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2 Kings 18
New International Version

Hezekiah King of Judah(A)(B)(C)

18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah(D) son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years.(E) His mother’s name was Abijah[a] daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right(F) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David(G) had done. 4 He removed(H) the high places,(I) smashed the sacred stones(J) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake(K) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[b])

5 Hezekiah trusted(L) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast(M) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful(N) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled(O) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watchtower to fortified city,(P) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

9 In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,(Q) 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(R) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.(S) 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant(T)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.(U) They neither listened to the commands(V) nor carried them out.

13 In the fourteenth year(W) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah(X) and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:(Y) “I have done wrong.(Z) 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[c] of silver and thirty talents[d] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave(AA) 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(AB) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(AC)(AD)

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(AE) 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,(AF) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 18 They called for the king; and Eliakim(AG) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna(AH) 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(AI) 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,(AJ) that splintered reed of a staff,(AK) 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(AL) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen[e]? 25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?(AM) 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,(AN) 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(AO) 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(AP) and drink water from your own cistern,(AQ) 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(AR) 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(AS) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath(AT) and Arpad?(AU) 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?”(AV)

36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then Eliakim(AW) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(AX) and told him what the field commander had said.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:2 Hebrew Abi, a variant of Abijah
  2. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and snake.
  3. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons
  4. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 1 ton or about 1 metric ton
  5. 2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers
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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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