Dual Panel1In the third <07969> year <08141> of the reign <04427> of Israel’s <03478> King <04428> Hoshea <01954> son <01121> of Elah <0425>, Ahaz’s <0271> son <01121> Hezekiah <02396> became king <04428> over Judah <03063>.
2He was twenty-five <02568> <06242> years <08141> old <01121> when he began <01961> to reign <04427>, and he reigned <04427> twenty-nine <08672> <06242> years <08141> in Jerusalem <03389>. His mother <0517> <08034> was Abi <021>, the daughter <01323> of Zechariah <02148>.
3He did <06213> what <03605> the Lord <03068> approved <05869> <03477>, just as <0834> his ancestor <01> David <01732> had done <06213>.
4He <01931> eliminated <05493> the high places <01116>, smashed <07665> the sacred pillars <04676> to bits, and cut down <03772> the Asherah pole <0842>. He also demolished <03807> the bronze <05178> serpent <05175> that <0834> Moses <04872> had made <06213>, for <03588> up to that <05704> time <03117> the Israelites <03478> <01121> had been <01961> offering incense <06999> to it; it was called <07121> Nehushtan <05180>.
5He trusted <0982> in the Lord <03068> God <0430> of Israel <03478>; in this regard there was <01961> none <03605> like <03644> him among the kings <04428> of Judah <03063> either before <06440> or <03808> after <0310>.
6He was loyal <01692> to the Lord <03068> and did not <03808> abandon <05493> him. He obeyed <08104> the commandments <04687> which <0834> the Lord <03068> had given <06680> to Moses <04872>.
7The Lord <03068> was <01961> with <05973> him; he succeeded <07919> in all <03605> his endeavors <03318>. He rebelled <04775> against the king <04428> of Assyria <0804> and refused <03808> to submit <05647> to him.
8He <01931> defeated <05221> the Philistines <06430> as far <05704> as Gaza <05804> and its territory <01366>, from the watchtower <05341> <04026> to <05704> the city <05892> fortress <04013>.
9In the fourth <07243> year <08141> of King <04428> Hezekiah’s <02396> reign (it <01931> was the seventh <07637> year <08141> of the reign of Israel’s <03478> King <04428> Hoshea <01954>, son <01121> of Elah <0425>), King <04428> Shalmaneser <08022> of Assyria <0804> marched up <05927> against <05921> Samaria <08111> and besieged <06696> it.
10After <07097> three <07969> years <08141> he captured <03920> it (in the sixth <08337> year <08141> of Hezekiah’s <02396> reign); in the ninth <08672> year <08141> of King <04428> Hoshea’s <01954> reign over Israel <03478> Samaria <08111> was captured <03920>.
11The king <04428> of Assyria <0804> deported <01540> the people of Israel <03478> to Assyria <0804>. He settled <05148> them in Halah <02477>, along the Habor <02249> (the river <05104> of Gozan <01470>), and in the cities <05892> of the Medes <04074>.
12This happened because they did not <03808> obey <06963> <08085> the Lord <03069> their God <0430> and broke <05674> his agreement <01285> with them. They did not <03808> pay attention <08085> to and obey <06213> all <03605> that <0834> Moses <04872>, the Lord’s <03069> servant <05650>, had commanded <06680>.
13In the fourteenth <06240> <0702> year <08141> of King <04428> Hezekiah’s <02396> reign, King <04428> Sennacherib <05576> of Assyria <0804> marched up <05927> against <05921> all <03605> the fortified <01219> cities <05892> of Judah <03063> and captured <08610> them.
14King <04428> Hezekiah <02396> of Judah <03063> sent <07971> this message to <0413> the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>, who was at Lachish <03923>, “I have violated <02398> our treaty. If <0834> you leave <07725>, I will do <05375> whatever you demand <05414>.” So the king <04428> of <05921> Assyria <0804> demanded <07760> that King <04428> Hezekiah <02396> of Judah <03063> pay three <07969> hundred <03967> talents <03603> of silver <03701> and thirty <07970> talents <03603> of gold <02091>.
15Hezekiah <02396> gave <05414> him all <03605> the silver <03701> in the Lord’s <03068> temple <01004> and in the treasuries <0214> of the royal <04428> palace <01004>.
16At that time <06256> King <04428> Hezekiah <02396> of Judah <03063> stripped <07112> the metal overlays from the doors <01817> of the Lord’s <03068> temple <01964> and from the posts <0547> which <0834> he <02396> had plated <06823> and gave <05414> them to the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>.
17The king <04428> of Assyria <0804> sent <07971> his commanding general <08661>, the <0853> chief eunuch <07249>, and the <0853> chief adviser <07262> from <04480> Lachish <03923> to <0413> King <04428> Hezekiah <02396> in Jerusalem <03389>, along with a large <03515> army <02426>. They went up <05927> and arrived at <0935> Jerusalem <03389>. They went <05927> and stood <05975> at the conduit <08585> of the upper <05945> pool <01295> which <0834> is located on the road <04546> to the field <07704> where they wash <03526> and dry cloth.
18They summoned <07121> the king <04428>, so Eliakim <0471> son <01121> of Hilkiah <02518>, the palace <01004> supervisor, accompanied by Shebna <07644> the scribe <05608> and Joah <03098> son <01121> of Asaph <0623>, the secretary <02142>, went out <03318> to <0413> meet <05921> them.
19The chief adviser <07262> said <0559> to <0413> them, “Tell <0559> Hezekiah <02396>: ‘This is what <03541> the great <01419> king <04428>, the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>, says <0559>: “What <04100> is your source of confidence <0986>?
20Your claim <0559> to have a strategy <06098> and <0389> military <04421> strength <01369> is just empty talk <08193> <01697>. In <05921> whom <04310> are you trusting <0982> that <03588> you would dare to rebel <04775> against me?
21Now <06258> look <02009>, you must be trusting <0982> in <05921> Egypt <04714>, that splintered <07533> reed <07070> staff <04938>. If a man <0376> leans <05564> for support on <05921> it, it punctures <0935> his hand <03709> and wounds <05344> him. That is what <03651> Pharaoh <06547> king <04428> of Egypt <04714> does to all <03605> who trust <0982> in <05921> him.
22Perhaps <03588> you will tell <0559> me, ‘We are trusting <0982> in the Lord <03068> our God <0430>.’ But Hezekiah <02396> is the one <01931> who <0834> eliminated <05493> his high places <01116> and altars <04196> and then told <0559> the people of Judah <03063> and Jerusalem <03389>, ‘You must worship <07812> at <06440> this <02088> altar <04196> in Jerusalem <03389>.’
23Now <06258> make a deal <06148> with <0854> my master <0113> the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>, and I will give <05414> you two thousand <0505> horses <05483>, provided <0518> you can <03201> find <05414> enough riders <07392> for <05921> them.
24Certainly <0349> you will not refuse <06440> <07725> one <0259> of my master’s <0113> minor <06996> officials <05650> and trust <0982> in <05921> Egypt <04714> for chariots <07393> and horsemen <06571>.
25Furthermore <06258> it was by the command of the Lord <03068> that I marched up <05927> against <05921> this <02088> place <04725> to destroy <07843> it. The Lord <03068> told <0559> me, ‘March up <05927> against <05921> this <02063> land <0776> and destroy <07843> it.’”’”
26Eliakim <0471> son <01121> of Hilkiah <02518>, Shebna <07644>, and Joah <03098> said to <0413> the chief adviser <07262>, “Speak <01696> to <0413> your servants <05650> in Aramaic <0762>, for <03588> we <0587> understand <08085> it. Don’t <0408> speak <01696> with <05973> us in the Judahite dialect <03066> in the hearing <0241> of the people <05971> who <0834> are on <05921> the wall <02346>.”
27But the chief adviser <07262> said <0559> to <0413> them, “My master <0113> did not send <07971> me to <0413> speak <01696> these <0428> words <01697> only to your master <0113> and to you. His message is also <03808> for <05921> the men <0376> who sit <03427> on <05921> the wall <02346>, for they will eat <0398> their own excrement <02755> and drink <08354> their own urine <07890> along with <05973> you.”
28The chief adviser <07262> then stood <05975> there and called out <07121> loudly <01419> <06963> in the Judahite dialect <03066>, “Listen <08085> to the message <01697> of the great <01419> king <04428>, the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>.
29This is what <03541> the king <04428> says <0559>: ‘Don’t <0408> let Hezekiah <02396> mislead <05377> you, for <03588> he is not <03808> able <03201> to rescue <05337> you from my hand <03027>!
30Don’t <0408> let Hezekiah <02396> talk you into trusting <0982> in <0413> the Lord <03068> when he says <0559>, “The Lord <03068> will certainly rescue <05337> <05337> us; this <02063> city <05892> will not <03808> be handed over <03027> <05414> to the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>.”
31Don’t <0408> listen <08085> to <0413> Hezekiah <02396>!’ For <03588> this is what <03541> the king <04428> of Assyria <0804> says <0559>, ‘Send <06213> me a token of your submission <01293> and surrender <03318> to <0413> me. Then each <0376> of you may eat <0398> from his own <0376> vine <01612> and fig tree <08384> and drink <08354> water <04325> from his own <0376> cistern <0953>,
32until <05704> I come <0935> and take <03947> you to <0413> a land <0776> just like your own– a land <0776> of grain <01715> and new wine <08492>, a land <0776> of bread <03899> and vineyards <03754>, a land <0776> of olive trees <02132> and honey <01706>. Then you will live <02421> and not <03808> die <04191>. Don’t <0408> listen <08085> to <0413> Hezekiah <02396>, for <03588> he is misleading <05496> you when he says <0559>, “The Lord <03068> will rescue <05337> us.”
33Have any <0376> of the gods <0430> of the nations <01471> actually rescued <05337> <05337> his land <0776> from the power <03027> of the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>?
34Where <0346> are the gods <0430> of Hamath <02574> and Arpad <0774>? Where <0346> are the gods <0430> of Sepharvaim <05617>, Hena <02012>, and Ivvah <05755>? Indeed <03588>, did any gods rescue <05337> Samaria <08111> from my power <03027>?
35Who <04310> among all <03605> the gods <0430> of the lands <0776> has rescued <05337> their lands <0776> from my power <03027>? So how <03588> can the Lord <03068> rescue <05337> Jerusalem <03389> from my power <03027>?’”
36The people <05971> were silent <02790> and did not <03808> respond <06030>, for <03588> the king <04428> had ordered <04687>, “Don’t <03808> respond <06030> to him <01931>.”
37Eliakim <0471> son <01121> of Hilkiah <02518>, the palace <01004> supervisor <05921> <0834>, accompanied <0935> by Shebna <07644> the scribe <05608> and Joah <03098> son <01121> of Asaph <0623>, the secretary <02142>, went to <0413> Hezekiah <02396> with their clothes <0899> torn <07167> and reported <05046> to him what <01697> the chief adviser <07262> had said <01697>.