No King of Judah Trusted the Lord Like Hezekiah Did |
2 Kings 18:1-37 2 Kings [in Smaller Chunks] |
It [happened] in the 3rd year Hoshea [ruled, Elah's] son, king of Israel, and Hezekiah, [Ahaz's] son, king of Judah, began to [rule,] at 25 years old. He [ruled] 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi [Zachariah's] daughter. |
[Hezekiah] did [what] was right in the sight of the Lord [God,] according to all David, his [forefather] did. [Hezekiah] removed the high places [places to worship false gods,] & cut down the groves [treed areas to worship false gods,] |
[He] [broke] the images [idols] & [broke into] pieces the [brass] serpent Moses had made. For those days, the children [people] of Israel [burned] incense to it & called it Nehustan [a false god]. |
None of the kings of Judah [either] before or after him, trusted in the Lord God of Israel like [Hezekiah did]. For [Hezekiah held tight] to the Lord & didn't [stop] from following him & kept [the Lord God's] commandments, [that] the Lord commanded Moses. The Lord was with [Hezekiah] & he prospered [wherever] he went. |
[Hezekiah] rebelled against [Assyria's] king & didn't serve him. He [attacked] the Philistines [all the way] to Gaza & the borders [of it] from the [Watchman's] Tower to the fenced city. |
In the 4th year king Hezekiah [ruled,] which was the 7th year Hoshea [ruled, who is Elah's] son, & Shalmaneser [Assyria's] king [camped] against Samaria & attacked it. |
At the end of 3 years, they [captured] it & in the 6th year Hezekiah [ruled & that] was the 9th year of [the rule of] Hoshea, [Israel's] king, Samaria was [captured]. [Assyria's] king [carried] away [the Israelites] to the River of Gozan & in the cities of the Medes, because they didn't obey the voice of the Lord, their God. |
The [Israelites sinned against God's] covenant [contract] & all that Moses, the [Lord God's] servant commanded & wouldn't [listen to] them, nor do them. In king [Hezekiah's] 14th year, Senacherib, [Assyria's] king, [came & fought] against all the fenced cities of Judah & [captured] them. |
Hezekiah, [Judah's] king, sent to the king of Assyria [at] Lachish, saying, I have [done wrong. [Turn away & leave] from me [& I will pay you whatever you request] of me. |
[Assyria's] king [demanded] Hezekiah [Judah's] king, give him 300 talents of silver & 30 talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord & the [treasury in] the king's house. |
At that time, Hezekiah [removed] the gold [he had used to cover the temple's] doors & pillars & gave it to [Assyria's] king. [Assyria's] king sent Tartan, Rabsaris & RabShakeh from Lachish & [sent them] to king Hezekiah with a [large army] against Jerusalem. |
When they came up to Jerusalem, they stood by the [aqueduct near] the Upper Pool, [that] is [by] the highway of the [Washerman's] Field. When they called [out] to king [Hezekiah,] Eliakim, [Hezekiah's] son, over the household, Shebna, the scribe & Joah, [Asaph's] son, the recorder, came out to them. |
RabShakeh said to them, Now speak [this] to Hezekiah, The great king of Assyria [says this,] On what do you base this confidence [you have]? You [say,] I have [advice] & strength for war, but they are just worthless words. |
On whom [do] you now trust, that you [dare to] rebel against me? [Look,] you trust upon Egypt, the [splintered walking stick] that a man [leans on, but a splinter] will go into his hand & pierce it. |
Pharaoh, [Egypt's] king, [is like that] to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, We trust in the Lord, our God, [but] aren't they [God's] high places & altars Hezekiah has taken away & said to Judah & Jerusalem, You shall [only] worship [in front of] this altar in Jerusalem? |
Therefore, I pray that you [make a deal with] my lord, [Assyria's] king & I will deliver 2,000 horses to you, if you [have enough] riders to [put] on them. How [can] you [disgust even] 1 captain of the least of my master's servants & put your trust [in] Egypt for chariots & horsemen? |
[Have] I now come [to attack] & destroy this place without the Lord? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land & destroy it. Then, Eliakim, [Hilkiah's] son, Shebna & Jonah said to RabShakeh, I pray that you speak in the Syrian [language; because] we understand it. |
[Don't] talk to us in the Jew's [language where] the people on the wall [can hear]. RabShekeh said to them, Has my master sent me to only speak these words to your master & you? |
[Hasn't] he [also] sent me [to speak to] the men [who] sit on the wall, [so] they may eat their own [feces] & drink their own [urine] with you? Then, Rabshekeh stood & cried [out] with a loud voice in the Jew's language, saying, hear the [words] of [Assyria's] great king. |
The king says [this, don't] let Hezekiah deceive you, for he won't be able to deliver you out of [Assyria's] hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, Surely, the Lord will deliver us & this city won't be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. |
[Don't listen] to Hezekiah: for [Assyria's] king [says,] Make an agreement with me & come out to me [with] a present & then, every man [will] eat his own vine & own fig tree & drink water [from] his [own well]. |
[Don't listen] to Hezekiah when he [falsely] persuades you saying, The Lord will deliver us. I come [to] take you away to a land like your own land. A land of corn, wine, oil, bread, vineyards, olive oil & honey, [so] you may live & not die. |
[Have] the [false] gods of [any] of the nations delivered [their] land out of the king of Assyria's hand? Where are the [false] gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena & Ivah [a.k.a. Ivvah]? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? |
Who are they among all the gods of the countries & they [haven't] delivered their country out of my hand. [How shall] the Lord deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? The people held their peace & [didn't] answer him for king [Hezekiah] commanded, [Don't] answer him. |
Then, Eliakim, [Hilkiah's] son, [who] was over the household, Shebna, the scribe & Jonah, [Asaph's] son, the recorder, [went] to Hezekiah with their clothes [torn] [a sign of mourning] & told him the words of RabShakeh. |