| Chapter
18 |
| 1 | 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. |
| 2 | Twenty 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. |
| 3 | And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD,
according to all that David his father did. |
| 4 | He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut
down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made:
for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he
called it Nehushtan. |
| 5 | He
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. |
| 6 | For he clave to the LORD, and departed
not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded
Moses. |
| 7 | And the LORD was
with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against
the king of Assyria, and served him not. |
| 8 | He smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza, and the borders
thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. |
| 9 | And 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. |
| 10 | And at the end of
three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is in the
ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. |
| 11 | And 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: |
|
12 | Because 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. |
|
13 | Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did
Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and
took them. |
| 14 | And
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. |
|
15 | And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house
of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house. |
| 16 | At 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. |
| 17 | And 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. |
| 18 | And 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. |
|
19 | And 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? |
| 20
| Thou 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? |
| 21 | Now, 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. |
| 22
| But 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? |
| 23 | Now 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. |
| 24 | How 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? |
| 25 | Am 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. |
| 26 | Then 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. |
| 27 | But 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? |
| 28
| Then 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: |
| 29 | Thus saith
the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you
out of his hand: |
| 30 |
Neither 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. |
| 31 | Hearken 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: |
| 32 | Until 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. |
| 33 |
Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand
of the king of Assyria? |
| 34 |
Where 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? |
| 35 | Who 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? |
| 36 | But the people held their peace, and
answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him
not. |
| 37 | Then 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. |
