2 Kings 18:13-19:37

New King James Version

¹³ And ^(A)in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.” And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ¹⁵ So Hezekiah ^(B)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 pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave ^[a]it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord^(C)

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent the ^[b]Tartan, the ^[c]Rabsaris, and the ^[d]Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the ^(D)aqueduct from the upper pool, ^(E)which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. ¹⁸ And when they had called to the king, ^(F)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the ^[e]scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. ¹⁹ Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ^(G)“What confidence is this in which you trust? ²⁰ You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are ^[f]mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? ^21 (H)Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So 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 ^(I)whose ^[g]high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’ ²³ Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! ²⁴ How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? ²⁵ Have 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 (J)Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in ^(K)Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in ^[h]Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

²⁷ But the Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”

²⁸ Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in ^[i]Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ²⁹ Thus says the king: ^(L)‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; ³⁰ nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall 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 peace with me ^[j]by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own ^(M)vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; ³² until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, ^(N)a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (O)Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of ^(P)Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and ^(Q)Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, ^(R)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

³⁶ But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(S)with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Assures Deliverance^(T)

19 And ^(U)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with ^(V)sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to ^[k]bring them forth. ^4 (W)It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to ^(X)reproach the living God, and will ^(Y)rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”

⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ^6 (Z)And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be ^(AA)afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the ^(AB)servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Surely I will send ^(AC)a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”

Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer^(AD)

⁸ Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed ^(AE)from Lachish. ⁹ And ^(AF)the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God ^(AG)in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? ^12 (AH)Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of ^(AI)Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (AJ)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”

^14 (AK)And Hezekiah received 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 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One ^(AL)who dwells between the cherubim, ^(AM)You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (AN)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^(AO)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, ^(AP)which he has sent to reproach the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, 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 ^(AQ)not gods, but ^(AR)the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, ^(AS)that all the kingdoms of the earth may ^(AT)know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”

The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib^(AU)

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(AV)‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^(AW)I have heard.’ ²¹ This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:

²⁹ ‘This shall be a ^(BJ)sign to you:

³² “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death^(BQ)

³⁵ And ^(BR)it came to pass on a certain night that the ^[n]angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. ³⁶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at ^(BS)Nineveh. ³⁷ Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons ^(BT)Adrammelech and Sharezer ^(BU)struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then ^(BV)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.