2Kings:18-19
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Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel ,
that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign .
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Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign ;
and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem .
His mother '
s name also was Abi ,
the daughter of Zachariah .
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And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD ,
according to all that David his father did .
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He removed the high places ,
and brake the images ,
and cut down the groves ,
and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made :
for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it :
and he called it Nehushtan .
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He trusted in the LORD God of Israel ;
so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah ,
nor any that were before him .
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For he clave to the LORD ,
and departed not from following him ,
but kept his commandments ,
which the LORD commanded Moses .
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And the LORD was with him ;
and he prospered whithersoever he went forth :
and he rebelled against the king of Assyria ,
and served him not .
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He smote the Philistines ,
even unto Gaza ,
and the borders thereof ,
from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city .
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And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah ,
which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel ,
that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria ,
and besieged it .
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And at the end of three years they took it :
even in the sixth year of Hezekiah ,
that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel ,
Samaria was taken .
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And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria ,
and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan ,
and in the cities of the Medes :
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Because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God ,
but transgressed his covenant ,
and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded ,
and would not hear them ,
nor do them .
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Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah ,
and took them .
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And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish ,
saying ,
I have offended ;
return from me :
that which thou puttest on me will I bear .
And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold .
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And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD ,
and in the treasures of the king '
s house .
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At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD ,
and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid ,
and gave it to the king of Assyria .
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And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem .
And they went up and came to Jerusalem .
And when they were come up ,
they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool ,
which is in the highway of the fuller '
s field .
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And when they had called to the king ,
there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ,
which was over the household ,
and Shebna the scribe ,
and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder .
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And Rabshakeh said unto them ,
Speak ye now to Hezekiah ,
Thus saith the great king ,
the king of Assyria ,
What confidence is this wherein thou trustest ?
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Thou sayest , (
but they are but vain words ,)
I have counsel and strength for the war .
Now on whom dost thou trust ,
that thou rebellest against me ?
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Now ,
behold ,
thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed ,
even upon Egypt ,
on which if a man lean ,
it will go into his hand ,
and pierce it :
so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him .
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But if ye say unto me ,
We trust in the LORD our God :
is not that he ,
whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away ,
and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem ,
Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem ?
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Now therefore ,
I pray thee ,
give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria ,
and I will deliver thee two thousand horses ,
if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them .
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How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master '
s servants ,
and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ?
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Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it ?
The LORD said to me ,
Go up against this land ,
and destroy it .
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Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ,
and Shebna ,
and Joah ,
unto Rabshakeh ,
Speak ,
I pray thee ,
to thy servants in the Syrian language ;
for we understand it :
and talk not with us in the Jews '
language in the ears of the people that are on the wall .
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But Rabshakeh said unto them ,
Hath my master sent me to thy master ,
and to thee ,
to speak these words ?
hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall ,
that they may eat their own dung ,
and drink their own piss with you ?
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Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews '
language ,
and spake ,
saying ,
Hear the word of the great king ,
the king of Assyria :
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Thus saith the king ,
Let not Hezekiah deceive you :
for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand :
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Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD ,
saying ,
The LORD will surely deliver us ,
and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria .
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Hearken not to Hezekiah :
for thus saith the king of Assyria ,
Make an agreement with me by a present ,
and come out to me ,
and then eat ye every man of his own vine ,
and every one of his fig tree ,
and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern :
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Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land ,
a land of corn and wine ,
a land of bread and vineyards ,
a land of oil olive and of honey ,
that ye may live ,
and not die :
and hearken not unto Hezekiah ,
when he persuadeth you ,
saying ,
The LORD will deliver us .
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Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ?
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Where are the gods of Hamath ,
and of Arpad ?
where are the gods of Sepharvaim ,
Hena ,
and Ivah ?
have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand ?
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Who are they among all the gods of the countries ,
that have delivered their country out of mine hand ,
that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand ?
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But the people held their peace ,
and answered him not a word :
for the king '
s commandment was ,
saying ,
Answer him not .
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Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ,
which was over the household ,
and Shebna the scribe ,
and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder ,
to Hezekiah with their clothes rent ,
and told him the words of Rabshakeh .
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And it came to pass ,
when king Hezekiah heard it ,
that he rent his clothes ,
and covered himself with sackcloth ,
and went into the house of the LORD .
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And he sent Eliakim ,
which was over the household ,
and Shebna the scribe ,
and the elders of the priests ,
covered with sackcloth ,
to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz .
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And they said unto him ,
Thus saith Hezekiah ,
This day is a day of trouble ,
and of rebuke ,
and blasphemy :
for the children are come to the birth ,
and there is not strength to bring forth .
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It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh ,
whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God ;
and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard :
wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left .
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So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah .
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And Isaiah said unto them ,
Thus shall ye say to your master ,
Thus saith the LORD ,
Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard ,
with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me .
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Behold ,
I will send a blast upon him ,
and he shall hear a rumour ,
and shall return to his own land ;
and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land .
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So Rabshakeh returned ,
and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah :
for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish .
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And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia ,
Behold ,
he is come out to fight against thee :
he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah ,
saying ,
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Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah ,
saying ,
Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee ,
saying ,
Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria .
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Behold ,
thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands ,
by destroying them utterly :
and shalt thou be delivered ?
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Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed ;
as Gozan ,
and Haran ,
and Rezeph ,
and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar ?
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Where is the king of Hamath ,
and the king of Arpad ,
and the king of the city of Sepharvaim ,
of Hena ,
and Ivah ?
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And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers ,
and read it :
and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD ,
and spread it before the LORD .
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And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD ,
and said ,
O LORD God of Israel ,
which dwellest between the cherubims ,
thou art the God ,
even thou alone ,
of all the kingdoms of the earth ;
thou hast made heaven and earth .
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LORD ,
bow down thine ear ,
and hear :
open ,
LORD ,
thine eyes ,
and see :
and hear the words of Sennacherib ,
which hath sent him to reproach the living God .
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Of a truth ,
LORD ,
the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands ,
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And have cast their gods into the fire :
for they were no gods ,
but the work of men '
s hands ,
wood and stone :
therefore they have destroyed them .
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Now therefore ,
O LORD our God ,
I beseech thee ,
save thou us out of his hand ,
that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God ,
even thou only .
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Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah ,
saying ,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ,
That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard .
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This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him ;
The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee ,
and laughed thee to scorn ;
the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee .
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Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed ?
and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice ,
and lifted up thine eyes on high ?
even against the Holy One of Israel .
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By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord ,
and hast said ,
With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains ,
to the sides of Lebanon ,
and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof ,
and the choice fir trees thereof :
and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders ,
and into the forest of his Carmel .
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I have digged and drunk strange waters ,
and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places .
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Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it ,
and of ancient times that I have formed it ?
now have I brought it to pass ,
that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps .
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Therefore their inhabitants were of small power ,
they were dismayed and confounded ;
they were as the grass of the field ,
and as the green herb ,
as the grass on the housetops ,
and as corn blasted before it be grown up .
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But I know thy abode ,
and thy going out ,
and thy coming in ,
and thy rage against me .
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Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears ,
therefore I will put my hook in thy nose ,
and my bridle in thy lips ,
and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest .
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And this shall be a sign unto thee ,
Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves ,
and in the second year that which springeth of the same ;
and in the third year sow ye ,
and reap ,
and plant vineyards ,
and eat the fruits thereof .
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And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward ,
and bear fruit upward .
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For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant ,
and they that escape out of mount Zion :
the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this .
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Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria ,
He shall not come into this city ,
nor shoot an arrow there ,
nor come before it with shield ,
nor cast a bank against it .
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By the way that he came ,
by the same shall he return ,
and shall not come into this city ,
saith the LORD .
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For I will defend this city ,
to save it ,
for mine own sake ,
and for my servant David '
s sake .
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And it came to pass that night ,
that the angel of the LORD went out ,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand :
and when they arose early in the morning ,
behold ,
they were all dead corpses .
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So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed ,
and went and returned ,
and dwelt at Nineveh .
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And it came to pass ,
as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god ,
that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword :
and they escaped into the land of Armenia .
And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead .
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In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death .
And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him ,
and said unto him ,
Thus saith the LORD ,
Set thine house in order ;
for thou shalt die ,
and not live .