CSB

CSB

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Format by: Verse Paragraph
Strong's
Red Letter
Audio Bibles
Copy Options
Cite Print
The Blue Letter Bible

2 Kings 18 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Choose a new font size and typeface
Audio Bibles
Judah’s King Hezekiah
(2Ch 29:1, 2; 31:1 )
Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:1 -

In the third year of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Hezekiah son of Ahaz became king of Judah.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:2 -

He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi[fn] daughter of Zechariah.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:3 -

He did what was right in the LORD’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:4 -

He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made, for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.[fn]

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:5 -

Hezekiah relied on the LORD God of Israel; not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:6 -

He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following him but kept the commands the LORD had commanded Moses.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:7 -

The LORD was with him, and wherever he went he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:8 -

He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.

Review of Israel’s Fall
Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:9 -

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Assyria’s King Shalmaneser marched against Samaria and besieged it.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:10 -

The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Samaria was captured.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:11 -

The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes,

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:12 -

because they did not listen to the LORD their God but violated his covenant ​— ​all he had commanded Moses the servant of the LORD. They did not listen, and they did not obey.

Sennacherib’s Invasion
Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:13 -

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Assyria’s King Sennacherib attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:14 -

So King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay.” The king of Assyria demanded eleven tons[fn] of silver and one ton[fn] of gold from King Hezekiah of Judah.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:15 -

So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the LORD’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:16 -

At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the LORD’s sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.

(Isa 36:2–22; 2Ch 32:9–15 )
Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:17 -

Then the king of Assyria sent the field marshal, the chief of staff, and his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and[fn] they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:18 -

They called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them.

The Royal Spokesman’s Speech
Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:19 -

Then the royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?[fn]

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:20 -

“You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:21 -

“Now look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:22 -

“Suppose you say to me, “We rely on the LORD our God.” Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem” ? ’

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:23 -

“So now, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them!

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:24 -

“How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master’s servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:25 -

“Now, have I attacked this place to destroy it without the LORD’s approval? The LORD said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’ ”

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:26 -

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak with us in Hebrew[fn] within earshot of the people on the wall.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:27 -

But the royal spokesman said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you? Hasn’t he also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine? ”

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:28 -

The royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:29 -

“This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you; he can’t rescue you from my power.

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:30 -

“Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD by saying, “Certainly the LORD will rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ’

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:31 -

“Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace[fn] with me and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and each may drink water from his own cistern

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:32 -

“until I come and take you away to a land like your own land ​— ​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 don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The LORD will rescue us.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:33 -

Has any of the gods of the nations ever rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:34 -

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?[fn] Have they rescued Samaria from my power?

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:35 -

Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued his land from my power? So will the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power? ’ ”

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:36 -

But the people kept silent; they did not answer him at all, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.”

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 18:37 -

Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman.

CSB Footnotes
= Abijah in 2Ch 29:1
= A Bronze Thing
Lit 300 talents
Lit 30 talents
LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads and came and
Lit ‘What is this trust which you trust
Lit Judahite, also in v. 28
Lit a blessing
Some LXX mss, Old Lat read Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of the land of Samaria?
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

BLB Searches
Search the Bible
CSB
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
CSB

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

2 Kings Chapter 18 — Additional Translations: