by telling you, “The Lord will certainly deliver us and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace with me and come out to me! Each of you will eat from his own vine. Each will eat from his own fig tree. And each of you will drink water from his own cistern 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, one overflowing with grain and new wine, a land filled with bread and vineyards, with olive trees and honey, so you may live and not die.”

‘But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us!” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land from control by[n] the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my control?[o] 35 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my control[p], so that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from me?’”[q]

36 But the people remained silent and did not answer with even so much as a word, because the king’s order was, “Don’t answer him.”

37 But Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came back to Hezekiah with their clothes torn[r] and told him what Rab-shakeh had said.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:1 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  2. 2 Kings 18:4 Lit. He
  3. 2 Kings 18:4 Lit. Nehushtan; so MT; LXX reads Neeshthan
  4. 2 Kings 18:10 The Heb. lacks reign
  5. 2 Kings 18:12 The Heb. lacks what he had commanded
  6. 2 Kings 18:13 The Heb. lacks the reign of
  7. 2 Kings 18:14 I.e. about 11,500 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  8. 2 Kings 18:14 I.e. about 1,150 pounds; a talent weighed about 75 pounds
  9. 2 Kings 18:16 The Heb. lacks with gold
  10. 2 Kings 18:16 Lit. gave it
  11. 2 Kings 18:20 The Heb. lacks I have enough
  12. 2 Kings 18:27 An alternate MT reading is own water at their feet
  13. 2 Kings 18:29 Lit. hand
  14. 2 Kings 18:33 Lit. from the hand of
  15. 2 Kings 18:34 Lit. hand
  16. 2 Kings 18:35 Lit. hand
  17. 2 Kings 18:35 Lit. from my hand
  18. 2 Kings 18:37 I.e. as a visible response to the pending calamity
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2 Kings 17
2 Kings 19
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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