2 Kings 15-19

The Message

Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah

15 ^1-5In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah became king in Judah. He was sixteen years old when he began his rule and he was king for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah. She was from Jerusalem. He did well in the eyes of God, following in the footsteps of his father Amaziah. But he also failed to get rid of the local sex-and-religion shrines; they continued to be popular with the people. God afflicted the king with a bad skin disease until the day of his death. He lived in the palace but no longer acted as king; his son Jotham ran the government and ruled the country.

^6-7The rest of the life and times of Azariah, everything he accomplished, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Azariah died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Jotham his son was king after him.

Zechariah of Israel

^8-9In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in Samaria. He lasted only six months. He lived a bad life before God, no different from his ancestors. He continued in the line of Jeroboam son of Nebat who led Israel into a life of sin.

¹⁰Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him, assassinated him in public view, and took over as king.

^11-12The rest of the life and times of Zechariah is written plainly in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. That completed the word of God that was given to Jehu, namely, “For four generations your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.” Zechariah was the fourth.

Shallum of Israel

¹³Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah. He was king in Samaria for only a month.

¹⁴Menahem son of Gadi came up from Tirzah to Samaria. He attacked Shallum son of Jabesh and killed him. He then became king.

¹⁵The rest of the life and times of Shallum and the account of the conspiracy are written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Menahem of Israel

¹⁶Using Tirzah as his base, Menahem opened his reign by smashing Tiphsah, devastating both the town and its suburbs because they didn’t welcome him with open arms. He savagely ripped open all the pregnant women.

^17-18In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king over Israel. He ruled from Samaria for ten years. As far as God was concerned he lived an evil life. Sin for sin, he repeated the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.

^19-20Then Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria showed up and attacked the country. But Menahem made a deal with him: He bought his support by handing over about thirty-seven tons of silver. He raised the money by making every landowner in Israel pay fifty shekels to the king of Assyria. That satisfied the king of Assyria, and he left the country.

^21-22The rest of the life and times of Menahem, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. Menahem died and joined his ancestors. His son Pekahiah became the next king.

Pekahiah of Israel

^23-24In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for two years. In God’s eyes he lived an evil life. He stuck to the old sin tracks of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.

²⁵And then his military aide Pekah son of Remaliah conspired against him—killed him in cold blood while he was in his private quarters in the royal palace in Samaria. He also killed Argob and Arieh. Fifty Gadites were in on the conspiracy with him. After the murder he became the next king.

²⁶The rest of the life and times of Pekahiah, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Pekah of Israel

^27-28In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah became king of Israel in Samaria. He ruled for twenty years. In God’s view he lived an evil life; he didn’t deviate so much as a hair’s breadth from the path laid down by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into a life of sin.

²⁹During the reign of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria invaded the country. He captured Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee—the whole country of Naphtali—and took everyone captive to Assyria.

³⁰But then Hoshea son of Elah mounted a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah. He assassinated him and took over as king. This was in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah.

³¹The rest of the life and times of Pekah, everything he did, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

Jotham of Judah

^32-35In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham son of Uzziah became king in Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. He acted well in God’s eyes, following in the steps of his father Uzziah. But he didn’t interfere with the traffic to the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines; they continued, as popular as ever. The construction of the High Gate to The Temple of God was his work.

^36-38The rest of the life and times of Jotham, the record of his work, is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. It was during these years that God began sending Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah to attack Judah. Jotham died and joined his ancestors. They buried him in the family cemetery in the City of David. His son Ahaz was the next king.

Ahaz of Judah

16 ^1-4In the seventeenth year of Pekah son of Remaliah, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king and he ruled for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He didn’t behave in the eyes of his God; he wasn’t at all like his ancestor David. Instead he followed in the track of the kings of Israel. He even indulged in the outrageous practice of “passing his son through the fire”—a truly abominable act he picked up from the pagans God had earlier thrown out of the country. He also participated in the activities of the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that flourished all over the place.

⁵Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel ganged up against Jerusalem, throwing a siege around the city, but they couldn’t make further headway against Ahaz.

⁶At about this same time and on another front, the king of Edom recovered the port of Elath and expelled the men of Judah. The Edomites occupied Elath and have been there ever since.

^7-8Ahaz sent envoys to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria with this message: “I’m your servant and your son. Come and save me from the heavy-handed invasion of the king of Aram and the king of Israel. They’re attacking me right now.” Then Ahaz robbed the treasuries of the palace and The Temple of God of their gold and silver and sent them to the king of Assyria as a bribe.

⁹The king of Assyria responded to him. He attacked and captured Damascus. He deported the people to Nineveh as exiles. Rezin he killed.

^10-11King Ahaz went to meet Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria in Damascus. The altar in Damascus made a great impression on him. He sent back to Uriah the priest a drawing and set of blueprints of the altar. Uriah the priest built the altar to the specifications that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus. By the time the king returned from Damascus, Uriah had completed the altar.

^12-14The minute the king saw the altar he approached it with reverence and arranged a service of worship with a full course of offerings: Whole-Burnt-Offerings with billows of smoke, Grain-Offerings, libations of Drink-Offerings, the sprinkling of blood from the Peace-Offerings—the works. But the old bronze Altar that signaled the presence of God he displaced from its central place and pushed it off to the side of his new altar.

¹⁵Then King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest: “From now on offer all the sacrifices on the new altar, the great altar: morning Whole-Burnt-Offerings, evening Grain-Offerings, the king’s Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, the people’s Whole-Burnt-Offerings and Grain-Offerings, and also their Drink-Offerings. Splash all the blood from the burnt offerings and sacrifices against this altar. The old bronze Altar will be for my personal use.”

¹⁶The priest Uriah followed King Ahaz’s orders to the letter.

^17-18Then King Ahaz proceeded to plunder The Temple furniture of all its bronze. He stripped the bronze from The Temple furnishings, even salvaged the four bronze oxen that supported the huge basin, The Sea, and set The Sea unceremoniously on the stone pavement. Finally, he removed any distinctive features from within The Temple that were offensive to the king of Assyria.

^19-20The rest of the life and times of Ahaz is written in The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. His son Hezekiah became the next king.

Hoshea of Israel

17 ^1-2In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for nine years. As far as God was concerned, he lived a bad life, but not nearly as bad as the kings who had preceded him.

^3-5Then Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked. Hoshea was already a puppet of the Assyrian king and regularly sent him tribute, but Shalmaneser discovered that Hoshea had been operating traitorously behind his back—having worked out a deal with King So of Egypt. And, adding insult to injury, Hoshea was way behind on his annual payments of tribute to Assyria. So the king of Assyria arrested him and threw him in prison, then proceeded to invade the entire country. He attacked Samaria and threw up a siege against it. The siege lasted three years.

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign the king of Assyria captured Samaria and took the people into exile in Assyria. He relocated them in Halah, in Gozan along the Habor River, and in the towns of the Medes.

^7-12The exile came about because of sin: The children of Israel sinned against God, their God, who had delivered them from Egypt and the brutal oppression of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They took up with other gods, fell in with the ways of life of the pagan nations God had chased off, and went along with whatever their kings did. They did all kinds of things on the sly, things offensive to their God, then openly and shamelessly built local sex-and-religion shrines at every available site. They set up their sex-and-religion symbols at practically every crossroads. Everywhere you looked there was smoke from their pagan offerings to the deities—the identical offerings that had gotten the pagan nations off into exile. They had accumulated a long list of evil actions and God was fed up, fed up with their persistent worship of gods carved out of deadwood or shaped out of clay, even though God had plainly said, “Don’t do this—ever!”

¹³God had taken a stand against Israel and Judah, speaking clearly through countless holy prophets and seers time and time again, “Turn away from your evil way of life. Do what I tell you and have been telling you in The Revelation I gave your ancestors and of which I’ve kept reminding you ever since through my servants the prophets.”

^14-15But they wouldn’t listen. If anything, they were even more bullheaded than their stubborn ancestors, if that’s possible. They were contemptuous of his instructions, the solemn and holy covenant he had made with their ancestors, and of his repeated reminders and warnings. They lived a “nothing” life and became “nothings”—just like the pagan peoples all around them. They were well-warned: God said, “Don’t!” but they did it anyway.

^16-17They threw out everything God, their God, had told them, and replaced him with two statue-gods shaped like bull-calves and then a phallic pole for the whore goddess Asherah. They worshiped cosmic forces—sky gods and goddesses—and frequented the sex-and-religion shrines of Baal. They even sank so low as to offer their own sons and daughters as sacrificial burnt offerings! They indulged in all the black arts of magic and sorcery. In short, they prostituted themselves to every kind of evil available to them. And God had had enough.

^18-20God was so thoroughly angry that he got rid of them, got them out of the country for good until only one tribe was left—Judah. (Judah, actually, wasn’t much better, for Judah also failed to keep God’s commands, falling into the same way of life that Israel had adopted.) God rejected everyone connected with Israel, made life hard for them, and permitted anyone with a mind to exploit them to do so. And then this final No as he threw them out of his sight.

^21-23Back at the time that God ripped Israel out of their place in the family of David, they had made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam debauched Israel—turned them away from serving God and led them into a life of total sin. The children of Israel went along with all the sins that Jeroboam did, never murmured so much as a word of protest. In the end, God spoke a final No to Israel and turned his back on them. He had given them fair warning, and plenty of time, through the preaching of all his servants the prophets. Then he exiled Israel from her land to Assyria. And that’s where they are now.

^24-25The king of Assyria brought in people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and relocated them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the exiled Israelites. They moved in as if they owned the place and made themselves at home. When the Assyrians first moved in, God was just another god to them; they neither honored nor worshiped him. Then God sent lions among them and people were mauled and killed.

²⁶This message was then sent back to the king of Assyria: “The people you brought in to occupy the towns of Samaria don’t know what’s expected of them from the god of the land, and now he’s sent lions and they’re killing people right and left because nobody knows what the god of the land expects of them.”

²⁷The king of Assyria ordered, “Send back some priests who were taken into exile from there. They can go back and live there and instruct the people in what the god of the land expects of them.”

²⁸One of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came back and moved into Bethel. He taught them how to honor and worship God.

^29-31But each people that Assyria had settled went ahead anyway making its own gods and setting them up in the neighborhood sex-and-religion shrines that the citizens of Samaria had left behind—a local custom-made god for each people:

for Babylon, Succoth Benoth;

for Cuthah, Nergal;

for Hamath, Ashima;

for Avva, Nibhaz and Tartak;

for Sepharvaim, Adrammelech and Anammelech (people burned their children in sacrificial offerings to these gods!).

^32-33They honored and worshiped God, but not exclusively—they also appointed all sorts of priests, regardless of qualification, to conduct a variety of rites at the local fertility shrines. They honored and worshiped God, but they also kept up their devotions to the old gods of the places they had come from.

^34-39And they’re still doing it, still worshiping any old god that has nostalgic appeal to them. They don’t really worship God—they don’t take seriously what he says regarding how to behave and what to believe, what he revealed to the children of Jacob whom he named Israel. God made a covenant with his people and ordered them, “Don’t honor other gods: Don’t worship them, don’t serve them, don’t offer sacrifices to them. Worship God, the God who delivered you from Egypt in great and personal power. Reverence and fear him. Worship him. Sacrifice to him. And only him! All the things he had written down for you, directing you in what to believe and how to behave—well, do them for as long as you live. And whatever you do, don’t worship other gods! And the covenant he made with you, don’t forget your part in that. And don’t worship other gods! Worship God, and God only—he’s the one who will save you from enemy oppression.”

^40-41But they didn’t pay any attention. They kept doing what they’d always done. As it turned out, all the time these people were putting on a front of worshiping God, they were at the same time involved with their local idols. And they’re still doing it. Like father, like son.

Hezekiah of Judah

18 ^1-4In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz began his rule over Judah. He was twenty-five years old when he became king and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. In God’s opinion he was a good king; he kept to the standards of his ancestor David. He got rid of the local fertility shrines, smashed the phallic stone monuments, and cut down the sex-and-religion Asherah groves. As a final stroke he pulverized the ancient bronze serpent that Moses had made; at that time the Israelites had taken up the practice of sacrificing to it—they had even dignified it with a name, Nehushtan (The Old Serpent).

^5-6Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel. There was no king quite like him, either before or after. He held fast to God—never loosened his grip—and obeyed to the letter everything God had commanded Moses. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures.

^7-8He revolted against the king of Assyria; he refused to serve him one more day. And he drove back the Philistines, whether in sentry outposts or fortress cities, all the way to Gaza and its borders.

^9-11In the fourth year of Hezekiah and the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked Samaria. He threw a siege around it and after three years captured it. It was in the sixth year of Hezekiah and the ninth year of Hoshea that Samaria fell to Assyria. The king of Assyria took Israel into exile and relocated them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in towns of the Medes.

¹²All this happened because they wouldn’t listen to the voice of their God and treated his covenant with careless contempt. They refused either to listen or do a word of what Moses, the servant of God, commanded.

^13-14In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the outlying fortress cities of Judah and captured them. King Hezekiah sent a message to the king of Assyria at his headquarters in Lachish: “I’ve done wrong; I admit it. Pull back your army; I’ll pay whatever tribute you set.”

^14-16The king of Assyria demanded tribute from Hezekiah king of Judah—eleven tons of silver and a ton of gold. Hezekiah turned over all the silver he could find in The Temple of God and in the palace treasuries. Hezekiah even took down the doors of The Temple of God and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold and gave them to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷So the king of Assyria sent his top three military chiefs (the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh) from Lachish with a strong military force to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool on the road to the laundry commons.

¹⁸They called loudly for the king. Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went out to meet them.

^19-22The third officer, the Rabshakeh, was spokesman. He said, “Tell Hezekiah: A message from the Great King, the king of Assyria: You’re living in a world of make-believe, of pious fantasy. Do you think that mere words are any substitute for military strategy and troops? Now that you’ve revolted against me, who can you expect to help you? You thought Egypt would, but Egypt’s nothing but a paper tiger—one puff of wind and she collapses; Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but bluff and bluster. Or are you going to tell me, ‘We rely on God’? But Hezekiah has just eliminated most of the people’s access to God by getting rid of all the local God-shrines, ordering everyone in Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at the Jerusalem altar only.’

^23-24“So be reasonable. Make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them. You can’t do it? Well, then, how do you think you’re going to turn back even one raw buck private from my master’s troops? How long are you going to hold on to that figment of your imagination, these hoped-for Egyptian chariots and horses?

²⁵“Do you think I’ve come up here to destroy this country without the express approval of God? The fact is that God expressly ordered me, ‘Attack and destroy this country!’”

²⁶Eliakim son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand Aramaic. Don’t speak in Hebrew—everyone crowded on the city wall can hear you.”

²⁷But the Rabshakeh said, “We weren’t sent with a private message to your master and you; this is public—a message to everyone within earshot. After all, they’re involved in this as well as you; if you don’t come to terms, they’ll be eating their own turds and drinking their own pee right along with you.”

^28-32Then he stepped forward and spoke in Hebrew loud enough for everyone to hear, “Listen carefully to the words of The Great King, the king of Assyria: Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; he can’t save you. And don’t let Hezekiah give you that line about trusting in God, telling you, ‘God will save us—this city will never be abandoned to the king of Assyria.’ Don’t listen to Hezekiah—he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Listen to the king of Assyria—deal with me and live the good life; I’ll guarantee everyone your own plot of ground—a garden and a well! I’ll take you to a land sweeter by far than this one, a land of grain and wine, bread and vineyards, olive orchards and honey. You only live once—so live, really live!

^32-35“No. Don’t listen to Hezekiah. Don’t listen to his lies, telling you ‘God will save us.’ Has there ever been a god anywhere who delivered anyone from the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? And Samaria—did their gods save them? Can you name a god who saved anyone anywhere from me, the king of Assyria? So what makes you think that God can save Jerusalem from me?”

³⁶The people were silent. No one spoke a word for the king had ordered, “Don’t anyone say a word—not one word!”

³⁷Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, and Shebna the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went back to Hezekiah. They had ripped their robes in despair; they reported to Hezekiah the speech of the Rabshakeh.

19 ^1-3When Hezekiah heard it all, he too ripped his robes apart and dressed himself in rough burlap. Then he went into The Temple of God. He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all of them dressed in rough burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They said to him, “A message from Hezekiah: ‘This is a black day, a terrible day—doomsday!

Babies poised to be born,
No strength to birth them.

⁴“‘Maybe God, your God, has been listening to the blasphemous speech of the Rabshakeh who was sent by the king of Assyria, his master, to humiliate the living God; maybe God, your God, won’t let him get by with such talk; and you, maybe you will lift up prayers for what’s left of these people.’”

⁵That’s the message King Hezekiah’s servants delivered to Isaiah.

^6-7Isaiah answered them, “Tell your master, ‘God’s word: Don’t be at all concerned about what you’ve heard from the king of Assyria’s bootlicking errand boys—these outrageous blasphemies. Here’s what I’m going to do: Afflict him with self-doubt. He’s going to hear a rumor and, frightened for his life, retreat to his own country. Once there, I’ll see to it that he gets killed.’”

^8-13The Rabshakeh left and found that the king of Assyria had pulled up stakes from Lachish and was now fighting against Libnah. Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to fight against him. So he sent another envoy with orders to deliver this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: “Don’t let that god that you think so much of keep stringing you along with the line, ‘Jerusalem will never fall to the king of Assyria.’ That’s a barefaced lie. You know the track record of the kings of Assyria—country after country laid waste, devastated. And what makes you think you’ll be an exception? Take a good look at these wasted nations, destroyed by my ancestors; did their gods do them any good? Look at Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, the people of Eden at Tel Assar. Ruins. And what’s left of the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah? Bones.”

^14-15Hezekiah took the letter from the envoy and read it. He went to The Temple of God and spread it out before God. And Hezekiah prayed—oh, how he prayed!

God, God of Israel, seated
    in majesty on the cherubim-throne.
You are the one and only God,
    sovereign over all kingdoms on earth,
Maker of heaven,
    maker of earth.
¹⁶Open your ears, God, and listen,
    open your eyes and look.
Look at this letter Sennacherib has sent,
    a brazen insult to the living God!
¹⁷The facts are true, O God: The kings of Assyria
    have laid waste countries and kingdoms.
¹⁸Huge bonfires they made of their gods, their
    no-gods hand-made from wood and stone.
¹⁹But now O God, our God,
    save us from raw Assyrian power;
Make all the kingdoms on earth know
    that you are God, the one and only God.

^20-21It wasn’t long before Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah:

God’s word: You’ve prayed to me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria; I’ve heard your prayer. This is my response to him:

The Virgin Daughter of Zion
    holds you in utter contempt;
Daughter Jerusalem
    thinks you’re nothing but scum.
²²Who do you think it is you’ve insulted?
    Who do you think you’ve been bad-mouthing?
Before whom do you suppose you’ve been strutting?
    The Holy One of Israel, that’s who!
²³You dispatched your errand boys
    to humiliate the Master.
You bragged, “With my army of chariots
    I’ve climbed the highest mountains,
    snow-peaked alpine Lebanon mountains!
I’ve cut down its giant cedars,
    chopped down its prize pine trees.
I’ve traveled the world,
    visited the finest forest retreats.
²⁴I’ve dug wells in faraway places
    and drunk their exotic waters;
I’ve waded and splashed barefoot
    in the rivers of Egypt.”

²⁵Did it never occur to you
    that I’m behind all this?
Long, long ago I drew up the plans,
    and now I’ve gone into action,
Using you as a doomsday weapon,
    reducing proud cities to piles of rubble,
²⁶Leaving their people dispirited,
    slumped shoulders, limp souls.
Useless as weeds, fragile as grass,
    insubstantial as wind-blown chaff.
²⁷I know when you sit down, when you come
    and when you go;
And, yes, I’ve marked every one
    of your temper tantrums against me.
²⁸It’s because of your temper,
    your blasphemous foul temper,
That I’m putting my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth
And turning you back
    to where you came from.

²⁹And this, Hezekiah, will be for you the confirming sign:

This year you’ll eat the gleanings, next year
    whatever you can beg, borrow, or steal;
But the third year you’ll sow and harvest,
    plant vineyards and eat grapes.
³⁰A remnant of the family of Judah yet again
    will sink down roots and raise up fruit.
³¹The remnant will come from Jerusalem,
    the survivors from Mount Zion.
The Zeal of God
    will make it happen.

³²To sum up, this is what God says regarding the king of Assyria:

He won’t enter this city,
    nor shoot so much as a single arrow there;
Won’t brandish a shield,
    won’t even begin to set siege;
³³He’ll go home by the same road he came;
    he won’t enter this city. God’s word!
³⁴I’ll shield this city, I’ll save this city,
    for my sake and for David’s sake.

³⁵And it so happened that that very night an angel of God came and massacred 185,000 Assyrians. When the people of Jerusalem got up next morning, there it was—a whole camp of corpses!

^36-37Sennacherib king of Assyria got out of there fast, headed straight home for Nineveh, and stayed put. One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer murdered him and then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon became the next king.

2 Kings 15-19

New International Version

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. ²He 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. ³He did what was right^(C) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁴The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

⁵The 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.

⁶As 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? ⁷Azariah 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

⁸In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah king of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned six months. ⁹He 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.

¹⁰Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against Zechariah. He attacked him in front of the people,^[d] assassinated^(K) him and succeeded him as king. ¹¹The other events of Zechariah’s reign are written in the book of the annals^(L) of the kings of Israel. ¹²So 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

¹³Shallum son of Jabesh became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah, and he reigned in Samaria^(N) one month. ¹⁴Then 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.

¹⁵The 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.

¹⁶At 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

¹⁷In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria ten years. ¹⁸He 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.

¹⁹Then 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. ²⁰Menahem 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.

²¹As 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? ²²Menahem rested with his ancestors. And Pekahiah his son succeeded him as king.

Pekahiah King of Israel

²³In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned two years. ²⁴Pekahiah 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. ²⁵One 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.

²⁶The 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

²⁷In 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. ²⁸He 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.

²⁹In 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. ³⁰Then 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.

³¹As 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)

³²In the second year of Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, Jotham^(AJ) son of Uzziah king of Judah began to reign. ³³He 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. ³⁴He did what was right^(AK) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done. ³⁵The 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.

³⁶As 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.) ³⁸Jotham 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. ²Ahaz 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. ³He 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. ⁴He offered sacrifices and burned incense^(AU) at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.^(AV)

⁵Then 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. ⁶At 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.

⁷Ahaz 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.” ⁸And 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. ⁹The king of Assyria complied by attacking Damascus^(BC) and capturing it. He deported its inhabitants to Kir^(BD) and put Rezin to death.

¹⁰Then 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. ¹¹So 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. ¹²When the king came back from Damascus and saw the altar, he approached it and presented offerings^[i]^(BF) on it. ¹³He 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. ¹⁴As 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.

¹⁵King 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) ¹⁶And Uriah the priest did just as King Ahaz had ordered.

¹⁷King 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) ¹⁸He 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)

¹⁹As 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? ²⁰Ahaz 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. ²He did evil^(BS) in the eyes of the Lord, but not like the kings of Israel who preceded him.

³Shalmaneser^(BT) king of Assyria came up to attack Hoshea, who had been Shalmaneser’s vassal and had paid him tribute.^(BU) ⁴But 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) ⁵The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege^(BX) to it for three years. ⁶In 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

⁷All 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 ⁸and 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. ⁹The 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. ¹⁰They set up sacred stones^(CG) and Asherah poles^(CH) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.^(CI) ¹¹At 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. ¹²They worshiped idols,^(CJ) though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”^[l] ¹³The 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)

¹⁴But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked^(CO) as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. ¹⁵They 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.”

¹⁶They 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) ¹⁷They 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.

¹⁸So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.^(DA) Only the tribe of Judah was left, ¹⁹and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced.^(DB) ²⁰Therefore 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)

²¹When 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) ²²The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them ²³until 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

²⁴The 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. ²⁵When they first lived there, they did not worship the Lord; so he sent lions^(DM) among them and they killed some of the people. ²⁶It 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.”

²⁷Then 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.” ²⁸So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the Lord.

²⁹Nevertheless, 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) ³⁰The people from Babylon made Sukkoth Benoth, those from Kuthah made Nergal, and those from Hamath made Ashima; ³¹the 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) ³²They 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. ³³They worshiped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

³⁴To 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) ³⁵When 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) ³⁶But 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. ³⁷You 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. ³⁸Do not forget^(DZ) the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. ³⁹Rather, worship the Lord your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.”

⁴⁰They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. ⁴¹Even 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. ²He 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. ³He did what was right^(EG) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David^(EH) had done. ⁴He 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])

⁵Hezekiah 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. ⁶He held fast^(EN) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. ⁷And 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. ⁸From watchtower to fortified city,^(EQ) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

⁹In 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. ¹⁰At 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. ¹¹The 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) ¹²This 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.

¹³In the fourteenth year^(EX) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah^(EY) and captured them. ¹⁴So 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. ¹⁵So Hezekiah gave^(FB) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

¹⁶At 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)

¹⁷The 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. ¹⁸They 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.

¹⁹The 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? ²⁰You 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? ²¹Look, 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. ²²But 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! ²⁴How 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]? ²⁵Furthermore, 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.’”

²⁶Then 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.”

²⁷But 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?”

²⁸Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive^(FP) you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. ³⁰Do 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) ³²until 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.’ ³³Has the god^(FT) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴Where 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? ³⁵Who 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)

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

³⁷Then 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. ²He 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. ³They 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. ⁴It 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.”

⁵When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶Isaiah 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. ⁷Listen! 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)’”

⁸When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,^(GN) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.^(GO)

⁹Now 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.’ ¹¹Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹²Did 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? ¹³Where 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)

¹⁴Hezekiah 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. ¹⁵And 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. ¹⁶Give 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. ¹⁸They 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) ¹⁹Now, 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)

²⁰Then 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. ²¹This 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.
²²Who 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!
²³By 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.
²⁴I 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)
²⁶Their 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.
²⁸Because 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.
³⁰Once more a remnant^(II) of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root^(IJ) below and bear fruit above.
³¹For 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.
³³By the way that he came he will return;^(IN)
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
³⁴I will defend^(IO) this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David^(IP) my servant.’”

³⁵That 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) ³⁶So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.^(IS) He returned to Nineveh^(IT) and stayed there.

³⁷One 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

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

2 Kings 15-19

King James Version

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

²Sixteen 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.

³And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done;

⁴Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

⁵And 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.

⁶And 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?

⁷So 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.

⁸In the thirty and eighth year of Azariah king of Judah did Zachariah the son of Jeroboam reign over Israel in Samaria six months.

⁹And 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.

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

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

¹²This 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.

¹³Shallum 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.

¹⁴For 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.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶Then 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.

¹⁷In 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.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And 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.

²⁰And 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.

²¹And 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?

²²And Menahem slept with his fathers; and Pekahiah his son reigned in his stead.

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

²⁴And 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.

²⁵But 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.

²⁶And 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.

²⁷In 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.

²⁸And 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.

²⁹In 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.

³⁰And 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.

³¹And 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.

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

³³Five 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.

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

³⁵Howbeit 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.

³⁶Now 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?

³⁷In those days the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.

³⁸And 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.

²Twenty 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.

³But 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.

⁴And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

⁵Then 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.

⁶At 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.

⁷So 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And 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.

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

¹³And 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.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And 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.

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

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹Now 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?

²⁰And 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.

²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him.

³Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

⁴And 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.

⁵Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

⁶In 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.

⁷For 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,

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

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

¹¹And 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:

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

¹³Yet 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.

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

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷And 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.

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

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

²⁰And 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.

²¹For 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.

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

²³Until 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵And 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.

²⁶Wherefore 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.

²⁷Then 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.

²⁸Then 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.

²⁹Howbeit 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.

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

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

³²So 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.

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

³⁴Unto 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;

³⁵With 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:

³⁶But 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.

³⁷And 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.

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

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

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

⁴¹So 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.

²Twenty 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.

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

⁴He 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.

⁵He 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.

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

⁷And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

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

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And 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:

¹²Because 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.

¹³Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house.

¹⁶At 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.

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And 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?

²⁰Thou 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?

²¹Now, 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.

²²But 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?

²³Now 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.

²⁴How 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?

²⁵Am 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.

²⁶Then 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.

²⁷But 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?

²⁸Then 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:

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

³⁰Neither 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.

³¹Hearken 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:

³²Until 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.

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

³⁴Where 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?

³⁵Who 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?

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

³⁷Then 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.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴It 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.

⁵So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

⁶And 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.

⁷Behold, 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.

⁸So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

⁹And 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,

¹⁰Thus 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.

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

¹²Have 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?

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

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And 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.

¹⁶Lord, 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.

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

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹Now 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.

²⁰Then 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.

²¹This 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.

²²Whom 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.

²³By 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.

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

²⁵Hast 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.

²⁶Therefore 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.

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

²⁸Because 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.

²⁹And 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.

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

³¹For 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.

³²Therefore 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.

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

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

³⁵And 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.

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

³⁷And 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.

The Message (MSG)

New International Version (NIV)

2 Kings 15-19

The Message

Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah

Zechariah of Israel

Shallum of Israel

Menahem of Israel

Pekahiah of Israel

Pekah of Israel

Jotham of Judah

Ahaz of Judah

Hoshea of Israel

Hezekiah of Judah

2 Kings 15-19

New International Version

Azariah King of Judah^(A)

Zechariah King of Israel

Shallum King of Israel

Menahem King of Israel

Pekahiah King of Israel

Pekah King of Israel

Jotham King of Judah^(AI)

Ahaz King of Judah^(AO)

Hoshea Last King of Israel^(BQ)

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

Samaria Resettled

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

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(FD)^(FE)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(FZ)

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(GV)

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

Footnotes

Cross references

2 Kings 15-19

King James Version

More on the NIV

2 Kings 15-19 The Message

Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah

Zechariah of Israel

Shallum of Israel

Menahem of Israel

Pekahiah of Israel

Pekah of Israel

Jotham of Judah

Ahaz of Judah

Hoshea of Israel

Hezekiah of Judah

2 Kings 15-19 New International Version

Azariah King of Judah(A)

Zechariah King of Israel

Shallum King of Israel

Menahem King of Israel

Pekahiah King of Israel

Pekah King of Israel

Jotham King of Judah(AI)

Ahaz King of Judah(AO)

Hoshea Last King of Israel(BQ)

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

Samaria Resettled

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

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(FD)(FE)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(FZ)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(GV)

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

Footnotes

Cross references

2 Kings 15-19 King James Version

More on the NIV

2 Kings 15-19

The Message

2 Kings 15-19

New International Version

Azariah King of Judah^(A)

Jotham King of Judah^(AI)

Ahaz King of Judah^(AO)

Hoshea Last King of Israel^(BQ)

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

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(FD)^(FE)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(FZ)

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(GV)

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

2 Kings 15-19

King James Version