1 And it happened in the third year {shalosh: Regnal Indicator} of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign {malakh: Assumed Royal Authority}.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi {avi: my father} daughter of Zechariah {zekharyah: remembered by YHWH}.
3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge}, according to all that David {David: standard of devotion} his father had done.
4 He removed the high places, broke the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah {asherah: wooden cult object}. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses made, for until those days the Israelites burned incense to it, and he called it Nehushtan {nekhushtan: bronze thing}.
5 He trusted in the LORD God of Israel {YHWH Elohei Yisrael, Unique Covenant God}, and after him there was none like him among all the kings {malchei: royal sovereigns} of Judah, nor among those who were before him.
6 And he clung to the LORD {YHWH, Faithful Guide}; he did not turn aside from following Him, and he kept His commandments which the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Giver} commanded Moses {Mosheh: prophetic leader}.
7 And the LORD {YHWH, Divine Helper} was with him; in all that he went out he prospered {yaskil: acted wisely}. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower {migdal: sentinel station} of the sentries as far as the fortified city {mivtsar: stronghold}.
9 And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea {hoshea: Divine Salvation} son of Elah, king of Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, went up against Samaria and besieged {vayatzar: Laid Military Siege} it.
10 And they captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah {Khizkiyah: Strength of Yah}, which was the ninth year of Hoshea {Hoshea: Salvation}, king of Israel, Samaria was captured.
11 And the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah {Ḥalah: place of exile}, and in Habor, the Gozan River, and in the cities of Media {Madai: region inhabited by Medes}.
12 They did not heed the voice of the LORD their God {YHWH Eloheihem: Covenant Judge}, and they violated {avar: broken covenant} His covenant—everything that Moses, the LORD’s servant, commanded. They neither listened nor carried it out.
13 And in the fourteenth year {arba esreh: ordinal-year construct} of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib {sancheriv: Assyrian king} king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
14 And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have sinned. Withdraw from me, and whatever you impose upon me I will bear.” Then the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver {kikkar: heavy standard measure} and thirty talents of gold {zahav: precious metal}.
15 And Hezekiah gave all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD {YHWH, Sanctuary God} and in the treasuries of the king’s palace {beit: royal residence}.
16 At that time Hezekiah cut off {kitsats: stripped plating} from the doors of the temple of the LORD {YHWH, Holy King} and from the supports which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria.
17 Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rav-saris, and Rav-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a great army to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem, and when they ascended and arrived, they stood at the conduit {bit’ealat: water channel} of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Washerman’s Field {sede: cultivated land}.
18 And they called for the king, and out to them came Elyakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household {bayit: royal residence}, Shebna the scribe {sofer: official chronicler}, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder.
19 And Rabshakeh {rav-shaqeh: royal spokesman} said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence {bitachon: sense of security} in which you have put your trust?”’”
20 You have said, “It is only words of the lips {sfatayim: mere utterance}—counsel and strength {gevurah: martial power} for war.” Now upon whom have you trusted that you have rebelled against me?
21 Now, behold, you have trusted upon the staff {mishenet: source of support} of this broken reed; on Egypt, which, if a man leans upon it, it will go into his hand and pierce {neqavah: penetrate} it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust upon him.
22 But if you say to me, “In the LORD our God {YHWH Eloheinu, Object of Trust} we have trusted”—is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and who said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Before this altar {mizbeach: place of sacrifice} you shall bow down in Jerusalem’?”
23 And now, please make a wager {hitarev: bold challenge} with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses if you are able to provide riders {rokhvim: mounted warriors} for them.
24 And how can you repel even one captain {fakhat: provincial commander} among the least of my master’s {adoni: superior authority} servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Now, was it apart from the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Commander} that I went up against this place {maqom: fortified stronghold} to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”
26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh {rav-shaqeh: royal spokesman}, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic {aramit: diplomatic language}, for we understand it, and do not speak to us in Judean in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
27 And Rabshakeh said to them, “Did my master send me to your master and to you alone to speak these words, and not also to the men sitting on the wall {chomah: siege barrier}—who will eat their own dung {tzo’a: filth} and drink the water of their feet with you?”
28 Then the chief cupbearer stood and called out in a loud voice in Judean {Yehudit: language of Judah}, and he spoke and said, “Hear the word {dvar: authoritative command} of the great king, the king of Assyria!”
29 Thus says the king {melekh: ruling authority}, “Do not let Hezekiah {khizkiyahu: Yahweh Strengthens} deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from his hand.”
30 And do not let Hezekiah make you trust {yavtach: induced reliance} in the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Sustainer} when he says, “Surely the LORD will deliver us; this city will 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 a treaty {berakhah: covenant of peace} with me by a gift, and come out to me, and each man will eat from his own vine, and each from his own fig tree, and each will drink water from his own cistern {bor: personal water storage}.
32 Until I come and take you to a land like your land—a land of grain {dagan: cultivated produce} and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive oil and honey—so that you may live and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you, saying, “The LORD {YHWH, Deliverer} will rescue us.”
33 Did the gods {elohei: regional deities} of the nations deliver each one his land from the hand of the king of Assyria {ashur: empire’s sovereign}?
34 Where are the gods {elohei: local deities} of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they deliver {hitsilu: effect deliverance} Samaria from my hand?
35 Who of all the gods {elohei: divine patrons} of these lands has delivered his land from my hand, that the LORD {YHWH, Supreme Deliverer} should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?
36 But the people kept silent {hecherishu: collective refusal} and did not answer him a word, because it was the command {mitsvat: royal decree} of the king, saying, “Do not answer him.”
37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with torn garments {qerūʿē begādîm: sign of mourning} and reported to him the words of Rabshakeh {rabb-šāqē: chief officer}.