2 Kings 18:1-8

Common English Bible

Hezekiah rules Judah

18 Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son, became king of Judah in the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Elah’s son. ² He was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi;^[a] she was Zechariah’s daughter. ³ Hezekiah did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the sacred pole.^[b] He crushed the bronze snake that Moses made, because up to that point the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (The snake was named Nehushtan.)

⁵ Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, Israel’s God. There was no one like him among all of Judah’s kings—not before him and not after him. ⁶ He clung to the Lord and never deviated from him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷ The Lord was with Hezekiah; he succeeded at everything he tried. He rebelled against Assyria’s king and wouldn’t serve him. ⁸ He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territories, from watchtower to fortified city.