Hezekiah trusted(A) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast(B) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful(C) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled(D) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city,(E) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,(F) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king(G) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.(H) 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant(I)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.(J) They neither listened to the commands(K) nor carried them out.

13 In the fourteenth year(L) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah(M) and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:(N) “I have done wrong.(O) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[a] of silver and thirty talents[b] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave(P) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors(Q) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(R)(S)

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(T) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,(U) on the road to the Washerman’s Field.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons
  2. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 1 ton or about 1 metric ton

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