Hezekiah Destroys Idolatry in Judah (2 Chronicles 29:1–2)
2 ULT He was a son of 25 years when he reigned, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother{ was} Abi, the daughter of Zechariah. 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 ULT And he did right in the eyes of Yahweh, like all that David his father had done. BSB BSB: And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
5 ULT He trusted in Yahweh the God of Israel, and after him none was like him among all of the kings of Judah or those who were to his face. 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 ULT And he clung to Yahweh, he did not turn away from after him, and he kept his commandments, which Yahweh had 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 ULT He, he struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from a tower of watchmen to a fortified city. BSB BSB: He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
9 ULT And it happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah(it{ was} the seventh year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel), Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, and he besieged against 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 ULT And they captured it at the end of three years. In the year of six to Hezekiah, it{ was} the year of nine to Hoshea, the king of Israel, Samaria was captured. 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 ULT And the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria. And he led them into Halah and into the Habor, the river of Gozan, and{ into} the cities of Media, 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 ULT because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, but they transgressed his covenant, all that Moses, the servant of Yahweh, had commanded, and they did not listen, and they did not do. 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)
14 ULT And Hezekiah, the king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying,“I have sinned. Turn back from against me. Whatever you put on me, I will bear.” And the king of Assyria set for Hezekiah, the king of Judah, 300 kikkars of silver and 30 kikkars of gold. BSB BSB: So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 ULT And Hezekiah gave all of the silver found{ in} the house of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. 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 ULT At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts that Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had overlaid, and he gave them 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 ULT And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rabsaris and the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy army{ to} Jerusalem. And they went up, and they came{ to} Jerusalem. And they went up, and they came, and they stopped by the conduit of the Upper Pool that{ was} on the highway of the Field of the Fuller. 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 ULT And they called to the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who{ was} over the house, and Shebna the scribe and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, went out to them. 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 ULT And the Rabshakeh said to them,“Now say to Hezekiah,‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria,“What{ is} this trust that 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 ULT You speak only a word of lips,‘Counsel and might for war.’ Now in 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 ULT Now behold, you trust for yourself in the staff of this broken reed, in Egypt, on which a man supports himself and it goes into his palm and pierces it. Thus{ is} Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all of the ones trusting in 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 ULT ‘And now, wager, please, with my master, with the king of Assyria. And I will give to you 2, 000 horses if you are able to put riders on them for yourself. 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 ULT But how would you turn back the face of a captain of one of the least servants of my master? So you trust for yourself in 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 ULT ‘“Now have I come up against this place to destroy it without Yahweh? Yahweh 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 ULT And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh,“Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we are understanding. But do not speak with us in Judean in the ears of the people who{ 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 ULT But the Rabshakeh said to them,“Did my master send me to speak these words to your master and to you?{ Was it} not to the men sitting on the wall, who will eat their dung and drink their 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 ULT And the Rabshakeh stood, and he called out in a great voice in Judean. And he spoke and said,“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 ULT Thus says the king,‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he is not able to deliver you from his hand. BSB BSB: This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; he cannot deliver you from my hand.
30 ULT And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying,“Delivering, Yahweh will deliver us, and this city will not be given 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 ULT Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria:‘Make a blessing with me, and come out to me, and eat, a man of his vine and a man of his fig tree, and drink, a man{ from} the waters of his well, 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 ULT until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive of oil and honey. So live, and do not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying,“Yahweh 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 ULT Delivering, did the gods of the nations deliver, a man his land from 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 ULT Where{ were} the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where{ were} the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Indeed, did they deliver Samaria from 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 ULT Who{ are they} among all of the gods of the lands that have delivered their land from my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem from 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 ULT But the people were silent and did not answer him a word, for it{ was} a commandment of the king, saying,“You shall not answer him.” BSB BSB: But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
37 ULT Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who{ was} over the house, with Shebna the scribe and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah, torn of clothes. And they declared to him the words of the 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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