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2 Reyes 18
Nueva Biblia Viva

Ezequías, rey de Judá

18 Ezequías hijo de Acaz comenzó a reinar en Judá cuando Oseas hijo de Elá llevaba tres años reinando en Israel. 2 Ezequías tenía veinticinco años cuando comenzó a reinar, y reinó en Jerusalén veintinueve años. Su madre era Abí, hija de Zacarías. 3 Fue un buen rey, pues hizo lo que le agrada al Señor, siguiendo, así, el ejemplo de su antepasado David. 4 Hizo quitar los santuarios de las colinas, derribó sus altares y destruyó los vergonzosos ídolos de la diosa Aserá. También destruyó la serpiente de bronce que Moisés había hecho, porque el pueblo de Israel había comenzado a adorarla y a quemarle incienso, y la llamaban Nejustán.

5 Ezequías confió firmemente en el Señor, Dios de Israel. Ninguno de los reyes, ni antes ni después de él, estuvo tan cerca de Dios como él lo estuvo. 6 Porque siguió al Señor en todo y obedeció cuidadosamente todos los mandamientos que él había dado por medio de Moisés. 7 Por esta razón el Señor estuvo con él y lo hizo prosperar en todo lo que emprendió. Se rebeló contra el rey de Asiria y se negó a seguir pagando tributos. 8 También venció a los filisteos, tanto en las ciudades grandes como en las pequeñas, y logró llegar hasta Gaza y sus alrededores.

9 En el cuarto año de su reinado, que era el séptimo año de Oseas en Israel, el rey Salmanasar, de Asiria, atacó a Israel y comenzó el sitio de la ciudad de Samaria. 10 Tres años más tarde (durante el sexto año del reinado de Ezequías y el noveno del reinado de Oseas en Israel) cayó Samaria. 11 Fue en aquel tiempo cuando el rey de Asiria transportó a los israelitas a Asiria y los puso en colonias en las ciudades de Jalaj, en Gozán, que está junto al río Jabor, y en las ciudades de los medos. 12 Esto fue porque se habían negado a obedecer al Señor su Dios y a hacer su voluntad. Al contrario, habían pasado por alto su pacto y habían desobedecido todas las leyes que les había dado por medio de Moisés, su siervo.

13 Más tarde, en el año catorce del reinado de Ezequías, el rey Senaquerib de Asiria, sitió y capturó todas las ciudades fortificadas de Judá. 14 El rey Ezequías quería la paz, y envió este mensaje al rey de Asiria, que estaba en Laquis: «He hecho mal. Pagaré cualquier tributo que me pidas, con tal de que te vayas». El rey de Asiria le exigió nueve mil novecientos kilos de plata y novecientos noventa kilos de oro. 15 Para reunir esta suma, el rey Ezequías tomó toda la plata que había en el templo del Señor y en la tesorería de la casa de rey. 16 Además, tuvo que quitar el oro de las puertas del templo del Señor y de los postes con que él mismo los había recubierto, y lo dio todo al rey de Asiria.

Senaquerib amenaza a Jerusalén

17 Sin embargo, el rey de Asiria envió desde Laquis a uno de sus altos oficiales el Tartán, a su tesorero principal el Rabasaris, y al copero mayor el Rabsaces, para que fueran a atacar a Jerusalén. Estos subieron y acamparon en el canal del estanque superior, que está junto al campo donde era blanqueada la ropa. 18 Entonces le pidieron al rey Ezequías que saliera a hablar con ellos. Pero él envió una delegación para pedir tregua. La delegación estaba formada por los siguientes hombres: Eliaquín, el mayordomo del palacio, Sebna, su secretario, y Joa hijo de Asaf, su otro secretario.

19 Entonces el Rabsaces envió este mensaje al rey Ezequías:

―El gran rey de Asiria dice: “¿Qué te hace sentir tan seguro? 20-21 Necesitas más que promesas y ayudas antes de rebelarte contra mí. Pero, ¿cuál de tus aliados te dará más que palabras? ¿Egipto? Si te apoyas en Egipto, descubrirás que es una caña que se quiebra bajo tu peso y te traspasa la mano. El faraón de Egipto es completamente indigno de confianza. 22 Y si dices: ‘Estamos confiando en que el Señor nos librará’, recuerda que tú has destruido los altares de las colinas dedicados a él. Porque tú exiges que toda la gente vaya a adorar ante el altar de Jerusalén”.

23 »¿Qué te parece? Haz una apuesta con mi amo, el rey de Asiria. Si encuentras dos mil hombres que puedan montar a caballo, nosotros te daremos los caballos. 24 Y con un ejército tan pequeño como el tuyo, no eres amenaza ni para el menor de los oficiales a cargo del más pequeño contingente. Si los egipcios estuvieran dispuestos a proporcionarte caballos y carros, de nada te serviría. 25 ¿Piensas que nosotros hemos venido aquí por nuestra propia iniciativa? ¡No! El Señor nos ha enviado, y nos dijo: “Vayan y destruyan a ese pueblo”.

26 Eliaquín hijo de Jilquías, Sebna y Joa le dijeron:

―Habla en arameo, por favor, porque nosotros lo entendemos. No uses hebreo porque el pueblo que está en los muros nos está oyendo.

27 Pero el asirio respondió:

―¿Me ha enviado acaso mi señor a hablarte solamente a ti y a tu amo? ¡Me ha enviado a hablarle también al pueblo que está en los muros, condenados al igual que ustedes a comer sus excrementos y a beber su orina!

28 Entonces el Rabsaces asirio gritó en hebreo al pueblo que estaba sobre los muros:

―¡Oigan lo que dice el gran rey de Asiria! 29 ¡No permitan que el rey Ezequías los engañe! ¡Él jamás podrá salvarlos de mi poder! 30 ¡No permitan que los engañe haciéndoles creer que el Señor los salvará!

31-32 »¡No escuchen al rey Ezequías! ¡Ríndanse! ¡Podrán vivir aquí en su tierra hasta que yo los conduzca a otra tierra semejante a esta, con muchas cosechas, grano, vino, olivos y miel! Todo esto es mejor que la muerte. No escuchen al rey Ezequías cuando trate de convencerlos de que el Señor los salvará.

33 »¿Ha podido alguno de los dioses de las otras naciones librarlos del rey de Asiria? 34 ¿Qué le ha pasado a los dioses de Jamat, Arfad, Sefarvayin, Hená e Ivá? ¿Rescataron a Samaria? 35 Si no hay dios que haya podido salvar a nación alguna de mi poder, ¿qué los hace pensar que el Señor puede salvar a Jerusalén?

36 Pero el pueblo sobre el muro permaneció en silencio, porque el rey les había ordenado no responder.

37 Entonces Eliaquín hijo de Jilquías, el mayordomo, Sebna, el secretario del rey, y Joa hijo de Asaf, el otro secretario, fueron ante el rey Ezequías con su ropa rasgada y le contaron lo que había dicho el Rabsaces asirio.

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2 Kings 18
EasyEnglish Bible

Hezekiah becomes the king of Judah

18 Ahaz's son Hezekiah became the king of Judah when Elah's son Hoshea had been king of Israel for three years. 2 Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah. 3 Hezekiah did things that the Lord said were good, as his ancestor King David had done. 4 He removed the altars on the hills. He knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped and he cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made. Until then, the Israelites had burned incense as an offering to it. It was called Nehushtan.[a]

5 Hezekiah trusted the Lord, Israel's God. None of the other kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. 6 He served the Lord faithfully. He obeyed the laws that the Lord had given to Moses. 7 The Lord was with Hezekiah so that he was successful in everything that he decided to do. He turned against the king of Assyria. He refused to serve him. 8 He won battles against the Philistines as far as Gaza. He took all their towns, large and small.

9 When Hezekiah had been king for four years, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, took his army to attack Samaria. That was when Hoshea had been king of Israel for seven years. The Assyrian army made their camp around the city of Samaria. 10 After three years, the Assyrian army took the city. So that happened in the sixth year that Hezekiah ruled Judah. It was the ninth year that King Hoshea ruled over Israel.

11 The king of Assyria took the Israelites as prisoners to Assyria. He caused them to live in Halah, at Gozan beside the River Habor and in the towns in Media. 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God. They had not obeyed the covenant that he had made with them. They did not accept the teaching that Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded them to obey.

Sennacherib attacks Judah

13 When Hezekiah had ruled Judah for 14 years, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked Judah with his army. He took all the strong cities in Judah for himself. 14 So King Hezekiah of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria, who was in Lachish. Hezekiah said, ‘What I did was wrong. Please take your army out of Judah. Then I will pay you everything that you ask me to pay.’ The king of Assyria told King Hezekiah that he must pay ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave Sennacherib all the silver that was stored in the Lord's temple and in the palace. 16 At the same time, Hezekiah removed the gold that he had used to cover the doors of the Lord's temple. He also took the gold off the wood at the sides of the doors. He gave all that gold to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib warns the people of Jerusalem

17 King Sennacherib of Assyria sent his three most important officers from Lachish to Jerusalem, to speak to King Hezekiah. The three officers took a large army with them.

They arrived in Jerusalem. They went and stood at the stream of water that came from the higher pool. It was on the road to the field where people washed clothes.

18 They told King Hezekiah to come to them. These three people went out to meet them:

Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the most important officer in the king's palace.

Shebna, a government officer.

Asaph's son Joah, the king's secretary.

19 One of Sennacherib's officers said to them,

‘Tell Hezekiah that the king of Assyria, the great king, says this to him: “Why are you so sure that someone will rescue you from our power? 20 You say that you have good plans. You say that your army is strong. But those are only useless words! You have turned against me, so who are you trusting to save you? 21 Listen to me! You think that Egypt is strong enough to help you, do you? But you should not trust Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He is like a weak stick. If you use it to walk with, it will break! A broken piece of stick will make a hole through your hand and give you much pain! That is the trouble that the king of Egypt brings to everyone who trusts him to help them. 22 But maybe you will say to me, ‘We are trusting the Lord our God to help us.’ But it was your king, Hezekiah, who removed the altars and the special places where you worship your God. He told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship God only at the altar here in Jerusalem.’ ” 23 So you should make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you have enough riders to put on them. 24 You cannot refuse what I offer to you! And I am only an unimportant officer who serves my master. You are hoping that Egypt will give you chariots and men to ride on horses. But you will never be strong enough to win a battle against us. 25 You should also understand this: It was the Lord himself who commanded me to bring my army here and attack Jerusalem. He said to me, “Attack this country and destroy it!” ’

26 Then Hilkiah's son Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the leader of the Assyrian army, ‘Please sir, speak to us in the Aramaic language. We can understand it. Do not speak to us in the Hebrew language because all the people who are on the wall of the city will understand it.’ 27 But the Assyrian army leader replied, ‘My master did not send me here to give this message only to your king and to you. The men who are sitting on the city wall also need to hear my master's message. Like you, they will soon have to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine.’

28 Then the Assyrian army leader stood there and he shouted in the Hebrew language, ‘Listen to this message from the king of Assyria, the great king! 29 This is what the king says: “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot save you from my power. 30 Do not believe Hezekiah when he tells you that you can trust the Lord to help you. He says, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us. He will not let the king of Assyria take this city for himself.’ 31 Do not believe what Hezekiah says.” This is what the king of Assyria says: “Show me that you accept my offer of peace and come out of your city. Then you will all live safely in your homes. You will eat the fruit from your own vines and fig trees. You will drink the water from your own wells. 32 Later, I will come to Jerusalem. I will take you away to a country that is like your own land here. There will be plenty of grain and new wine for you in that country. There will be bread and there will be vineyards. There will be olive trees and there will be honey. Choose life instead of death! Do not listen to Hezekiah. He is deceiving you when he says, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’ 33 No god of any nation has ever saved his country from the king of Assyria's power. 34 The gods of Hamath and Arpad could not help their people. The gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah could not help their people either. No god was able to rescue Samaria from my power. 35 No god among all the gods of those countries could save their people from my power. So do not think that the Lord can save Jerusalem from my power.” ’

36 When the people who were sitting on the wall heard this, they were quiet. They did not reply, because King Hezekiah had said, ‘Do not answer him.’

37 Then King Hezekiah's three officers, Eliakim, Shebna and Joah, went back to Hezekiah. They had torn their clothes because they were very upset. They told the king what the Assyrian officer had said.

Footnotes

  1. 18:4 See Numbers 21:8-9. The word ‘Nehushtan’ sounds like ‘bronze snake’ in Hebrew.
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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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