2 Kings 18
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22 23
24 25
1 Now it came to pass in the
third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of
Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
2 Twenty and five years old was he when he
began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s
name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.
3 And he did that which was right
in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.
4 He removed the high places, and brake
the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that
Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to
it: and he called it Nehushtan.
5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so
that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any
that were before him.
6 For he clave to the LORD, and
departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD
commanded Moses.
7 And the LORD was with him; and he
prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of
Assyria, and served him not.
8 He smote the Philistines, even
unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced
city.
9 And it came to pass in the
fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of
Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against
Samaria, and besieged it.
10 And at the end of three years they took
it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of
Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
11 And the king of Assyria did carry away
Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of
Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes:
12 Because they obeyed not the voice of
the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the
servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them.
13 Now in the fourteenth year of king
Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities
of Judah, and took them.
14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the
king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which
thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah
king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the
silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s
house.
16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the
gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars
which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17 And the king of Assyria
sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a
great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when
they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is
in the highway of the fuller’s field.
18 And when they had called to the king,
there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
19 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye
now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence
is this wherein thou trustest?
20 Thou sayest, (but they are but
vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost
thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the
staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it
will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto
all that trust on him.
22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the
LORD our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah
hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before
this altar in Jerusalem?
23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give
pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand
horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
24 How then wilt thou turn away the face
of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on
Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Am I now come up without the LORD
against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land,
and destroy it.
26 Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the
Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’
language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
27 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my
master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he
not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own
dung, and drink their own piss with you?
28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a
loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the
great king, the king of Assyria:
29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah
deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in
the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be
delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
31 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith
the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out
to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his
fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern:
32 Until I come and take you away to a
land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards,
a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not
unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, The LORD will deliver us.
33 Hath any of the gods of the nations
delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath,
and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they
delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
35 Who are they among all the gods
of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the
LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
36 But the people held their peace, and
answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him
not.
37 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of
Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the
words of Rabshakeh.
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