2 Kings 18:4-37 ▼

4 He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles (goddess). He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan (snake) that Moses (drawn out) had made, for up to that time the Israelites (God prevails) had burned incense to it.

5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God {YHWH Elohe} of Israel (he wrestles with God). No king of Judah (praised) was like him, either before him or after him.

6 He remained faithful to the LORD {YHWH} and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses (drawn out).

7 And the LORD {YHWH} was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria (a step) and refused to serve him.

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

9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s (YHWH is my strength) reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea (salvation) son of Elah (An oak) over Israel (he wrestles with God), Shalmaneser (fire-worshipper) king of Assyria (a step) marched against Samaria (watch mountain) and besieged it.

10 And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria (watch mountain) was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength), which was the ninth year of Hoshea (salvation) king of Israel (he wrestles with God).

11 The king of Assyria (a step) exiled the Israelites (God prevails) to Assyria and settled them in Halah (painful), in Gozan (a cutting off) by the Habor (joining) River, and in the cities of the Medes (middle land).

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

13 In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s (YHWH is my strength) reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria (a step) attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah (praised).

14 So Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) king of Judah (praised) sent word to the king of Assyria (a step) at Lachish (invincible), 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 <11.3 t / 10.3 mt> and thirty talents of gold <1.13 t / 1.03 mt>.

15 Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD {YHWH} and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

16 At that time Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD {YHWH}, and he (praised) gave it to the king of Assyria (a step).

17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria (a step) sent the Tartan \Tartan/, the Rabsaris {Rabsaris}, and the Rabshakeh {Rabshakeh}, along with a great army, from Lachish (invincible) to King Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) at Jerusalem (city of peace). They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

18 Then they called for the king. And Eliakim (GGod sets up) son of Hilkiah (my portion is YHWH) the palace administrator, Shebnah (vigor) the scribe, and Joah (YHWH is brother) son of Asaph (gatherer) the recorder, went out to them.

19 The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria (a step), says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

20 You 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?

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

22 But if you⁺ say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God {YHWH Elohenu},’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) has removed, saying to Judah (praised) and Jerusalem (city of peace): ‘You⁺ must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

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

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

25 So now, was it apart from the LORD {YHWH} 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.’”

26 Then Eliakim (GGod sets up) son of Hilkiah (my portion is YHWH), along with Shebnah (vigor) and Joah (YHWH is brother), said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic (language), since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew (in the dialect of Judah) in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

27 But 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?”

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

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

30 Do not let Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) persuade you⁺ to trust in the LORD {YHWH} when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria (a step).’

31 Do not listen to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength), for this is what the king of Assyria (a step) says: Make peace with me (Make a blessing with me) 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,

32 until 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 (YHWH is my strength), for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD {YHWH} will deliver us.’

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

34 Where are the gods of Hamath (fortress) and Arpad (I shall be supported)? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim (the two Sipparas), Hena (troubling), and Ivvah (ruin)? Have they delivered Samaria (watch mountain) from my hand?

35 Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD {YHWH} deliver Jerusalem (city of peace) from my hand?”

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

37 Then Hilkiah’s (my portion is YHWH) son Eliakim (GGod sets up) the palace administrator, Shebna (vigor) the scribe, and Asaph’s (gatherer) son Joah (YHWH is brother) the recorder came to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.