2 *Kings 18

₁Hezekiah, son of King Ahaz of Judah, became king in the 3rd year after Hoshea, son of Elah, had become king_of_Israel. ₂Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king and he was king in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah. ₃Hezekiah did things that the Lord loves, like his forefather David had done. ₄It was Hezekiah who broke down the places_of_sacrifice and the sacred_pillars and the Asherah poles. He also broke the bronze snake that Moses had made in the desert into pieces, because the people of Israel had always burnt incense-offerings to this snake. They named the snake Nehushtan.

₅Hezekiah believed that the Lord, the God of Israel, would do what He said. There was never another king like Hezekiah in the land_of_Judah, not before him or after him. ₆He continued to serve the Lord. He did not stop listening to Him and he listened to the laws that God had given to Moses. ₇The Lord was with Hezekiah and He blessed him in everything he did. Hezekiah rebelled_against the king of Assyria and he stopped doing what the king of Assyria wanted. ₈Hezekiah defeated the Philistines from as far away as the town of Gaza and all the small towns near Gaza.

₉In the 4th year after Hezekiah had become king, which was in the 7th year after Hoshea, son of Elah, had become king_of_Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came and he besieged Samaria. ₁₀After 3 years he defeated the city. It was in the 6th year after Hezekiah had become king_of_Judah and in the 9th year after Hoshea had become king_of_Israel. ₁₁The king of Assyria caught the people of Israel and he took them away to Assyria. He let them live in the town of Halah, in Gozan at the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. ₁₂This happened because the Israelites did not listen to the Lord their God. They did not do what God had said in his covenant, and they also did not do what Moses, the servant of the Lord, had said. They did not listen to God or do what they had to do.

₁₃King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the cities that had walls around them in the land_of_Judah and he defeated them. It was in the 14th year after Hezekiah had become king_of_Judah. ₁₄King Hezekiah sent a message to the king of Assyria in the town of Lachish. Hezekiah said to him: ‘I have done wrong. You must not go to war_against me. I will pay you what you ask for.’

The king of Assyria told Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. ₁₅Hezekiah gave the king of Assyria all the silver he could find in the temple and in the store rooms of the palace. ₁₆Hezekiah also took off the golden plates that he had put onto the doors of the temple and the frames of the doors. He gave it all to the king of Assyria.

₁₇The king of Assyria sent his chief_officer and 2 other important officers from the town of Lachish to King Hezekiah. Many soldiers came with the officers. The officers stopped at the channel which brought water from the upper dam. It was near the place where the people who made clothes always washed the wool. ₁₈The officers shouted and asked where the king was. Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and Shebna the secretary and Joah, son of Asaph, went to the officers. They were the 3 most important_officials of King Hezekiah. ₁₉The chief_officer said to them: ‘You must tell King Hezekiah that we bring a message from the great king, the king of Assyria. The king asks Hezekiah: “Do you think anyone can help you? ₂₀You want to go to war_against me, but it will not help just to talk and to make plans. ₂₁You think that Egypt will help you, but Egypt is like a reed that has been broken. If you want to use it like a staff when you walk, it will only hurt your hand. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is the same as a reed staff to anyone who thinks that he will help them. ₂₂And if you say that the Lord your God will help you, I say that He will not help you, because Hezekiah has broken down your God's places_of_sacrifice and altars. Hezekiah told the people of Judah and Jerusalem that they could pray only at the altar in Jerusalem. ₂₃I will tell you what my king, the king of Assyria, will do. He will give you 2 000 horses, if you have enough soldiers to ride the horses. But you do not have enough soldiers. ₂₄You can not win a war_against one of our governors, not even against one of the unimportant officials of my king. But you think Egypt can help you. You think that Egypt will give you war-chariots and horses. ₂₅You must also know: It is not I who decided to destroy this land. It was the Lord who told me to go and destroy this land.” ’

₂₆Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, Shebna and Joah said to the chief_officer: ‘Please speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand your language. Do not speak to us in Hebrew because we do not want the people on the wall of the city to understand what you say.’ ₂₇But the chief_officer said: ‘My king has sent this message not only to your king and to you. I must also bring this message to those people who sit on the wall. They will have to eat their own droppings and drink their own urine and you will also have to do it.’

₂₈Then the chief_officer went to the wall and he talked very loudly in Hebrew and said: ‘You must listen to what the great king of Assyria says. ₂₉The king says you must not listen to Hezekiah. Do not let him lie to you. Hezekiah can not save you from me. ₃₀Hezekiah says you must believe that God will help you. He says the king of Assyria will not defeat this city, and he says this is sure. But you must not believe Hezekiah. ₃₁Do not listen to him, because the king of Assyria says: “You must make peace with me and you must come to me. Then you can all stay on your own field and everyone can eat his own grapes and figs and drink water from his water-well. ₃₂Later I will come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land full of wheat and wine, a land full of food and vineyards, a land with olive oil and honey. I will do it so that you live and do not die. You must be careful that Hezekiah does not deceive you. He says the Lord will save you, ₃₃but I ask you: Could the gods of the other nations help them against the king of Assyria? ₃₄No. Where are the gods from the towns of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Those gods could not help them. And who could protect the people of Samaria from me? No one. ₃₅Could any of those gods of those lands protect them from me? No, not one, and the Lord can not protect Jerusalem from me.” ’

₃₆Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and the 2 other men did not say anything. They did not answer the chief_officer because King Hezekiah had told them not to answer him. ₃₇They went to Hezekiah and they tore their clothes and told him what the chief_officer had said.