Hezekiah Reigns over Judah

18 Now it came about ^(A)in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that ^(B)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king. ² He was ^(C)twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (D)He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. ^4 (E)He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the ^[a]Asherah. He also broke in pieces ^(F)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called ^[b]Nehushtan. ^5 (G)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; ^(H)so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. ⁶ For he ^(I)clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.

Hezekiah Victorious

^7 (J)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And ^(K)he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. ^8 (L)He ^[c]defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from ^(M)watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, ^(N)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. ¹⁰ At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was ^(O)the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured. ¹¹ Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in ^(P)Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they ^(Q)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded; they would neither listen nor do it.

Invasion of Judah

^13 (R)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^(S)I have done wrong. ^[d]Withdraw from me; whatever you ^[e]impose on me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria ^[f]required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ^15 (T)Hezekiah gave him all the silver which 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 which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(U)Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(V)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^[g]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ When they called to the king, ^(W)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(X)Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^(Y)What is this confidence that you ^[h]have? ²⁰ You say (but they are ^[i]only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, ^(Z)that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Now behold, you ^[j](AA)rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[k]hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^(AB)whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Now therefore, ^[l]come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴ How then can you ^[m]repulse one ^[n]official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^[o]rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up ^[p]without the Lord’s approval 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, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ^[q]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[r](AC)Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸ Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ^[s]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ Thus says the king, ‘^(AD)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ^[t]my hand; ³⁰ nor 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, “^[u]Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^(AE)each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you away ^(AF)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, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (AG)Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^34 (AH)Where are the gods of Hamath and ^(AI)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and ^[v](AJ)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands ^[w]have delivered their land from my hand, ^(AK)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 commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then ^(AL)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(AM)with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked

10 The ^(A)proverbs of Solomon.

The Judgment

³¹ “But when ^(A)the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then ^(B)He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be ^(C)gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, ^(D)as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep ^(E)on His right, and the goats ^(F)on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, ^(G)inherit the kingdom prepared for you ^(H)from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For ^(I)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; ^(J)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ^36 (K)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you ^(L)visited Me; ^(M)I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ^40 (N)The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, ^(O)to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘^(P)Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ^(Q)eternal fire which has been prepared for ^(R)the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^[a]take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into ^(S)eternal punishment, but the righteous into ^(T)eternal life.”