Azariah Reigns in Judah

15 (A)In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, (B)Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. He was (C)sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. (D)Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. (E)And the Lord touched the king, so that he was a leper[a] to the day of his death, (F)and he lived in a separate house.[b] And Jotham the king's son was over the household, governing the people of the land. 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? And Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers (G)in the city of David, and Jotham his son reigned in his place.

Zechariah Reigns in Israel

In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. 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, (H)which he made Israel to sin. 10 Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and (I)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 (J)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 (K)Uzziah[c] king of Judah, and he reigned one month in (L)Samaria. 14 Then Menahem the son of Gadi came up from (M)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, (N)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 (O)Pul[d] the king of Assyria came against the land, and Menahem gave (P)Pul a thousand talents[e] of silver, that he might help him (Q)to confirm his hold on the royal power. 20 Menahem exacted the money from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy men, fifty shekels[f] 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, (R)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, (S)which he made Israel to sin.

29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, (T)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured (U)Ijon, (V)Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, (W)Kedesh, (X)Hazor, Gilead, and (Y)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, (Z)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 (AA)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, (AB)according to all that his father Uzziah had done. 35 (AC)Nevertheless, the high places were not removed. The people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built (AD)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 (AE)Rezin the king of Syria and (AF)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. Ahaz was (AG)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, but he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. (AH)He even burned his son as an offering,[g] (AI)according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. (AJ)And he sacrificed and made offerings (AK)on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

(AL)Then Rezin king of Syria and (AM)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to wage war on Jerusalem, and they besieged Ahaz (AN)but could not conquer him. At that time Rezin the king of Syria recovered (AO)Elath for Syria and drove the men of Judah from (AP)Elath, and the Edomites came to Elath, where they dwell to this day. (AQ)So Ahaz sent messengers to (AR)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.” Ahaz also (AS)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. (AT)And the king of Assyria listened to him. The king of Assyria marched up against Damascus (AU)and took it, carrying its people captive to (AV)Kir, and he killed Rezin.

10 When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet (AW)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, he saw the altar that was at Damascus. And King Ahaz sent to (AX)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. (AY)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 (AZ)the bronze altar that was before the Lord he removed (BA)from the front of the house, from the place between (BB)his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of (BC)his altar. 15 And King Ahaz commanded Uriah the priest, saying, “On the great altar burn (BD)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 (BE)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 (BF)the sea[h] 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 (BG)in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers and (BH)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, (BI)Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel, and he reigned nine years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not as the kings of Israel who were before him. (BJ)Against him came up (BK)Shalmaneser king of Assyria. And Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute. 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. Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria, and for three years he besieged it.

The Fall of Israel

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria (BL)captured Samaria, (BM)and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria (BN)and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of (BO)Gozan, and in the cities of (BP)the Medes.

Exile Because of Idolatry

And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, (BQ)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 (BR)and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, (BS)and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. 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, (BT)from watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves (BU)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, (BV)of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.” 13 Yet the Lord (BW)warned Israel and Judah (BX)by every prophet (BY)and every seer, saying, (BZ)“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, (CA)but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They despised his statutes (CB)and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after (CC)false idols (CD)and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the (CE)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 (CF)two calves; and they (CG)made an Asherah and (CH)worshiped all the host of heaven and served (CI)Baal. 17 (CJ)And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings[i] and used (CK)divination and (CL)omens and (CM)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 (CN)the tribe of Judah only.

19 (CO)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 (CP)and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 (CQ)When he had torn Israel from the house of David, (CR)they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord (CS)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, (CT)as he had spoken by all his servants the prophets. (CU)So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.

Assyria Resettles Samaria

24 (CV)And the king of Assyria brought people from (CW)Babylon, Cuthah, (CX)Avva, (CY)Hamath, and (CZ)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[j] 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 (DA)Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them (DB)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 (DC)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 (DD)burned their children in the fire to (DE)Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of (DF)Sepharvaim. 32 (DG)They also feared the Lord (DH)and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of (DI)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, (DJ)whom he named Israel. 35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, (DK)“You shall not fear other gods (DL)or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but (DM)you shall fear the Lord, (DN)who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and (DO)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, (DP)you shall always be careful to do. (DQ)You shall not fear other gods, 38 and (DR)you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. (DS)You shall not fear other gods, 39 but (DT)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 (DU)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 (DV)In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, (DW)Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was (DX)twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was (DY)Abi the daughter of Zechariah. (DZ)And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. (EA)He removed the high places and broke the (EB)pillars and cut down (EC)the Asherah. And he broke in pieces (ED)the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).[k] (EE)He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, (EF)so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. (EG)For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. (EH)And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, (EI)he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. (EJ)He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, (EK)from watchtower to fortified city.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, (EL)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 (EM)Halah, and on the (EN)Habor, (EO)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 (EP)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.” (EQ)And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[l] of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah (ER)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 (ES)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 (ET)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 (EU)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and (EV)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 (EW)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 (EX)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 (EY)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and (EZ)Shebnah, and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in (FA)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[m] 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[n] and come out to me. Then (FB)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, (FC)a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and (FD)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 (FE)Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 (FF)Where are the gods of (FG)Hamath and (FH)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and (FI)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, (FJ)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 (FK)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 (FL)with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah

19 (FM)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, (FN)he tore his clothes and (FO)covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, (FP)covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 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. (FQ)It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent (FR)to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for (FS)the remnant that is left.” When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 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 (FT)the servants of the king of Assyria have (FU)reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that (FV)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him (FW)fall by the sword in his own land.’”

Sennacherib Defies the Lord

The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (FX)Libnah, for he heard that the king had left (FY)Lachish. (FZ)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 (GA)in whom you trust deceive you by promising that (GB)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 (GC)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (GD)Gozan, (GE)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of (GF)Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (GG)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 (GH)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, (GI)enthroned above the cherubim, (GJ)you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 (GK)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; (GL)open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent (GM)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, (GN)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, (GO)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that (GP)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 (GQ)I have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:

“She despises you, she scorns you—
    (GR)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she (GS)wags her head behind you—
    the daughter of Jerusalem.

22 “Whom have you (GT)mocked and (GU)reviled?
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
    Against (GV)the Holy One of Israel!
23 (GW)By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
    and you have said, (GX)‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
    to the far recesses of (GY)Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
    its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest lodging place,
    its most (GZ)fruitful forest.
24 I dug wells
    and drank foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
    all the streams (HA)of Egypt.’

25 “Have you not heard
    that (HB)I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
    what (HC)now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
    into heaps of ruins,
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
    are dismayed and confounded,
and have become (HD)like plants of the field
    and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
    blighted before it is grown.

27 “But I know your sitting down
    (HE)and your going out and coming in,
    and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me
    and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will (HF)put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth,
and (HG)I will turn you back on the way
    by which you came.

29 “And this shall be (HH)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 (HI)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 (HJ)a band of survivors. (HK)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 (HL)cast up a siege mound against it. 33 (HM)By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 (HN)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake (HO)and for the sake of my servant David.”

35 And that night (HP)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 (HQ)Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, (HR)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.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 15:5 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  2. 2 Kings 15:5 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  3. 2 Kings 15:13 Another name for Azariah
  4. 2 Kings 15:19 Another name for Tiglath-pileser III (compare verse 29)
  5. 2 Kings 15:19 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  6. 2 Kings 15:20 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  7. 2 Kings 16:3 Or made his son pass through the fire
  8. 2 Kings 16:17 Compare 1 Kings 7:23
  9. 2 Kings 17:17 Or made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire
  10. 2 Kings 17:27 Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew them
  11. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and serpent
  12. 2 Kings 18:14 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  13. 2 Kings 18:29 Hebrew his
  14. 2 Kings 18:31 Hebrew Make a blessing with me

Azariah King of Judah(A)

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah[a](B) son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right(C) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

The Lord afflicted(D) the king with leprosy[b] until the day he died, and he lived in a separate house.[c](E) Jotham(F) the king’s son had charge of the palace(G) and governed the people of the land.

As for the other events of Azariah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Azariah rested(H) with his ancestors and was buried near them in the City of David. And Jotham(I) his son succeeded him as king.

Zechariah King of Israel

In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. He did evil(J) in the eyes of the Lord, as his predecessors had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people,[d] assassinated(K) him and succeeded him as king. 11 The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals(L) of the kings of Israel. 12 So the word of the Lord spoken to Jehu was fulfilled:(M) “Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”[e]

Shallum King of Israel

13 Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria(N) one month. 14 Then Menahem son of Gadi went from Tirzah(O) up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria, assassinated(P) him and succeeded him as king.

15 The other events of Shallum’s reign, and the conspiracy he led, are written in the book of the annals(Q) of the kings of Israel.

16 At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah(R) and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open(S) their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

Menahem King of Israel

17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. 18 He did evil(T) in the eyes of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

19 Then Pul[f](U) king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents[g] of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. 20 Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels[h] of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew(V) and stayed in the land no longer.

21 As for the other events of Menahem’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 22 Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.

Pekahiah King of Israel

23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. 24 Pekahiah did evil(W) in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. 25 One of his chief officers, Pekah(X) son of Remaliah, conspired against him. Taking fifty men of Gilead with him, he assassinated(Y) Pekahiah, along with Argob and Arieh, in the citadel of the royal palace at Samaria. So Pekah killed Pekahiah and succeeded him as king.

26 The other events of Pekahiah’s reign, and all he did, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.

Pekah King of Israel

27 In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah(Z) son of Remaliah(AA) became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twenty years. 28 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.

29 In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser(AB) king of Assyria came and took Ijon,(AC) Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali,(AD) and deported(AE) the people to Assyria. 30 Then Hoshea(AF) son of Elah conspired against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked and assassinated(AG) him, and then succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

31 As for the other events of Pekah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals(AH) of the kings of Israel?

Jotham King of Judah(AI)

32 In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham(AJ) son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 34 He did what was right(AK) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. 35 The high places,(AL) however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate(AM) of the temple of the Lord.

36 As for the other events of Jotham’s reign, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 37 (In those days the Lord began to send Rezin(AN) king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.) 38 Jotham rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David, the city of his father. And Ahaz his son succeeded him as king.

Ahaz King of Judah(AO)

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz(AP) son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right(AQ) in the eyes of the Lord his God. He followed the ways of the kings of Israel(AR) and even sacrificed his son(AS) in the fire, engaging in the detestable(AT) practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He offered sacrifices and burned incense(AU) at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.(AV)

Then Rezin(AW) king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz, but they could not overpower him. At that time, Rezin(AX) king of Aram recovered Elath(AY) for Aram by driving out the people of Judah. Edomites then moved into Elath and have lived there to this day.

Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser(AZ) king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save(BA) me out of the hand of the king of Aram and of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” And Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent it as a gift(BB) to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus(BC) and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir(BD) and put Rezin to death.

10 Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria. He saw an altar in Damascus and sent to Uriah(BE) the priest a sketch of the altar, with detailed plans for its construction. 11 So Uriah the priest built an altar in accordance with all the plans that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus and finished it before King Ahaz returned. 12 When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings[i](BF) on it. 13 He offered up his burnt offering(BG) and grain offering,(BH) poured out his drink offering,(BI) and splashed the blood of his fellowship offerings(BJ) against the altar. 14 As for the bronze altar(BK) that stood before the Lord, he brought it from the front of the temple—from between the new altar and the temple of the Lord—and put it on the north side of the new altar.

15 King Ahaz then gave these orders to Uriah the priest: “On the large new altar, offer the morning(BL) burnt offering and the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and his grain offering, and the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their grain offering and their drink offering. Splash against this altar the blood of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance.”(BM) 16 And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

17 King Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed the basins from the movable stands. He removed the Sea from the bronze bulls that supported it and set it on a stone base.(BN) 18 He took away the Sabbath canopy[j] that had been built at the temple and removed the royal entryway outside the temple of the Lord, in deference to the king of Assyria.(BO)

19 As for the other events of the reign of Ahaz, and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 20 Ahaz rested(BP) with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.

Hoshea Last King of Israel(BQ)

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea(BR) son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years. He did evil(BS) in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

Shalmaneser(BT) king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute.(BU) But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea was a traitor, for he had sent envoys to So[k] king of Egypt,(BV) and he no longer paid tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year. Therefore Shalmaneser seized him and put him in prison.(BW) The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege(BX) to it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria(BY) captured Samaria(BZ) and deported(CA) the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan(CB) on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

All this took place because the Israelites had sinned(CC) against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt(CD) from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations(CE) the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city(CF) they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones(CG) and Asherah poles(CH) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.(CI) 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. 12 They worshiped idols,(CJ) though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”[l] 13 The Lord warned(CK) Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:(CL) “Turn from your evil ways.(CM) Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”(CN)

14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked(CO) as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant(CP) he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols(CQ) and themselves became worthless.(CR) They imitated the nations(CS) around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

16 They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves,(CT) and an Asherah(CU) pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts,(CV) and they worshiped Baal.(CW) 17 They sacrificed(CX) their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens(CY) and sold(CZ) themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

18 So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.(DA) Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced.(DB) 20 Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers,(DC) until he thrust them from his presence.(DD)

21 When he tore(DE) Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king.(DF) Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the Lord and caused them to commit a great sin.(DG) 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them 23 until the Lord removed them from his presence,(DH) as he had warned(DI) through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland(DJ) into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.

Samaria Resettled

24 The king of Assyria(DK) brought people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim(DL) and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions(DM) among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: “The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires.”

27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: “Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

29 Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns(DN) where they settled, and set them up in the shrines(DO) the people of Samaria had made at the high places.(DP) 30 The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelek(DQ) and Anammelek, the gods of Sepharvaim.(DR) 32 They worshiped the Lord, but they also appointed all sorts(DS) of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33 They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

34 To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the Lord nor adhere to the decrees and regulations, the laws and commands that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel.(DT) 35 When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship(DU) any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them.(DV) 36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm,(DW) is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. 37 You must always be careful(DX) to keep the decrees(DY) and regulations, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. 38 Do not forget(DZ) the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. 39 Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the Lord,(EA) they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.

Hezekiah King of Judah(EB)(EC)(ED)

18 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah(EE) son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years.(EF) His mother’s name was Abijah[m] daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right(EG) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David(EH) had done. He removed(EI) the high places,(EJ) smashed the sacred stones(EK) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake(EL) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[n])

Hezekiah trusted(EM) 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(EN) 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(EO) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled(EP) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city,(EQ) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,(ER) 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(ES) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.(ET) 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant(EU)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.(EV) They neither listened to the commands(EW) nor carried them out.

13 In the fourteenth year(EX) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah(EY) and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:(EZ) “I have done wrong.(FA) 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[o] of silver and thirty talents[p] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave(FB) 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(FC) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(FD)(FE)

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(FF) 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,(FG) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 18 They called for the king; and Eliakim(FH) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna(FI) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

19 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence(FJ) of yours? 20 You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 21 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt,(FK) that splintered reed of a staff,(FL) which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 22 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?

23 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 How can you repulse one officer(FM) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen[q]? 25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?(FN) The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(FO) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

27 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(FP) you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(FQ) and drink water from your own cistern,(FR) 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life(FS) and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god(FT) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath(FU) and Arpad?(FV) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(FW)

36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then Eliakim(FX) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(FY) and told him what the field commander had said.

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(FZ)

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(GA) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim(GB) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(GC) all wearing sackcloth,(GD) to the prophet Isaiah(GE) son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(GF) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(GG) the living God, and that he will rebuke(GH) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(GI) that still survives.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(GJ) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(GK) me. Listen! When he hears a certain report,(GL) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(GM)’”

When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(GN) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(GO)

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[r] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(GP) on deceive(GQ) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver(GR) them—the gods of Gozan,(GS) Harran,(GT) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(GU)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(GV)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(GW) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(GX) you alone(GY) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(GZ) Lord, and hear;(HA) open your eyes,(HB) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(HC) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(HD) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(HE) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(HF) of the earth may know(HG) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(HH)(HI)

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(HJ) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(HK) him:

“‘Virgin Daughter(HL) Zion
    despises(HM) you and mocks(HN) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(HO) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(HP)
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One(HQ) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(HR)
    “With my many chariots(HS)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(HT) its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 “‘Have you not heard?(HU)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(HV) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(HW)
26 Their people, drained of power,(HX)
    are dismayed(HY) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,(HZ)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched(IA) before it grows up.

27 “‘But I know(IB) where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(IC) in your nose
    and my bit(ID) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(IE)
    by the way you came.’

29 “This will be the sign(IF) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(IG)
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(IH) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(II) of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(IJ) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(IK)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(IL)

“The zeal(IM) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“‘He will not enter this city
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(IN)
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(IO) this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David(IP) my servant.’”

35 That night the angel of the Lord(IQ) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(IR) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(IS) He returned to Nineveh(IT) and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(IU) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(IV) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(IW) And Esarhaddon(IX) his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 15:1 Also called Uzziah; also in verses 6, 7, 8, 17, 23 and 27
  2. 2 Kings 15:5 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
  3. 2 Kings 15:5 Or in a house where he was relieved of responsibilities
  4. 2 Kings 15:10 Hebrew; some Septuagint manuscripts in Ibleam
  5. 2 Kings 15:12 2 Kings 10:30
  6. 2 Kings 15:19 Also called Tiglath-Pileser
  7. 2 Kings 15:19 That is, about 38 tons or about 34 metric tons
  8. 2 Kings 15:20 That is, about 1 1/4 pounds or about 575 grams
  9. 2 Kings 16:12 Or and went up
  10. 2 Kings 16:18 Or the dais of his throne (see Septuagint)
  11. 2 Kings 17:4 So is probably an abbreviation for Osorkon.
  12. 2 Kings 17:12 Exodus 20:4,5
  13. 2 Kings 18:2 Hebrew Abi, a variant of Abijah
  14. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and snake.
  15. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons
  16. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 1 ton or about 1 metric ton
  17. 2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers
  18. 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region

15 In the twenty and seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel began Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah to reign.

Sixteen years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jecholiah of Jerusalem.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;

Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house. And Jotham the king's son was over the house, judging the people of the land.

And 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?

So Azariah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David: and Jotham his son reigned in his stead.

In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

10 And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

11 And the rest of the acts of Zachariah, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

12 This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu, saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass.

13 Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah king of Judah; and he reigned a full month in Samaria.

14 For Menahem the son of Gadi went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum the son of Jabesh in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.

15 And the rest of the acts of Shallum, and his conspiracy which he made, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

16 Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.

17 In the nine and thirtieth year of Azariah king of Judah began Menahem the son of Gadi to reign over Israel, and reigned ten years in Samaria.

18 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

19 And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

20 And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.

21 And the rest of the acts 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 stead.

23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekahiah the son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned two years.

24 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

25 But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king's house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.

26 And the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, and all that he did, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

27 In the two and fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah Pekah the son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty years.

28 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

30 And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.

31 And 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.

32 In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign.

33 Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.

34 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.

35 Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher 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 against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.

38 And 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 stead.

16 In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign.

Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his father.

But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.

And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him.

At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

And Ahaz 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 it for a present to the king of Assyria.

And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

10 And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

11 And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus.

12 And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon.

13 And he burnt his burnt offering and his meat offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar.

14 And he brought also the brasen altar, which was before the Lord, from the forefront of the house, from between the altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of the altar.

15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

16 Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that king Ahaz commanded.

17 And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon the pavement of stones.

18 And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the king of Assyria.

19 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

20 And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

17 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present 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.

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.

And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:

11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:

12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.

15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.

16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.

18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin.

22 For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;

23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.

26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.

29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

32 So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

33 They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

34 Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;

35 With whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:

36 But the Lord, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched out arm, him shall ye fear, and him shall ye worship, and to him shall ye do sacrifice.

37 And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, ye shall observe to do for evermore; and ye shall not fear other gods.

38 And the covenant that I have made with you ye shall not forget; neither shall ye fear other gods.

39 But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

40 Howbeit they did not hearken, but they did after their former manner.

41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.

18 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.

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.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

10 And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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?

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:

29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:

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.

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:

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.

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

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?

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

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.

19 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.

So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

16 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

17 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,

18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

21 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.

24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.

25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

32 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.

33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.

34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.