18 In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, reigned Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, king of Judah. (In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the king of Judah, began to reign.)

² He was of five and twenty years, when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem nine and twenty years; the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah^[a].

³ And he did that, that was good before the Lord, by all things that David, his father, had done.

⁴ And he destroyed [the] high places, and all-brake [the] images, and cut down [the maumet] woods, and he brake the brazen serpent, whom Moses had made; for unto that time the sons of Israel burnt incense to it; and he called the name of it Nehushtan. (And he destroyed the hill shrines, and broke up all the images, or all the idols, and cut down the idol groves, or the sacred poles, and broke apart the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for unto that time the sons of Israel had burned incense to it; and they called it Nehushtan.)

⁵ And he hoped in the Lord God of Israel; therefore after him none was like him of all the kings of Judah, but neither also in the kings that were before him. (And he hoped in the Lord God of Israel; and after him there was no one like him out of all the kings of Judah, but also not any of the kings who were before him were like him.)

⁶ And he cleaved to the Lord, and went not away from his steps, and he did the commandments of the Lord, which the Lord commanded to Moses;

⁷ wherefore and the Lord was with him, and he governed wisely himself in all things, to which he went forth. Also he rebelled against the king of Assyrians, and therefore he served not to him; (wherefore the Lord was with him, and he wisely governed himself in all the things, to which he went forth. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and he served him not;)

⁸ and he smote [the] Philistines till to Gaza, and all the terms of them, from the tower of the keepers unto a city made strong.

⁹ In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, that was the seventh year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyrians, went up to Samaria, and fought against it,

¹⁰ and took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, in the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken;

¹¹ and the king of Assyrians translated Israel into (the) Assyrians, and he set them in Halah, and in Habor, (by the) rivers of Gozan, (and) in the cities of (the) Medes; (and the king of Assyria carried away the Israelites to Assyria, and he put them in Halah, and on the banks of the Habor River, that is, the river in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes;)

¹² for they heard not the voice of their Lord God, but they brake his covenant (because they did not listen to, or obey, the voice of the Lord their God, but they broke his covenant); they heard not, neither did all things, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, [had] commanded.

¹³ In the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyrians, went up to all the strengthened cities of Judah, and took them.

¹⁴ Then Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent messengers to the king of Assyrians into Lachish, and said, I have sinned (I have done wrong); go away from me, and I shall bear all things, that thou shalt put to me. Therefore the king of Assyrians putted on Hezekiah, king of Judah, (a fine of) three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

¹⁵ And Hezekiah gave all the silver, that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, to the king of Assyrians. (And Hezekiah gave all the silver, that was found in the House of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the palace, to the king of Assyria.)

¹⁶ In that time Hezekiah (also) brake (up) the gates of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold, which he had fastened (to them), and he gave those to the king of Assyrians. (And at that time Hezekiah also broke apart the gates of the Temple of the Lord; and he gave the gold plates, which he had fastened to the gates, to the king of Assyria.)

¹⁷ Forsooth the king of Assyrians sent Tartan (and Rabsaris) and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah, with strong hand to Jerusalem; and when they had gone up, they came to Jerusalem, and stood beside the water conduit of the higher cistern, which is in the way of the fuller, or of (the) tucker. (And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, from Lachish to King Hezekiah, with a strong army against Jerusalem; and when they had gone up, they came to Jerusalem, and stood beside the water conduit of the higher cistern, which is on the way to the fullers, or to the tuckers.)

¹⁸ And they called (for) the king; soothly Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the sovereign of the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, (the) chancellor, the son of Asaph, went out to them.

¹⁹ And Rabshakeh said to them, Speak ye to Hezekiah, (and say,) The great king, the king of Assyrians, saith these things, What is this trust, in which thou endeavourest thee?

²⁰ In hap thou hast taken counsel, that thou wouldest make thee ready to battle. In whom trustest thou, that thou be (so) (fool-)hardy to rebel against Sennacherib?

²¹ Whether thou hopest in a staff of (a) reed and broken, (that is, upon) Egypt (Hopest thou in the staff of a broken reed, that is, upon Egypt), on which, if a man leaneth, it shall be broken, and shall enter into his hand, and shall pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all men that trust in him.

²² That if thou sayest to me, We have trust in the Lord our God; whether this is not he, whose high things and altars Hezekiah took away, and commanded to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? (But if thou sayest to me, We have trust in the Lord our God; is this not he, whose hill shrines and altars Hezekiah took away, and commanded to Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship only before this altar in Jerusalem?)

²³ Now therefore, give ye pledges to my lord, the king of Assyrians, and I shall give to you two thousand of horses, and see ye, whether ye be able to have riders of them? (And so now, give ye pledges to my lord, the king of Assyria, and I shall give you two thousand horses, and see ye, if ye be able to have enough riders for them.)

²⁴ And how may ye withstand before one prince of the least servants of my lord? Whether thou hast trust in Egypt, for chariots and knights thereof?

²⁵ Whether I ascended without God’s will to this place, that I should destroy it? The Lord said to me, Ascend thou to this land, and destroy thou it. (Did I come up to destroy this place outside of God’s will? No! The Lord said to me, Go thou up to this land, and destroy it!)

²⁶ Forsooth Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, We pray thee, that thou speak by the language of Syria to us, thy servants; for we understand this language; and that thou speak not to us by the language of Jews, while the people heareth, which is on the wall. (And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, We pray thee, that thou speak to us, thy servants, in the Syrian language; for we understand that language; and that thou do not speak to us by the language of the Jews, while the people, who be on the wall, might hear.)

²⁷ And Rabshakeh answered, and said, Whether my lord sent me to thy lord and to thee, that I should speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit on the wall, that they eat their turds, and drink their piss with you? (And Rabshakeh answered, and said, Did my lord send me to thy lord and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to those who sit on the wall, and who shall eat their own turds, and drink their own piss, as you shall?)

²⁸ Therefore Rabshakeh stood, and cried with [a] great voice by (the) language of (the) Jews, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyrians. (And so Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a great voice in the language of the Jews, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.)

²⁹ The king saith these things, Hezekiah deceive not you (Do not let Hezekiah deceive you), for he may not deliver you from mine hand;

³⁰ neither give he trust to you on the Lord (nor let him make you to trust in the Lord), and say, The Lord delivering shall deliver us, and this city shall not be betaken in(to) the hand of the king of Assyrians;

³¹ do not ye hear Hezekiah. For the king of Assyrians saith these things, Do ye with me that, that is profitable to you, and go ye out to me; and each man shall eat of his vinery, and of his fig tree, and ye shall drink waters of your cisterns, (do not ye listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria saith these things, Do ye what is profitable for yourselves with me, and come ye out to me; and then each person shall eat from his own vineyard, and from his own fig tree, and ye shall drink water out of your own wells,)

³² till I come, and translate you, or bear you over, into a land which is like your land, into a fruitful land, and plenteous of wine, a land of bread, and of vineries, a land of olive trees, and of oil, and of honey; and ye shall live, and ye shall not die. Do not ye hear Hezekiah, that deceiveth you, and saith, The Lord shall deliver you. (until I come, and take you away, to a land which is like your land, to a fruitful land, with plenteous wine, a land of bread, and vineyards, a land of olive trees, and of oil, and of honey; and ye shall live, and ye shall not die. Do not ye listen to Hezekiah, who deceiveth you, and saith, The Lord shall rescue you.)

³³ Whether the gods of heathen men delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyrians? (Have the gods of the heathen delivered their land from the power of the king of Assyria?)

³⁴ Where is [the] god of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where is [the] god of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and of Ivah? Whether they delivered Samaria from mine hand?

³⁵ For who be they in all [the] gods of (the) lands, that (have) delivered their country from mine hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem from mine hand? (so how can even the Lord rescue Jerusalem out of my hands?)

³⁶ Therefore the people was still (But the people were silent), and answered not anything to him; for they had taken commandment of the king, that they should not answer to him.

³⁷ And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the sovereign of the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the chancellor, the son of Asaph, came with rent clothes to Hezekiah (came with torn clothes to Hezekiah); and told to him the words of Rabshakeh.