2 Kings, 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.

1. Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, began to reign in Judah in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel.

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.

2. He was twenty-five years old then, and his reign in Jerusalem lasted for twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah.

3. And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did.

3. He did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh, like David, his ancestor.

4. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

4. He did away with the sanctuaries on the hills, demolished the standing stones and cut down the sacred pillars. He also destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had fashioned in the desert for, until that time, the Israelites were offering sacrifices to it and 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.

5. He trusted in Yahweh more than any of the kings of Judah who preceded or succeeded him and he never departed from Yahweh.

6. For he clave to the LORD, [and] departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.

6. He kept the commandments Yahweh had given through 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.

7. For that reason, Yahweh was with him; he succeeded in all his undertakings. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and was no longer subject to him.

8. He smote the Philistines, [even] unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

8. He imposed his authority on the Philistines as far as Gaza, and seized their land from the watchtowers to the fortified cities.

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.

9. In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, which was the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came 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] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

10. At the end of three years, he conquered it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was conquered.

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:

11. The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, on the Habor, 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].

12. This happened to them because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, their God, and had broken his covenant; they did not listen to nor put into practice what Moses, the servant of Yahweh, had commanded 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.

13. In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up and invaded Judah; he laid siege to all the fortified cities and seized all of 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.

14. Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent a message to Sennacherib who was in Lachish, "I have acted badly, stop your attack and I will do whatever you demand of me." The king of Assyria demanded that Hezekiah give a contribution of three hundred talents of silver and thirty 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.

15. Hezekiah then handed over to him all the money that was found in the House of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

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.

16. It was at that time that Hezekiah ordered that the gold sheets, with which he himself had adorned the doorposts, be stripped from the gates of the House of Yahweh, and given 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.

17. From Lachish the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. They halted at the channel of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field. The field commander called for the king; and

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.

18. Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, went out to him together with Shebnah the secretary and Joah 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?

19. The field commander said to them, "Give Hezekiah this message from the great king of Assyria: How can you be so confident?

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?

20. You thought that words are as good as wisdom and replace strength in time of war? On whom are you relying that you rebel 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.

21. You rely on Egypt, a broken staff which pierces the palm of him who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, for all who rely 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?

22. Yes, you may say to me: 'We rely on Yahweh our God.' But isn't he the one whose altars and high places Hezekiah removed when he commanded Judah and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar?

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.

23. Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king. I will give you two thousand horses if you are able to supply riders.

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?

24. How could you ever repulse one of the least of my master's generals? And you rely on Egypt for chariots and 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.

25. Do you think that I have come to attack and destroy this land without consulting Yahweh? He himself said to me: Go up to this land and conquer 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.

26. Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, "Speak to your servants in Aramaic; we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of these people on the walls."

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?

27. But the field commander said, "Do you think that my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you? Is it not also to the men on the walls who, with you, will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?"

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:

28. Then the field commander stood and cried out with a loud voice in Hebrew, "Hear the words of the great 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:

29. Do not let Hezekiah deceive you! No, he will not be able to help you!

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.

30. Do not listen to him when he tells you to trust in Yahweh, saying, 'Yahweh will save us; this city will not be given over to the king of Assyria.' Do not listen to Hezekiah but

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:

31. to what the king of Assyria says, 'Make your peace with me and surrender. Then I will let each of you eat of your vine and of your fig tree and drink the water of your cistern until I come again.

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.

32. Then I will take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, of bread and vineyards, of oil and honey, that you may live and not die. Hezekiah is misleading you when he says that Yahweh will save you.

33. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

33. Have the gods of the nations rescued their land from the hands 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?

34. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? And have the gods delivered Samaria from my 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?

35. Who among all the gods of these nations has been able to save his country from me? Do you think that Yahweh will deliver Jerusalem from my hand?"

36. But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

36. The people were like deaf men and remained silent, since the king had commanded them not to answer him.

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.

37. Then Eliakim with Shebna and Joah came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the field commander had said.