| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. | 1In the third year of the reign of Israel's King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz's son Hezekiah became king over Judah. |
| 2He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. | 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. |
| 3And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. | 3He did what the LORD approved, just as his ancestor David had done. |
| 4He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. | 4He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan. |
| 5He trusted in the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. | 5He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after. |
| 6For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses. | 6He was loyal to the LORD and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments which the LORD had given to Moses. |
| 7The LORD was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. | 7The LORD was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him. |
| 8He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city. | 8He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress. |
| 9Now it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. | 9In the fourth year of King Hezekiah's reign (it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel's King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up against Samaria and besieged it. |
| 10And at the end of three years they took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. | 10After three years he captured it (in the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea's reign over Israel Samaria was captured. |
| 11Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, | 11The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor (the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes. |
| 12because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them. | 12This happened because they did not obey the LORD their God and broke his agreement with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the LORD's servant, had commanded. |
| 13And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. | 13In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. |
| 14Then 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. | 14King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish, "I have violated our treaty. If you leave, I will do whatever you demand." So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. |
| 15So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house. | 15Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the LORD's temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace. |
| 16At 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 it to the king of Assyria. | 16At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the LORD's temple and from the posts which he had plated and gave them to the king of Assyria. |
| 17Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the 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 aqueduct from the upper pool, which was on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. | 17The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. |
| 18And when they had called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. | 18They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them. |
| 19Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? | 19The chief adviser said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: "What is your source of confidence? |
| 20You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? | 20Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me? |
| 21Now 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. | 21Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him. |
| 22But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’ | 22Perhaps you will tell me, 'We are trusting in the LORD our God.' But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.' |
| 23Now 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! | 23Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. |
| 24How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? | 24Certainly you will not refuse one of my master's minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. |
| 25Have 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.’ ” | 25Furthermore it was by the command of the LORD that I marched up against this place to destroy it. The LORD told me, 'March up against this land and destroy it.'"'" |
| 26Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” | 26Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, "Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak with us in the Judahite dialect in the hearing of the people who are on the wall." |
| 27But 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?” | 27But the chief adviser said to them, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you." |
| 28Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! | 28The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, "Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. |
| 29Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; | 29This is what the king says: 'Don't let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you from my hand! |
| 30nor 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.” ’ | 30Don't let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the LORD when he says, "The LORD will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria." |
| 31Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; | 31Don't listen to Hezekiah!' For this is what the king of Assyria says, 'Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, |
| 32until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, 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.” | 32until I come and take you to a land just like your own--a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Then you will live and not die. Don't listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, "The LORD will rescue us." |
| 33Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? | 33Have any of the gods of the nations actually rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? |
| 34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? | 34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power? |
| 35Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ” | 35Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued their lands from my power? So how can the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?'" |
| 36But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” | 36The people were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, "Don't respond to him." |
| 37Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. | 37Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him what the chief adviser had said. |
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