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2 Kings 18
Holman Christian Standard Bible

Judah’s King Hezekiah

18 In the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea(A) son of Elah, Hezekiah(B) son of Ahaz became king of Judah. 2 He was 25 years old when he became king and reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi[a] daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.(C) 4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.(D) He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,(E) for the Israelites burned incense to it up to that time. He called it Nehushtan.[b]

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel;(F) not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.(G) 6 He remained faithful to Yahweh(H) and did not turn from following Him but kept the commands the Lord had commanded Moses.

7 The Lord was with him, and wherever he went he prospered.(I) He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.(J) 8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders,(K) from watchtower(L) to fortified city.

Review of Israel’s Fall

9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.(M) 10 The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Samaria was captured. 11 The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan’s river, and in the cities of the Medes,(N) 12 because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God but violated His covenant—all He had commanded Moses the servant of the Lord. They did not listen, and they did not obey.(O)

Sennacherib’s Invasion

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(P) 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish,(Q) saying, “I have done wrong;(R) withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay.” The king of Assyria demanded 11 tons[c] of silver and one ton[d] of gold from King Hezekiah of Judah. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace.

16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.(S)

17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan,(T) the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.(U) They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and[e] they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is by the highway to the Fuller’s Field.(V) 18 Then they called for the king, but Eliakim(W) son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah(X) the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them.(Y)

The Rabshakeh’s Speech

19 Then(Z) the Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?[f](AA) 20 You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. What are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?(AB) 21 Look, you are now trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff(AC) that will enter and pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it.(AD) This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him. 22 Suppose you say to me: We trust in the Lord our God. Isn’t He the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,(AE) saying to Judah and to Jerusalem: You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem?’

23 “So now make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses if you’re able to supply riders for them! 24 How then can you drive back a single officer(AF) among the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Have I attacked this place to destroy it without the Lord’s approval?(AG) The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(AH) since we understand it. Don’t speak with us in Hebrew[g] within earshot of the people on the wall.”

27 But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Hasn’t he also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”(AI)

28 The Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew.[h] Then he spoke: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive(AJ) you; he can’t deliver you from my hand.(AK) 30 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord by saying: Certainly the Lord will deliver us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’(AL)

31 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace[i] with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree,(AM) and every one may drink water from his own cistern 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey(AN)—so that you may live(AO) and not die. But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. 33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered(AP) his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?[j] Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?(AQ) 35 Who among all the gods of the lands has delivered his land from my power? So will the Lord deliver Jerusalem?’”(AR)

36 But the people kept silent; they didn’t say anything, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian,(AS) came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn(AT) and reported to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:2 = Abijah in 2Ch 29:1
  2. 2 Kings 18:4 = A bronze thing
  3. 2 Kings 18:14 Lit 300 talents
  4. 2 Kings 18:14 Lit 30 talents
  5. 2 Kings 18:17 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads and came and
  6. 2 Kings 18:19 Lit What is this trust which you trust
  7. 2 Kings 18:26 Lit Judahite
  8. 2 Kings 18:28 Lit Judahite
  9. 2 Kings 18:31 Lit a blessing
  10. 2 Kings 18:34 Some LXX mss, Old Lat read Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of the land of Samaria?
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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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