2 Kings 18

Modern

Literal

Hezekiah Destroys Idolatry in Judah

¹In the third year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.

¹And it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

²He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi,^a the daughter of Zechariah.

²He was a son of twenty-five years in his reigning, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Abi daughter of Zechariah.

³And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.

³And he did right in the eyes of YHWH, according to all that David his father had done.

⁴He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan^a that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

⁴He turned aside the high places, and he shattered the pillars, and he cut down the Asherah pole, and he crushed the bronze serpent that Moses had made. For until those days the sons of Israel were burning incense to it and calling it Nehushtan.

⁵Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

⁵He trusted in YHWH, God of Israel, and after him none was like him among all the kings of Judah, nor those who were before him.

⁶He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.

⁶And he clung to YHWH; he did not depart from after Him, and he kept His commandments that YHWH had commanded Moses.

⁷And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.

⁷And YHWH was with him; in every place where he went, he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

⁸He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

⁸He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza and its border, from a tower of watchers to a fortified city.

⁹In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.

⁹And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah—it was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel—that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and laid siege to it.

¹⁰And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it.

So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.

¹⁰And they took it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah (it was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel), Samaria was captured.

¹¹The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

¹¹And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and he led them to Halah, and to Habor by the river of Gozan, and to the cities of the Medes,

¹²This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.

¹²because that they did not obey the voice of YHWH their God, and they transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of YHWH had commanded, and they would not hear nor do it.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

¹³In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

¹³And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he seized them.

¹⁴So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.”

And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver^a and thirty talents of gold.^b

¹⁴And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; that which you impose on me I will bear.” And the king of Assyria laid upon Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

¹⁵Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

¹⁵And Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the house of YHWH and in the treasuries of the house of the king.

¹⁶At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁶At that time Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of YHWH and the pillars that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

¹⁷Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan,^a the Rabsaris,^b and the Rabshakeh,^c along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

¹⁷And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rabsaris and the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And they went up and came in and stood by the conduit of the upper pool that was on the highway to the Field of the Fuller.

¹⁸Then they called for the king. And Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.

¹⁸And they called to the king, and there came out to them Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder.

¹⁹The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

¹⁹And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What is this confidence in which you trust?

²⁰You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?

²⁰You say: But a word of the lips, counsel and strength for war. And on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?

²¹Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

²¹Now behold, You are trusting for yourself on the staff of this broken reed—on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. Thus is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

²²But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

²²But if you say to me, ‘In YHWH our God we trust,’ is it not He for whom His high places and His altars Hezekiah has taken away, and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall bow low before this altar in Jerusalem’?

²³Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

²³And now give a pledge, please, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give to you two thousand horses, if you are able to put for yourself riders on them.

²⁴For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

²⁴And how will you turn back the face of a captain of one of the least of the servants of my master, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

²⁵So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

²⁵Now is it without YHWH that I have come up against this place to destroy it? YHWH said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

²⁶Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew^a in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

²⁶And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak, please, to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it, and do not speak with us in Judean in the ears of the people who are on the wall.”

²⁷But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

²⁷And the Rabshakeh said to them, “And is it for your master, to you only, that my master has sent me to speak these words? Is it not for the men sitting on the wall, who are to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

²⁸And the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in Judean, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

²⁹This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.

²⁹Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand.

³⁰Do 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.’

³⁰And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in YHWH, saying, ‘YHWH will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

³¹Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me^a and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

³¹Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make with me a blessing, and come out to me, and eat, each man from his own vine, and each man from his own fig tree, and drink each man the waters of his own cistern,

³²until I come and take you away 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—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’

³²until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new 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, lest he persuade you, saying, ‘YHWH will deliver us.’

³³Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

³³Have any gods of the nations ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

³⁵Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

³⁵Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their lands from my hand, that YHWH should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

³⁶But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

³⁶And the people kept silent and did not answer him a word, for it was the command from the king, saying, “Do not answer him.”

³⁷Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.

³⁷And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, came—and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder—to Hezekiah with torn clothes, and they declared to him the words of the Rabshakeh.