2 Kings 18

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.

1Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. In his third year, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.

2Twenty 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.

2Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

3And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

3He did what was right in God's eyes. He lived the way his ancestor King David had lived.

4He 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.

4He tore down the hilltop worship places. He smashed the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Both were used to worship other gods. He also broke the bronze snake that Moses had made. Until then, the people of Israel had burned incense to it. They called that snake Nehushtan.

NoteThe "high places" were worship spots on hills. The bronze snake was made long before, in the time of Moses. By Hezekiah's day people were treating it like a god, so he broke it.

5He 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.

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

6For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

6He stayed close to the LORD and never turned away from him. He kept the commands God had given to Moses.

7And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

7The LORD was with him, and things went well wherever he went. He refused to obey the king of Assyria any longer.

8He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

8He defeated the Philistines all the way to the city of Gaza and its lands. He beat them everywhere, from small lookout towers to strong walled cities.

9And 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.

9In Hezekiah's fourth year as king, Hoshea son of Elah had been king of Israel seven years. That year Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, marched against the city of Samaria. His army surrounded it so no one could go in or out.

10And 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.

10After three years the Assyrians captured it. Samaria fell in Hezekiah's sixth year, which was Hoshea's ninth year as king of Israel.

11And 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:

11The king of Assyria took the people of Israel away to his own land. He settled them in Halah, and in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.

12Because 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.

12This happened because they had not listened to the LORD their God. They broke their agreement with him. They would not listen to what Moses, God's servant, had told them, and they would not obey.

13Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

13In Hezekiah's fourteenth year as king, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked Judah. He captured all its strong walled cities.

14And 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.

14Hezekiah sent a message to the king of Assyria, who was at the town of Lachish. He said, "I have done wrong. Please leave, and I will pay whatever you ask." So the king of Assyria told him to pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

NoteA talent was a large weight, about 75 pounds. Three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold was an enormous payment.

15And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house.

15Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the LORD's house and in the palace storerooms.

16At 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.

16He also stripped the gold off the temple doors and doorposts, which he himself had covered with gold. He gave all of it to the king of Assyria.

17And 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.

17Even so, the king of Assyria sent three of his top officers from Lachish to Jerusalem. They came with a large army to see King Hezekiah. They marched up to the city and stopped by the water channel from the upper pool. It was beside the road that leads to the field where cloth is washed.

NoteThe King James Bible calls these three men Tartan, Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh. Those are not their names. They are Assyrian job titles, like "general" and "chief officer."

18And 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.

18They called for the king to come out. Instead three men came out to meet them. They were Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who ran the palace, Shebna the writer, and Joah son of Asaph, who kept the records.

19And 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?

19The chief officer said to them, "Tell Hezekiah this message from the great king, the king of Assyria: What makes you so sure of yourself?

20Thou 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?

20You say you have a war plan and strong soldiers, but those are only empty words. Who are you leaning on, that you dare to turn against me?

21Now, 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.

21Look, you are leaning on Egypt. Egypt is like a cracked walking stick. Lean on it, and it breaks and stabs your hand. That is what Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is to anyone who trusts him.

NoteA "bruised reed" is a cracked, hollow river plant. It looks like a walking stick but snaps and cuts you.

22But 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?

22Maybe you will say, 'We trust the LORD our God.' But isn't he the one whose hilltop places and altars Hezekiah tore down? Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem they must worship only at this one altar in Jerusalem.

23Now 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.

23Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I will even give you two thousand horses, if you can find riders for them!

24How 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?

24You could not beat even the least important officer my master has. And yet you count on Egypt for chariots and horsemen.

25Am 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.

25Do you think I came to destroy this place without the LORD's help? The LORD himself told me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"

26Then 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.

26Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the officer, "Please speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand it. Do not speak Hebrew where the people on the wall can hear you."

27But 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?

27But the officer answered, "My master did not send me to say this only to you and your king. He sent me to the men sitting on the wall. If this city is shut in, they will be so hungry and thirsty that they eat their own waste and drink their own urine, just like you."

28Then 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:

28Then the officer stood up and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

29Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:

29The king says: Do not let Hezekiah fool you. He cannot save you from my power.

30Neither 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.

30Do not let Hezekiah talk you into trusting the LORD. He says, 'The LORD will save us for sure. This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria.'

31Hearken 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:

31Do not listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you can eat fruit from your own grapevine and fig tree. Each of you can drink water from your own well.

32Until 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.

32You can do that until I come and take you to a land like your own. It has grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olive trees and honey. There you will live and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah. He is fooling you when he says, 'The LORD will save us.'

33Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

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

34Where 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?

34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they save Samaria from me?

35Who 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?

35Not one god of all these lands saved his land from me. So how could the LORD save Jerusalem from me?"

36But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

36The people stayed quiet and did not answer a single word. King Hezekiah had told them, "Do not answer him."

37Then 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.

37Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who ran the palace, went to Hezekiah. Shebna the writer and Joah son of Asaph, the record keeper, went too. They had torn their clothes to show how upset they were. They told Hezekiah everything the Assyrian officer had said.