2 Kings 18
1 And it came to pass, in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, became king of Judah in the third year of the reign of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel.
2 Twenty-five years old, was he when he began to reign, and, twenty-nine years, reigned he in Jerusalem, —and, his mother’s name, was Abi, daughter of Zachariah.
He was twenty-five when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abi, daughter of Zechariah.
3 And he did that which was right in the eyes of Yahweh, —according to all that, David his father, did.
He did what was right in the Lord's sight, following all that his forefather David had done.
4 He, removed the high places, and brake in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Sacred Stem, —and beat in pieces the serpent of bronze that, Moses, had made, because, until those days, had the sons of Israel been burning incense thereunto, so he called it Nehushtan.
He removed the high places, smashed the stone idols, and cut down the Asherah poles. He ground to pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, because up to then the Israelites had been sacrificing offerings to it. It was called Nehushtan.
5 In Yahweh, God of Israel, did he trust, —so that, after him, was none like him, among all the kings of Judah, nor that were before him;
Hezekiah put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel. Among the kings of Judah there was no one like him, neither before him nor after him.
6 and he did cleave unto Yahweh, he turned not away from following him, —but kept his commandments, which, Yahweh, commanded, Moses.
He stayed faithful to the Lord and did not give up following him. He kept the commandments that the Lord had given Moses.
7 So Yahweh was with him, whithersoever he went forth, he prospered, —and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
The Lord was with him; he was successful in everything he did. He defied the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.
8 He, smote the Philistines, as far as Gazah, and her boundaries, —from the watchmen’s tower even to the fortified city.
He defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and the surrounding area, from watchtower to fortified town.
9 And it came to pass, in the fourth year of King Hezekiah—the same, was the seventh year of Hosea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and laid siege against it;
In the fourth year of Hezekiah's reign, equivalent to the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, attacked Samaria, besieging it.
10 and he captured it at the end of three years, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, —the same, is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, was Samaria captured.
The Assyrians conquered it after three years. This was during the sixth year of Hezekiah, equivalent to the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel.
11 So the king of Assyria drave away Israel to Assyria, —and settled them in Halah, and in Habor, by the river of Gozan, and the mountains of Media:
The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.
12 because they hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh their God, but transgressed his covenant, all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded, —they neither hearkened nor performed.
This happened because they refused to listen to the Lord their God and broke his agreement—all that Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded. They refused to listen and did not obey.
13 And, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, came up Sennacherib king of Assyria, against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah.
14 Then sent Hezekiah king of Judah unto the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying—I have sinned, Return from me, What thou shalt lay upon me, I will bear. So the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.
So Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent a message to the king of Assyria who was at Lachish, saying, “I've made a terrible mistake! Please retreat and leave me alone, and I'll pay you whatever you want!” The king of Assyria demanded Hezekiah, king of Judah, pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah delivered up all the silver that was found in the house of Yahweh, and in the treasuries of the house of the king.
Hezekiah paid him using all the silver from the Lord's Temple and the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh, and the columns, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, —and gave them unto the king of Assyria.
He even stripped the gold he had used to overlay the doors and doorposts of the Lord's Temple and gave everything to the king of Assyria.
17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rab-saris and Rab-shakeh, from Lachish unto King Hezekiah, with a heavy force to Jerusalem, —so they came up and drew near to Jerusalem, and took their stand by the upper channel of the pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
Even so, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his head officer, and his army general, along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They approached Jerusalem and made camp beside the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to where laundry is washed.
18 Then called they for the king, and there went out unto them Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, —and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.
They called for the king. Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with them.
19 And Rab-shakeh said unto them—Pray you, say unto Hezekiah, —Thus, saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What trust is this wherewith thou dost trust?
The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence?
20 Thou hast said—they are only words of the lips!—Counsel and might [have I] for the war. Now, in whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?
You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me?
21 Now, lo! thou dost trust thyself on the support of this bruised cane, on Egypt, whereon, if a man lean, it will enter his hand and lay it open, —so, is Pharaoh king of Egypt, to all who trust upon him.
Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him.
22 But, if ye should say unto me, In Yahweh our God, do we trust, Then is that not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, and said unto Judah, and unto Jerusalem—Before this altar, shall ye bow down, in Jerusalem?
If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’?
23 Now, therefore, pledge thyself, I pray thee, with my lord, the king of Assyria, —that I supply thee with two thousand horses, if thou, on thy part, be able to set riders upon them.
Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them!
24 How then wilt thou turn back the face of one pasha of the least of my lord’s servants? Or hast thou, on thy part, trusted to Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
25 Now, is it, without Yahweh, that I have come up against this place, to destroy it? Yahweh himself, said unto me, Go thou up against this land, and destroy it.
More than that—would I have come to attack this pace without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”
26 Then said Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rab-shakeh: Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants in the, Syrian, language, for, we, can, understand, it, —and do not speak with us in, the Jews’, language, in the ears of the people who are upon the wall.
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, together with Shebnah and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”
27 But Rab-shakeh said unto them—Is it, concerning thy lord, and concerning thee, that my lord hath sent me to speak these things? Is it not concerning the men who are tarrying upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own water with you?
But the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
28 So then Rab-shakeh took his stand, and cried out with a loud voice, in, the Jews’, language, —and spake, and said, Hear ye the message of the great king, the king of Assyria: —
Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria!
29 Thus, saith the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not he able to deliver you out of his hand;
This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you from me!
30 Neither let Hezekiah cause you to trust in Yahweh, saying, Yahweh, will, certainly deliver, us, —this city, therefore, shall not be given over into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’
31 Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, —for, thus, saith the king of Assyria, Deal with me thankfully, and come out unto me, then shall ye eat—every one of his own vine, and every one of his own fig-tree, and drink every one the waters of his own cistern;
Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well!
32 Until I come and take you, into a land like your own land—A land of corn and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and honey, so shall ye live, and not die, —But do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for he would persuade you, saying, Yahweh, will deliver us!
I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. But don't listen to Hezekiah, for he's tricking you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’
33 Have, the gods of the nations, at all delivered, any one of them, his country, out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Yea, did they deliver Samaria out of my hand?
Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Were they able to save Samaria from me?
35 Who are they, among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country, out of my hand, —that, Yahweh, should deliver, Jerusalem, out of my hand?
Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”
36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word, —for, the command of the king, it was, saying—Ye must not answer him.
But the people remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”
37 Then came in Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, unto Hezekiah, with rent clothes, —and they told him the words of Rab-shakeh.
Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.
