HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 715
page 345
what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just
as his ancestor David had done. 4 He removed
the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars,
and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up
the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering
sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called
Nehushtan.*
5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the
kings of Judah, either before or after his time.
6 He remained faithful to the Lord in everything,
and he carefully obeyed all the commands the
Lord had given Moses. 7 So the Lord was with
him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything
he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria
and refused to pay him tribute. 8 He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and
its territory, from their smallest outpost to their
largest walled city.
9 During the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign,
which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s
reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria
attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege
against it. 10 Three years later, during the sixth
year of King Hezekiah’s reign and the ninth year
of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Samaria fell.
11 At that time the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies
in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River
in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 For
they refused to listen to the Lord their God and
obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant—
all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had
commanded them to obey.
Assyria Invades Judah
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hez e ki ah’s
reign,* King Sennacherib of Assyria came to
attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them. 14 King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have
done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money
you demand if you will only withdraw.” The
king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of
more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of
gold.* 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah
used all the silver stored in the Temple of the
Lord and in the palace treasury. 16 Hezekiah
even stripped the gold from the doors of the
Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had
overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.
17 Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his
commander in chief, his field commander, and
his chief of staff* from Lachish with a huge
18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew terms that mean
“snake,” “bronze,” and “unclean thing.” 18:13 The
fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign was 701 b.c.
18:14 Hebrew 300 talents [10 metric tons] of silver and
30 talents [1 metric ton] of gold. 18:17a Or the rabshakeh;
also in 18:19, 26, 27, 28, 37. 18:17b Or bleached.
18:26 Hebrew in the dialect of Judah; also in 18:28.
2 KINGS 18
army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem.
The Assyrians took up a position beside the
aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool,
near the road leading to the field where cloth is
washed.* 18 They summoned King Hezekiah, but
the king sent these officials to meet with them:
Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of
Asaph, the royal historian.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
19 Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told
them to give this message to Hezekiah:
“This is what the great king of Assyria
says: What are you trusting in that makes
you so confident? 20 Do you think that mere
words can substitute for military skill and
strength? Who are you counting on, that
you have rebelled against me? 21 On Egypt?
If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed
that splinters beneath your weight and
pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of
Egypt, is completely unreliable!
22 “But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We
are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t
he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah?
Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and
altars and make everyone in Judah and
Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in
Jerusalem?
23 “I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with
my master, the king of Assyria. I will give
you 2,000 horses if you can find that many
men to ride on them! 24 With your tiny army,
how can you think of challenging even the
weakest contingent of my master’s troops,
even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and
charioteers? 25 What’s more, do you think we
have invaded your land without the Lord’s
direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack
this land and destroy it!’”
26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and
Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please
speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it
well. Don’t speak in Hebrew,* for the people on
the wall will hear.”
27 But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do
you think my master sent this message only to
you and your master? He wants all the people
to hear it, for when we put this city under siege,
they will suffer along with you. They will be so
hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own
dung and drink their own urine.”
28 Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in
Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this
message from the great king of Assyria! 29 This is
what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive
you. He will never be able to rescue you from
my power. 30 Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely