Hezekiah Destroys Idolatry in Judah (2 Chronicles 29:1–2)
2 AKJV Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. BSB BSB: He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.
3 AKJV And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. BSB BSB: And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
5 AKJV He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. BSB BSB: Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.
6 AKJV For he held to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. BSB BSB: He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.
8 AKJV He smote the Philistines, even to Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. BSB BSB: He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
9 AKJV And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. BSB BSB: In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
10 AKJV And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is in the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. BSB BSB: And at the end of three years, the Assyrians captured it. So Samaria was captured in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.
11 AKJV And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel to Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: BSB BSB: The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
12 AKJV Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. BSB BSB: This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant—all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded—and would neither listen nor obey.
Sennacherib Invades Judah (2 Chronicles 32:1–8; Psalm 46:1–11)
15 AKJV And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house. BSB BSB: Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 AKJV At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. BSB BSB: At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:9–19; Isaiah 36:1–22)
17 AKJV And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field. BSB BSB: Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
18 AKJV And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. BSB BSB: Then they called for the king. And Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to them.
19 AKJV And Rabshakeh said to them, Speak you now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein you trust? BSB BSB: The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
20 AKJV You say, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? BSB BSB: You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
21 AKJV Now, behold, you trust on the staff of this bruised reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust on him. BSB BSB: Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
23 AKJV Now therefore, I pray you, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver you two thousand horses, if you be able on your part to set riders on them. BSB BSB: Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
24 AKJV How then will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? BSB BSB: For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
25 AKJV Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. BSB BSB: So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”
26 AKJV Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, to Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray you, to your 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. BSB BSB: Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
27 AKJV But Rabshakeh said to them, Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? has he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you? BSB BSB: But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
28 AKJV Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spoke, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria: BSB BSB: Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
29 AKJV Thus says the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand: BSB BSB: This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.
30 AKJV Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. BSB BSB: Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
31 AKJV Listen not to Hezekiah: for thus says the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat you every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink you every one the waters of his cistern: BSB BSB: Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,
32 AKJV Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that you may live, and not die: and listen not to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. BSB BSB: until I come and take you away 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—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’
33 AKJV Has any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? BSB BSB: Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 AKJV Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? BSB BSB: Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
35 AKJV Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? BSB BSB: Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
36 AKJV But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not. BSB BSB: But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
37 AKJV Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh. BSB BSB: Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
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