Hezekiah Is King of Judah
4 Kingdoms 18, verse 1. Now in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah the king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 2. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 3. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to everything his father David did. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 4. He removed the high places and broke into pieces the sacred pillars. He cut down the sacred wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent Moses had made, because up to those days, the sons of Israel had burned incense to it. They called it Nehushtan. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 5. He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, and after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those that were before him. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 6. For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept all the commandments the Lord gave Moses. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 7. The Lord was with him. He prospered wherever he went. So he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 8. He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the fortified city. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 9. Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 10. And after three years, Shalmaneser captured Samaria. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 11. So the king of Assyria carried the people of Samaria away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and in Habor, by the River of Gozan, and in the mountains of the Medes. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 12. For they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant, even in all the things the servant of the Lord Moses commanded. They did not listen to them nor do them.
Assyria Threatens Jerusalem
4 Kingdoms 18, verse 13. Then in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 14. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have offended you. Turn away from me and I will pay whatever you impose on me.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 15. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 16. At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 17. Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with an overwhelming force against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem and stood near the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is on the way to Fuller's Field. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 18. And they cried aloud to Hezekiah. But Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 19. Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence which you trust? 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 20. You speak the words of the lips; however, I speak the purpose and the power of war. Now then, what is persuading you to reject me? 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 21. Take notice of yourself and of your trust on this broken staff of Egypt, made from a reed. If a man leans on it, it will pierce his hand. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 22. But because you say to me, ‘In the Lord God we trust,’ is it not He whose high places and His altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?’” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 23. Therefore now join with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses to use in the battle, if you can find horsemen to ride on them! 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 24. How will you turn back the presence of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord? Whereas you yourself hope on Egypt for chariots and horsemen! 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 25. Now we did not come up against this place to utterly destroy it without the Lord. The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 26. Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Now speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand; do not speak Hebrew with us. Why is it that you speak to us within the hearing of the people on the wall?” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 27. But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master, or to you, to deliver these words? Was it not to the men who sit on the wall, who along with you will eat their own dung and drink their own urine?” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 28. Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the words of the great king of Assyria! 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 29. Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah encourage you with words, for he shall not be able to deliver you from my hand. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 30. Nor let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 31. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘Gain my favor and come out to me, and every man will drink from his own vine, and every man will eat from his own fig tree and drink the waters of his own well, 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 32. until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine and bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey, and you will live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he deceives you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 33. Each of the gods of the nations is not, of himself, able to deliver a country from the hands of the king of Assyria. 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 34. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 35. Who among all the gods of the lands delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 36. But the men were silent and did not answer him, not a word, for the king's commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 4 Kingdoms 18, verse 37. Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.