2 Kings 18:1-20

1Ahaz's son Hezekiah became the king of Judah when Elah's son Hoshea had been king of Israel for three years.

2Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah.

3Hezekiah did things that the Lord said were good, as his ancestor King David had done.

4He removed the altars on the hills. He knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped and he cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made. Until then, the Israelites had burned incense as an offering to it. It was called Nehushtan.

5Hezekiah trusted the Lord, Israel's God. None of the other kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.

6He served the Lord faithfully. He obeyed the laws that the Lord had given to Moses.

7The Lord was with Hezekiah so that he was successful in everything that he decided to do. He turned against the king of Assyria. He refused to serve him.

8He won battles against the Philistines as far as Gaza. He took all their towns, large and small.

9When Hezekiah had been king for four years, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, took his army to attack Samaria. That was when Hoshea had been king of Israel for seven years. The Assyrian army made their camp around the city of Samaria.

10After three years, the Assyrian army took the city. So that happened in the sixth year that Hezekiah ruled Judah. It was the ninth year that King Hoshea ruled over Israel.

11The king of Assyria took the Israelites as prisoners to Assyria. He caused them to live in Halah, at Gozan beside the River Habor and in the towns in Media.

12This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God. They had not obeyed the covenant that he had made with them. They did not accept the teaching that Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded them to obey.

13When Hezekiah had ruled Judah for 14 years, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked Judah with his army. He took all the strong cities in Judah for himself.

14So King Hezekiah of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria, who was in Lachish. Hezekiah said, ‘What I did was wrong. Please take your army out of Judah. Then I will pay you everything that you ask me to pay.’ The king of Assyria told King Hezekiah that he must pay ten tons of silver and one ton of gold.

15So Hezekiah gave Sennacherib all the silver that was stored in the Lord's temple and in the palace.

16At the same time, Hezekiah removed the gold that he had used to cover the doors of the Lord's temple. He also took the gold off the wood at the sides of the doors. He gave all that gold to the king of Assyria.

17King Sennacherib of Assyria sent his three most important officers from Lachish to Jerusalem, to speak to King Hezekiah. The three officers took a large army with them. They arrived in Jerusalem. They went and stood at the stream of water that came from the higher pool. It was on the road to the field where people washed clothes.

18They told King Hezekiah to come to them. These three people went out to meet them: Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the most important officer in the king's palace. Shebna, a government officer. Asaph's son Joah, the king's secretary.

19One of Sennacherib's officers said to them, ‘Tell Hezekiah that the king of Assyria, the great king, says this to him: “Why are you so sure that someone will rescue you from our power?

20You say that you have good plans. You say that your army is strong. But those are only useless words! You have turned against me, so who are you trusting to save you?