2 Kings 18:13-37
Modern English Version
Sennacherib Invades Judah(A)
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me. I will bear whatever you put on me.” So the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[a] of silver and thirty talents[b] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah 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 cut off 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 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan,[c] the Rabsaris,[d] and the Rabshakeh[e] from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the Fuller’s Field. 18 Then they called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them.
19 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Speak to Hezekiah:
“Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What is the basis of your confidence? 20 You speak empty words concerning counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Now, look! You trust in the staff of this bruised reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will enter 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, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?
23 “Now, make a wager with my lord king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses if you are able to set riders on them. 24 How can you turn away one official of the least of my master’s servants and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25 Have I come up apart from the will of the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.”
26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak with us in the language of Judah in earshot 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 about to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called with 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 is not able to deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, 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: ‘Submit to me; come out to me, so that every man may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, that you may live and not die.’
“Do not listen to Hezekiah when he leads you astray saying, The Lord will deliver us. 33 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 Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 35 Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from 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 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2 Kings 18:14 About 11 tons, or 10 metric tons.
- 2 Kings 18:14 About 1 ton, or 1 metric ton.
- 2 Kings 18:17 Possibly Commander in Chief.
- 2 Kings 18:17 Possibly Chief of Staff.
- 2 Kings 18:17 Possibly Commanding General.
2 Kings 19:20-37
Modern English Version
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(A)
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
She despises you, she ridicules you—
virgin daughter of Zion.
Behind you, she shakes her head—
daughter of Jerusalem.
22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised a voice
and lifted your eyes upward?
Against the Holy One of Israel.
23 By your messengers
you have taunted the Lord,
and have said,
‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the height of the mountains,
to farthest reaches of Lebanon,
and I will cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest junipers.
I will enter its most remote canopies of night,
its dense forest.
24 I have dug wells
and drunk foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.’
25 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I arranged it,
in ancient times I formed it;
now I bring it to pass,
that you will turn impregnable cities
into desolate heaps of stones.
26 Their inhabitants are powerless;
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are like grass of the field
and new vegetation,
grass on the roof tops,
scorched before it stands.
27 “But I know your dwelling place,
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against Me.
28 Because you have raged against Me,
and your self-assuredness has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
and My bridle on your lips,
and I will turn you back
on the way by which you came.
29 “This will be the sign to you:
This year you will eat what grows itself,
and in the second year the same.
Then in the third year sow, reap,
and plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.
30 The spared of the house of Judah who remain
will again take root below, and bear fruit above.
31 For from Jerusalem a remnant will go forth,
and escapees from Mount Zion.
“The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow there,
approach it with shield,
or heap up a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came, he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 For I will protect this city to save it,
for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.”
The Death of Sennacherib
35 On that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When others woke up early in the morning, these were all dead bodies. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and stayed in Nineveh.
37 As he was worshipping in the house of Nisrok his god, Adrammelek and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
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2 Chronicles 32
Modern English Version
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(A)
32 After these things and these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came to Judah and encamped against the fortified cities thinking that he would break through them for himself. 2 When Hezekiah observed that Sennacherib had come and that he turned to war against Jerusalem, 3 he consulted with his officials and military men to stop up the waters of the springs that were outside the city, and they helped in this. 4 So, many people assembled and worked to stop up all the springs and the stream flowing through the area. They reasoned, “Why should the king of Assyria come and find a great amount of water?” 5 He then worked hard to build up all the walls that were broken down and to raise up towers. Then he built another wall outside that one and strengthened the Millo in the City of David. And he made weapons and shields in abundance.
6 And he designated commanders for fighting over the people, and he gathered them to himself at the open square of the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them saying, 7 “Be strong and brave. Do not fear or have terror before the king of Assyria or before all this army that is with him because there are more who are with us than with him. 8 With this king is a strong arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God who will help us and fight our battles.” So the people leaned on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
9 After all this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem—while he was at Lachish with all his military force that was with him—to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah that was in Jerusalem stating,
10 “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: By what do you all trust that you remain in a besieged Jerusalem? 11 Is not Hezekiah leading you all astray to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he tells you, ‘The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria’? 12 Has not Hezekiah himself taken down this god’s high places and altars by ordering Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You all will bow down at one altar and on it burn sacrifices’?
13 “Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of these lands surely able to rescue their lands from my hand? 14 Who from among all the gods of these nations that my fathers utterly destroyed was able to rescue his people from my hand? For will your god be able to rescue you all from my hand? 15 Now do not let Hezekiah trick or lead you all astray in this. And do not believe him, for no god from any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?”
16 And his servants continued to speak against the Lord God and Hezekiah his servant. 17 He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, speaking against Him, “As the gods of the nations of other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.” 18 And they proclaimed it also in a loud voice in the Judean language against the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem like the gods of the other peoples of the earth, which are only objects made by men’s hands.
The Death of Sennacherib
20 So Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet son of Amoz prayed concerning this. And they called out to heaven. 21 So the Lord sent an angel and destroyed the mighty army, leaders, and officials in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king returned in shame to his own land. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his sons fell on him there with the sword.
22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria, and from the hand of all others, and gave them rest on every side. 23 Many brought tribute to the Lord in Jerusalem and choice gifts to Hezekiah king of Judah so that he was lifted up before the eyes of all the nations from then on.
Hezekiah’s Pride
24 In those days Hezekiah became ill even to the point of death, so he prayed to the Lord. He spoke to the king and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah did not make recompense for what was given to him because his heart was proud. So divine anger was on him, Judah, and Jerusalem. 26 Then Hezekiah humbled himself from his arrogant heart, both he and those who lived in Jerusalem, and the anger of the Lord did not come over them in the days of Hezekiah.
27 And Hezekiah had a vast amount of riches and honor, and he made treasures for himself from silver, gold, costly stones, spices, shields, and all types of precious items. 28 He made storehouses for the produce of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all types of livestock and flocks. 29 He also built cities for himself and acquired numbers of flocks and herds, for God had given to him a vast amount of possessions.
30 And Hezekiah shut up the upper outlet of the waters of the Gihon and directed them downward to the western side of the City of David. And Hezekiah found success in all his works. 31 But the envoys came from the officials of Babylon who were sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been given in the land. God left him alone in order to test Hezekiah, to know what was in his heart.
The Death of Hezekiah(B)
32 And the remainder of the acts of Hezekiah and his kind acts, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz, in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper tombs of the sons of David. And all those from Judah and those living in Jerusalem paid him honor at his death. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.