2 Kings 18 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

Hezekiah Rules in Judah

(2Ch 29:1, 2; 31:1 )

2Ki 18:1Hezekiah son of Ahaz began to rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel.

2Ki 18:2He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah,[fn] the daughter of Zechariah.

2Ki 18:3

2Ki 18:3He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done.

2Ki 18:4

2Ki 18:4He 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.[fn]

2Ki 18:5

2Ki 18:5Hezekiah 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.

2Ki 18:6

2Ki 18:6He remained faithful to the LORD in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the LORD had given Moses.

2Ki 18:7

2Ki 18:7So 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.

2Ki 18:8

2Ki 18:8He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory, from their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.

2Ki 18:9

2Ki 18:9During 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.

2Ki 18:10

2Ki 18:10Three years later, during the sixth year of King Hezekiah’s reign and the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Samaria fell.

2Ki 18:11

2Ki 18:11At 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.

2Ki 18:12

2Ki 18:12For 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

2Ki 18:13

2Ki 18:13In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,[fn] King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.

2Ki 18:14

2Ki 18:14King 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.[fn]

2Ki 18:15

2Ki 18:15To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the LORD and in the palace treasury.

2Ki 18:16

2Ki 18:16Hezekiah 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.

(Isa 36:2–22; 2Ch 32:9–15 )

2Ki 18:17

2Ki 18:17Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff[fn] from Lachish with a huge 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.[fn]

2Ki 18:18

2Ki 18:18They 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

2Ki 18:19

2Ki 18:19Then 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?

2Ki 18:20

2Ki 18:20Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?

2Ki 18:21

2Ki 18:21On 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!

2Ki 18:22

2Ki 18:22“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?

2Ki 18:23

2Ki 18:23“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!

2Ki 18:24

2Ki 18:24With 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?

2Ki 18:25

2Ki 18:25What’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!’”

2Ki 18:26

2Ki 18:26Then 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,[fn] for the people on the wall will hear.”

2Ki 18:27

2Ki 18:27But 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.”

2Ki 18:28

2Ki 18:28Then 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!

2Ki 18:29

2Ki 18:29This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you from my power.

2Ki 18:30

2Ki 18:30Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the LORD by saying, ‘The LORD will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’

2Ki 18:31

2Ki 18:31“Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.

2Ki 18:32

2Ki 18:32Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olive groves and honey. Choose life instead of death!
“Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us!’

2Ki 18:33

2Ki 18:33Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?

2Ki 18:34

2Ki 18:34What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?

2Ki 18:35

2Ki 18:35What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the LORD can rescue Jerusalem from me?”

2Ki 18:36

2Ki 18:36But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.”

2Ki 18:37

2Ki 18:37Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.