Beginning
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.
The Lord saves Jerusalem
19 When King Hezekiah heard the report of his officers, he tore his clothes. Then he put on rough sackcloth and he went into the Lord's temple. 2 He sent Eliakim, Shebna and the leaders of the priests to Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet. Eliakim was the most important officer in the king's palace. Shebna was a government officer. They were all wearing sackcloth. 3 They told Hezekiah's message to Isaiah: ‘This is a time of great trouble. Assyria has insulted us to make us ashamed. Our nation is like a woman who is ready to give birth, but she is too weak to push the child out. 4 The Assyrian officer has brought a message from his king to insult the God who lives for ever. Maybe the Lord your God has heard that message. He should punish the officer for his wicked message. So please pray for the people who remain in Jerusalem.’ 5 When King Hezekiah's officers told their message to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, ‘Tell your master that the Lord says this: “Do not let the words that you have heard make you afraid. The servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me, the Lord. 7 Listen to me! I will put a spirit into the king of Assyria's mind. He will hear a report which will cause him to return to his own country. There, in his own land, I will cause someone to kill him with a sword.” ’
8 At that time, the king of Assyria had left Lachish city. When the Assyrian officer heard that news, he left Jerusalem. He went to meet the king at Libnah, where the king was now fighting a battle. 9 Then the king of Assyria heard a report about Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia. People told him, ‘He has brought his army from Ethiopia to fight against you.’
When the king of Assyria heard that news, he sent another message to Hezekiah in Jerusalem. 10 This was his message to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘You are hoping that your God will help you. Your God may say that the king of Assyria will not destroy Jerusalem. But do not let him deceive you. 11 You have heard how the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed all other countries. So do not think that your God will rescue you. 12 The gods of those other countries did not save them. Our kings destroyed the nations of Gozan, Haran and Rezeph. They killed the people of Eden who lived in Tel Assar. 13 The kings of Hamath and Arpad have gone. The king of Sepharvaim city has gone. The kings of Hena and Ivvah have also gone.’
14 When Hezekiah received the letter with this message, he read it. Then he went up to the Lord's temple. He put the letter there, in front of the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Lord, you are Israel's God. You sit on your throne between the cherubs. Only you are the God who rules all the kingdoms in the world. You have made the heavens and the earth. 16 Lord, please listen carefully to me. Lord, look carefully at this letter. Listen to Sennacherib's message. He is insulting you, the God who lives for ever. 17 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire. Those idols are not really gods. People used wood and stone to make them. So the Assyrians could destroy them. 19 So now, our Lord and our God, please save us from the power of Sennacherib! Then all the kingdoms in the world will know that you Lord are the only God.’
20 Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “I heard your prayer to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.” 21 This is the Lord's reply. The Lord says this about King Sennacherib:
“The holy people of Zion laugh at you!
They think that you are useless.
Yes, the people of Jerusalem shake their heads
as you run away.
22 Who do you think it is that you have insulted?
Who have you shouted at?
Who have you looked at so proudly?
The answer is the Holy God of Israel!
23 You have sent your servants
to insult the Lord God.
You have said, ‘I have taken all my chariots
and I have gone up high mountains,
the highest mountains in Lebanon.
I have cut down its tall cedar trees,
and I have cut down its best pine trees.
I went up to its highest places,
and I went far into its forests.
24 I dug wells in other countries,
and they gave me water to drink.
My army marched through all the rivers in Egypt,
and the rivers became dry.’
25 You said that, but now listen to this![b]
You must surely have heard it already.
I decided what to do a long time ago!
Now I am causing it to happen.
I decided that you would destroy strong cities
so that they became heaps of stones.
26 The people of those cities have no power.
They are afraid and they are confused.
They are like plants in a field,
that cannot live for a long time.
They are like fresh green grass,
or grass that grows on the roof of a house.
When a hot wind blows on them,
it burns them and they die.
27 I know everything about you.
I know where you live.
I know when you go out.
And I know when you return home.
I know how much you shout against me,
when you are angry.
28 Yes, you do shout at me!
And I have heard all your proud noise.
So I will put my hook in your nose.
I will tie a rope to your mouth.
Then I will pull you back home
by the same way that you came.”
29 King Hezekiah, this is how you will know that I have spoken a true message from the Lord.[c] This year, you will eat crops that grow by themselves. And next year you will eat what grows from the same seeds. But in the third year you will plant seeds for yourselves, and they will give you a harvest of crops. You will plant vines again and you will eat grapes from them.
30 The people who remain in Judah will be like strong plants that put their roots down into the ground. Their branches will give lots of fruit.
31 A small number of people will still be alive in Jerusalem. They will leave Mount Zion and they will go to other places. The great love that the Lord Almighty has for his people will cause that to happen!
32 This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
“His army will not come into this city.
His soldiers will not shoot any arrows here.
They will not attack the city as they hold their shields.
They will not build heaps of earth against the city's walls.
33 No! The king will return home by the way that he came.
He will not come into this city.”
That is what the Lord says.
34 “I will make this city safe and I will rescue it.
I will do that to show that I am great.
I promised my servant David that I would do it. So I will do it.” ’
35 That night, the Lord's angel went to the camp of the Assyrian army. He killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When people got up in the morning, they saw all those dead bodies! 36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria took his army away. He returned to Assyria and he lived in Nineveh.
37 One day, Sennacherib was worshipping his god Nisrok in Nisrok's temple. Two of Sennacherib's sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, went in and they killed him with their swords. Then they ran away to the region of Ararat. Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon now ruled Assyria as king.[d]
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