2 Kings 14-20

English Standard Version

Amaziah Reigns in Judah

14 ^(A)In the ^(B)second year of Joash the son of Joahaz, king of Israel, ^(C)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jehoaddin of Jerusalem. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did in all things as Joash his father had done. ^4 (D)But the high places were not removed; ^(E)the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. ⁵ And as soon as the royal power was ^(F)firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants ^(G)who had struck down the king his father. ⁶ But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, ^(H)“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”

^7 (I)He struck down ten thousand Edomites in ^(J)the Valley of Salt and took ^(K)Sela by storm, and called it ^(L)Joktheel, which is its name to this day.

^8 (M)Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash^[a] the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, “Come, ^(N)let us look one another in the face.” ⁹ And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, ^(O)“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle. ¹⁰ You have indeed ^(P)struck down Edom, ^(Q)and your heart has lifted you up. Be content with your glory, and stay at home, for why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you?”

¹¹ But Amaziah would not listen. So Jehoash king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah king of Judah ^(R)faced one another in battle at ^(S)Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah. ¹² And Judah was defeated by Israel, ^(T)and every man fled to his home. ¹³ And Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh, and came to Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem for four hundred cubits,^[b] from ^(U)the Ephraim Gate to ^(V)the Corner Gate. ¹⁴ And he seized ^(W)all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house, also hostages, and he returned to Samaria.

^15 (X)Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash that he did, and his might, and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹⁶ And Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam his son reigned in his place.

^17 (Y)Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived fifteen years after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel. ¹⁸ Now the rest of the deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ¹⁹ And they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to ^(Z)Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish and put him to death there. ²⁰ And they brought him on horses; and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers in the city of David. ²¹ And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ²² He built ^(AA)Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers.

Jeroboam II Reigns in Israel

²³ In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. ²⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AB)which he made Israel to sin. ^25 (AC)He restored the border of Israel ^(AD)from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of ^(AE)the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant ^(AF)Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from ^(AG)Gath-hepher. ²⁶ For the Lord ^(AH)saw that the affliction of Israel was very bitter, ^(AI)for there was none left, bond or free, and there was none to help Israel. ^27 (AJ)But the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, so he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he restored ^(AK)Damascus and ^(AL)Hamath to Judah in Israel, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁹ And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son reigned in his place.

Azariah Reigns in Judah

15 ^(AM)In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, ^(AN)Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was ^(AO)sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ³ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ^4 (AP)Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. ^5 (AQ)And the Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper^[c] to the day of his death, ^(AR)and he lived in a separate house.^[d] And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land. ⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ⁷ And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers ^(AS)in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Zechariah Reigns in Israel

⁸ In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. ⁹ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(AT)which he made Israel to sin. ¹⁰ Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and ^(AU)struck him down at Ibleam and put him to death and reigned in his place. ¹¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹² (This was ^(AV)the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it came to pass.)

Shallum Reigns in Israel

¹³ Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of ^(AW)Uzziah^[e] king of Judah, and he reigned one month in ^(AX)Samaria. ¹⁴ Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from ^(AY)Tirzah and came to Samaria, and he struck down Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria and put him to death and reigned in his place. ¹⁵ Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and the conspiracy that he made, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶ At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah and all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on, because they did not open it to him. Therefore he sacked it, ^(AZ)and he ripped open all the women in it who were pregnant.

Menahem Reigns in Israel

¹⁷ In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem the son of Gadi began to reign over Israel, and he reigned ten years in Samaria. ¹⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart all his days from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. ^19 (BA)Pul^[f] the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave ^(BB)Pul a thousand talents^[g] of silver, that he might help him ^(BC)to confirm his hold on the royal power. ²⁰ Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels^[h] of silver from every man, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. ²¹ Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²² And Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah his son reigned in his place.

Pekahiah Reigns in Israel

²³ In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(BD)which he made Israel to sin. ²⁵ And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty men of the people of Gilead, and struck him down in Samaria, in the citadel of the king's house with Argob and Arieh; he put him to death and reigned in his place. ²⁶ Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah Reigns in Israel

²⁷ In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. ²⁸ And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(BE)which he made Israel to sin.

²⁹ In the days of Pekah king of Israel, ^(BF)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured ^(BG)Ijon, ^(BH)Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, ^(BI)Kedesh, ^(BJ)Hazor, Gilead, and ^(BK)Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria. ³⁰ Then Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah and struck him down and put him to death and reigned in his place, ^(BL)in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. ³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham Reigns in Judah

³² In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, began to reign. ³³ He was ^(BM)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerusha the daughter of Zadok. ³⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, ^(BN)according to all that his father Uzziah had done. ^35 (BO)Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built ^(BP)the upper gate of the house of the Lord. ³⁶ Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ³⁷ In those days the Lord began to send ^(BQ)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(BR)Pekah the son of Remaliah against Judah. ³⁸ Jotham slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Ahaz his son reigned in his place.

Ahaz Reigns in Judah

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, began to reign. ² Ahaz was ^(BS)twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God, as his father David had done, ³ but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. ^(BT)He even burned his son as an offering,^{[i] (BU)}according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. ^4 (BV)And he sacrificed and made offerings ^(BW)on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

^5 (BX)Then Rezin king of Syria and ^(BY)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz ^(BZ)but could not conquer him. ⁶ At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered ^(CA)Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from ^(CB)Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. ^7 (CC)So Ahaz sent messengers to ^(CD)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz also ^(CE)took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. ^9 (CF)And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus ^(CG)and took it, carrying its people captive to ^(CH)Kir, and he killed Rezin.

¹⁰ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet ^(CI)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to ^(CJ)Uriah the priest a model of the altar, and its pattern, exact in all its details. ¹¹ And Uriah the priest built the altar; in accordance with all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so Uriah the priest made it, before King Ahaz arrived from Damascus. ¹² And when the king came from Damascus, the king viewed the altar. ^(CK)Then the king drew near to the altar and went up on it ¹³ and burned his burnt offering and his grain offering and poured his drink offering and threw the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. ¹⁴ And ^(CL)the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed ^(CM)from the front of the house, from the place between ^(CN)his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of ^(CO)his altar. ¹⁵ And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn ^(CP)the morning burnt offering and the evening grain offering and the king's burnt offering and his grain offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. And throw on it all the blood of the burnt offering and all the blood of the sacrifice, but ^(CQ)the bronze altar shall be for me to inquire by.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did all this, as King Ahaz commanded.

¹⁷ And King Ahaz cut off the frames of the stands and removed the basin from them, and he took down ^(CR)the sea^[j] from off the bronze oxen that were under it and put it on a stone pedestal. ¹⁸ And the covered way for the Sabbath that had been built inside the house and the outer entrance for the king he caused to go around the house of the Lord, because of the king of Assyria. ¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz that he did, are they not written ^(CS)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁰ And Ahaz slept with his fathers and ^(CT)was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.

Hoshea Reigns in Israel

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, ^(CU)Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. ² And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. ^3 (CV)Against him came up ^(CW)Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. ⁴ But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. ⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

The Fall of Israel

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria ^(CX)captured Samaria, ^(CY)and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria ^(CZ)and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of ^(DA)Gozan, and in the cities of ^(DB)the Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

⁷ And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, ^(DC)who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods ^8 (DD)and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, ^(DE)and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. ⁹ And the people of Israel did secretly against the Lord their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, ^(DF)from watchtower to fortified city. ¹⁰ They set up for themselves ^(DG)pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, ¹¹ and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, ¹² and they served idols, ^(DH)of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” ¹³ Yet the Lord ^(DI)warned Israel and Judah ^(DJ)by every prophet ^(DK)and every seer, saying, ^(DL)“Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”

¹⁴ But they would not listen, ^(DM)but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They despised his statutes ^(DN)and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after ^(DO)false idols ^(DP)and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the ^(DQ)Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. ¹⁶ And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of ^(DR)two calves; and they ^(DS)made an Asherah and ^(DT)worshiped all the host of heaven and served ^(DU)Baal. ^17 (DV)And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings^[k] and used ^(DW)divination and ^(DX)omens and ^(DY)sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. ¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but ^(DZ)the tribe of Judah only.

^19 (EA)Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. ²⁰ And the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them ^(EB)and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

^21 (EC)When he had torn Israel from the house of David, ^(ED)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord ^(EE)and made them commit great sin. ²² The people of Israel walked in all the sins that Jeroboam did. They did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, ^(EF)as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. ^(EG)So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

^24 (EH)And the king of Assyria brought people from ^(EI)Babylon, Cuthah, ^(EJ)Avva, ^(EK)Hamath, and ^(EL)Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities. ²⁵ And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” ²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him^[l] go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.” ²⁸ So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in ^(EM)Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

²⁹ But every nation still made gods of its own and put them ^(EN)in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived. ³⁰ The men of ^(EO)Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, ³¹ and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites ^(EP)burned their children in the fire to ^(EQ)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of ^(ER)Sepharvaim. ^32 (ES)They also feared the Lord ^(ET)and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of ^(EU)the high places. ³³ So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.

³⁴ To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, ^(EV)whom he named Israel. ³⁵ The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, ^(EW)“You shall not fear other gods ^(EX)or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, ³⁶ but ^(EY)you shall fear the Lord, ^(EZ)who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and ^(FA)with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. ³⁷ And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, ^(FB)you shall always be careful to do. ^(FC)You shall not fear other gods, ³⁸ and ^(FD)you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. ^(FE)You shall not fear other gods, ³⁹ but ^(FF)you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” ⁴⁰ However, they would not listen, but they did according to their former manner.

^41 (FG)So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.

Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

18 ^(FH)In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^(FI)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. ² He was ^(FJ)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was ^(FK)Abi the daughter of Zechariah. ^3 (FL)And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. ^4 (FM)He removed the high places and broke the ^(FN)pillars and cut down ^(FO)the Asherah. And he broke in pieces ^(FP)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).^{[m] 5 (FQ)}He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, ^(FR)so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. ^6 (FS)For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. ^7 (FT)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, ^(FU)he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. ^8 (FV)He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, ^(FW)from watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, ^(FX)Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, ¹⁰ and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹ The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in ^(FY)Halah, and on the ^(FZ)Habor, ^(GA)the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Sennacherib Attacks Judah

^13 (GB)In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴ And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear.” ^(GC)And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents^[n] of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah ^(GD)gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. ¹⁷ And the king of Assyria sent the ^(GE)Tartan, the Rab-saris, and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by ^(GF)the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washer's Field. ¹⁸ And when they called for the king, there came out to them ^(GG)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(GH)Shebnah the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

¹⁹ And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? ²⁰ Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of ^(GI)a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ²² But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he ^(GJ)whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem”? ²³ Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴ How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵ Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”

²⁶ Then ^(GK)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and ^(GL)Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^(GM)Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?”

²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my^[o] hand. ³⁰ Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’ ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me^[p] and come out to me. Then ^(GN)each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^(GO)a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and ^(GP)honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (GQ)Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? ^34 (GR)Where are the gods of ^(GS)Hamath and ^(GT)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and ^(GU)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, ^(GV)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then ^(GW)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(GX)with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah

19 ^(GY)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, ^(GZ)he tore his clothes and ^(HA)covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. ² And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, ^(HB)covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. ^4 (HC)It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(HD)to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for ^(HE)the remnant that is left.” ⁵ When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which ^(HF)the servants of the king of Assyria have ^(HG)reviled me. ⁷ Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that ^(HH)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him ^(HI)fall by the sword in his own land.’”

Sennacherib Defies the Lord

⁸ The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(HJ)Libnah, for he heard that the king had left ^(HK)Lachish. ^9 (HL)Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God ^(HM)in whom you trust deceive you by promising that ^(HN)Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. ¹¹ Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? ^12 (HO)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, ^(HP)Gozan, ^(HQ)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of ^(HR)Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (HS)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah's Prayer

¹⁴ Hezekiah received ^(HT)the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^(HU)enthroned above the cherubim, ^(HV)you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. ^16 (HW)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^(HX)open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(HY)to mock the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, ^(HZ)but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. ¹⁹ So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, ^(IA)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that ^(IB)you, O Lord, are God alone.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria ^(IC)I have heard. ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

²⁹ “And this shall be ^(IT)the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ^30 (IU)And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion ^(IV)a band of survivors. ^(IW)The zeal of the Lord will do this.

³² “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or ^(IX)cast up a siege mound against it. ^33 (IY)By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. ^34 (IZ)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake ^(JA)and for the sake of my servant David.”

³⁵ And that night ^(JB)the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. ³⁶ Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at ^(JC)Nineveh. ³⁷ And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, ^(JD)Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery

20 ^(JE)In those days ^(JF)Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ^(JG)‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “Now, O Lord, ^(JH)please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and ^(JI)with a whole heart, ^(JJ)and have done what is good in your sight.” ^(JK)And Hezekiah wept bitterly. ⁴ And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah ^(JL)the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ^(JM)I have heard your prayer; ^(JN)I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, ⁶ and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, ^(JO)and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.” ⁷ And Isaiah said, “Bring a cake of figs. And let them take and lay it on the boil, that he may recover.”

⁸ And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” ⁹ And Isaiah said, “This shall be ^(JP)the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he has promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow ^(JQ)to lengthen ten steps. Rather let the shadow go back ten steps.” ¹¹ And Isaiah the prophet called to the Lord, ^(JR)and he brought the shadow back ten steps, by which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz.

Hezekiah and the Babylonian Envoys

^12 (JS)At that time ^(JT)Merodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, ^(JU)sent envoys with letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ And Hezekiah welcomed them, and he showed them ^(JV)all his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his armory, all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing in his house or in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say? And from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing in my storehouses that I did not show them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ Behold, the days are coming, when ^(JW)all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. ^18 (JX)And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, ^(JY)and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ^(JZ)“The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”

^20 (KA)The rest of the deeds of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made ^(KB)the pool and the conduit ^(KC)and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^21 (KD)And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.