2 Könige 18

1In the third year of Osee the son of Ela king of Israel, reigned Ezechias the son of Achaz king of Juda.

2He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abi the daughter of Zacharias.

3And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

4He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its name Nohestan.

5He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel: so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were before him:

6And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.

7Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and served him not.

8He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

9In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh year of Osee the son of Ela king of Israel, Salmanasar king of the Assyrians came up to Samaria, and besieged it,

10And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee king of Israel, Samaria was taken:

11And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in Hale, and in Habor by the rivers of Gozan in the cities of the Medes:

12Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, they would not hear nor do.

13In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against the fenced cities of Juda: and took them.

14Then Ezechias king of Juda sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

15And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures.

16At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians.

17And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan and Rabsaris, and Rabsaces from Lachis to king Ezechias with a strong army to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller’s field.

18And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim the son of Helcias who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder.

19And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein thou trustest?

20Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel?

21Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.

22But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

23Now therefore come over to my master the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them.

24And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my master’s servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

25Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land and destroy it.

26Then Eliacim the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: We pray thee speak to us thy servants in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.

27And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?

28Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.

29Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand.

30Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.

31Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns,

32Till I come, and take you away to a land, like to your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil and honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver us.

33Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

34Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

35Who are they among all the gods of the nations, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

36But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for they had received commandment from the king that they should not answer him.

37And Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.

1Anno tertio Osee filii Ela regis Israël, regnavit Ezechias filius Achaz regis Juda.

2Viginti quinque annorum erat cum regnare cœpisset, et viginti novem annis regnavit in Jerusalem: nomen matris ejus Abi filia Zachariæ.

3Fecitque quod erat bonum coram Domino, juxta omnia quæ fecerat David pater ejus.

4Ipse dissipavit excelsa, et contrivit statuas, et succidit lucos, confregitque serpentem æneum quem fecerat Moyses: siquidem usque ad illud tempus filii Israël adolebant ei incensum: vocavitque nomen ejus Nohestan.

5In Domino Deo Israël speravit: itaque post eum non fuit similis ei de cunctis regibus Juda, sed neque in his qui ante eum fuerunt:

6et adhæsit Domino, et non recessit a vestigiis ejus, fecitque mandata ejus, quæ præceperat Dominus Moysi.

7Unde et erat Dominus cum eo, et in cunctis ad quæ procedebat, sapienter se agebat. Rebellavit quoque contra regem Assyriorum, et non servivit ei.

8Ipse percussit Philisthæos usque ad Gazam, et omnes terminos eorum, a turre custodum usque ad civitatem munitam.

9Anno quarto regis Ezechiæ, qui erat annus septimus Osee filii Ela regis Israël, ascendit Salmanasar rex Assyriorum in Samariam, et oppugnavit eam,

10et cepit. Nam post annos tres, anno sexto Ezechiæ, id est nono anno Osee regis Israël, capta est Samaria:

11et transtulit rex Assyriorum Israël in Assyrios, collocavitque eos in Hala et in Habor fluviis Gozan in civitatibus Medorum:

12quia non audierunt vocem Domini Dei sui, sed prætergressi sunt pactum ejus: omnia quæ præceperat Moyses servus Domini non audierunt, neque fecerunt.

13Anno quartodecimo regis Ezechiæ, ascendit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum ad universas civitates Juda munitas, et cepit eas.

14Tunc misit Ezechias rex Juda nuntios ad regem Assyriorum in Lachis, dicens: Peccavi: recede a me, et omne quod imposueris mihi, feram. Indixit itaque rex Assyriorum Ezechiæ regi Judæ trecenta talenta argenti, et triginta talenta auri.

15Deditque Ezechias omne argentum quod repertum fuerat in domo Domini et in thesauris regis.

16In tempore illo confregit Ezechias valvas templi Domini, et laminas auri quas ipse affixerat, et dedit eas regi Assyriorum.

17Misit autem rex Assyriorum Tharthan, et Rabsaris, et Rabsacen de Lachis ad regem Ezechiam cum manu valida Jerusalem: qui cum ascendissent, venerunt Jerusalem, et steterunt juxta aquæductum piscinæ superioris, quæ est in via Agrifullonis.

18Vocaveruntque regem: egressus est autem ad eos Eliacim filius Helciæ præpositus domus, et Sobna scriba, et Joahe filius Asaph a commentariis.

19Dixitque ad eos Rabsaces: Loquimini Ezechiæ: Hæc dicit rex magnus, rex Assyriorum: Quæ est ista fiducia, qua niteris?

20forsitan inisti consilium, ut præpares te ad prælium. In quo confidis, ut audeas rebellare?

21an speras in baculo arundineo atque confracto Ægypto, super quem, si incubuerit homo, comminutus ingredietur manum ejus, et perforabit eam? sic est Pharao rex Ægypti omnibus qui confidunt in se.

22Quod si dixeritis mihi: In Domino Deo nostro habemus fiduciam: nonne iste est, cujus abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria, et præcepit Judæ et Jerusalem: Ante altare hoc adorabitis in Jerusalem?

23Nunc igitur transite ad dominum meum regem Assyriorum, et dabo vobis duo millia equorum, et videte an habere valeatis ascensores eorum.

24Et quomodo potestis resistere ante unum satrapam de servis domini mei minimis? an fiduciam habes in Ægypto propter currus et equites?

25Numquid sine Domini voluntate ascendi ad locum istum, ut demolirer eum? Dominus dixit mihi: Ascende ad terram hanc, et demolire eam.

26Dixerunt autem Eliacim filius Helciæ, et Sobna, et Joahe Rabsaci: Precamur ut loquaris nobis servis tuis syriace: siquidem intelligimus hanc linguam: et non loquaris nobis judaice, audiente populo qui est super murum.

27Responditque eis Rabsaces, dicens: Numquid ad dominum tuum, et ad te misit me dominus meus, ut loquerer sermones hos, et non potius ad viros qui sedent super murum, ut comedant stercora sua, et bibant urinam suam vobiscum?

28Stetit itaque Rabsaces, et exclamavit voce magna judaice, et ait: Audite verba regis magni, regis Assyriorum.

29Hæc dicit rex: Non vos seducat Ezechias: non enim poterit eruere vos de manu mea:

30neque fiduciam vobis tribuat super Dominum, dicens: Eruens liberabit nos Dominus, et non tradetur civitas hæc in manu regis Assyriorum.

31Nolite audire Ezechiam. Hæc enim dicit rex Assyriorum: Facite mecum quod vobis est utile, et egredimini ad me: et comedet unusquisque de vinea sua, et de ficu sua: et bibetis aquas de cisternis vestris,

32donec veniam, et transferam vos in terram quæ similis est terræ vestræ, in terram fructiferam, et fertilem vini, terram panis et vinearum, terram olivarum et olei ac mellis: et vivetis, et non moriemini. Nolite audire Ezechiam, qui vos decipit, dicens: Dominus liberabit nos.

33Numquid liberaverunt dii gentium terram suam de manu regis Assyriorum?

34ubi est deus Emath, et Arphad? ubi est deus Sepharvaim, Ana, et Ava? numquid liberaverunt Samariam de manu mea?

35Quinam illi sunt in universis diis terrarum, qui eruerunt regionem suam de manu mea, ut possit eruere Dominus Jerusalem de manu mea?

36Tacuit itaque populus, et non respondit ei quidquam: siquidem præceptum regis acceperant ut non responderent ei.

37Venitque Eliacim filius Helciæ, præpositus domus, et Sobna scriba, et Joahe filius Asaph a commentariis ad Ezechiam scissis vestibus, et nuntiaverunt ei verba Rabsacis.

1In the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel: Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, reigned as king of Judah.

2He was twenty-five years old when he had begun to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

3And he did what was good before the Lord, in accord with all that his father David had done.

4He destroyed the high places, and he crushed the statues, and he cut down the sacred groves. And he broke apart the bronze serpent, which Moses had made. For even until that time, the sons of Israel were burning incense to it. And he called its name Nehushtan.

5He hoped in the Lord, the God of Israel. And after him, there was no one similar to him, among all the kings of Judah, nor even among any of those who were before him.

6And he clung to the Lord, and he did not withdraw from his footsteps, and he carried out his commandments, which the Lord had instructed to Moses.

7Therefore, the Lord was also with him. And he conducted himself wisely in all the things to which he went forth. Also, he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and he did not serve him.

8He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza, and in all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

9In the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, the king of Israel: Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, ascended to Samaria, and he fought against it,

10and he seized it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, in the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Israel, Samaria was captured.

11And the king of the Assyrians took away Israel into Assyria. And he located them in Halah and in Habor, at the rivers of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.

12For they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, their God. Instead, they transgressed his covenant. All that Moses, the servant of the Lord, had instructed, they would neither hear, nor do.

13In the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, went up to all the fortified cities of Judah, and he captured them.

14Then Hezekiah, the king of Judah, sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians at Lachish, saying: “I have offended. Withdraw from me, and all that you will impose upon me, I will bear.” And so the king of the Assyrians levied a tax upon Hezekiah, the king of Judah, of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15And Hezekiah gave all the silver that had been found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king.

16At that time, Hezekiah broke apart the doors of the temple of the Lord, with the plates of gold which he had affixed to them. And he gave these to the king of the Assyrians.

17Then the king of the Assyrians sent Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, from Lachish, to king Hezekiah, with a powerful hand, to Jerusalem. And when they had ascended, they arrived in Jerusalem, and they stood beside the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is along the way of the fuller’s field.

18And they called for the king. But there went out to them Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the first ruler of the house, and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the keeper of records.

19And Rabshakeh said to them: “Speak to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this faith, in which you strive?

20Perhaps, you have taken counsel, so that you would prepare yourself for battle. In whom do you trust, so that you would dare to rebel?

21Do you hope in Egypt, that staff of a broken reed, which, if a man would lean upon it, breaking, it would pierce his hand? Such is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who would trust in him.

22But if you say to me: ‘We have faith in the Lord, our God.’ Is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away? And did he not instruct Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You shall adore before this altar in Jerusalem?’

23Now therefore, cross over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give to you two thousand horses, and we will see if you even have enough riders for them.

24So how can you resist one prince from the least of my lord’s servants? Do you have faith in Egypt because of the chariots and horsemen?

25Is it not by the will of the Lord that I have chosen to ascend to this place, so that I may destroy it? The Lord said to me: ‘Ascend to this land, and destroy it.’ ”

26Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh: “We beseech you, that you may speak to us, your servants, in Syriac. For we understand that language to some extent. And do not speak to us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people, who are upon the wall.”

27And Rabshakeh responded to them, saying: “Has my lord sent me to your lord and to you, so that I may speak these words, and not instead to the men who are sitting upon the wall, so that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?”

28And so, Rabshakeh stood up, and he exclaimed in a great voice, in the Jews’ language, and he said: “Listen to the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.

29Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah lead you astray. For he will not be able to rescue you from my hand.

30And do not let him give you faith in the Lord, saying: ‘The Lord will rescue and free us, and this city will not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.’

31Do not choose to listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of the Assyrians: Do with me what is for your own good, and come out to me. And each one of you will eat from his own vine, and from his own fig tree. And you shall drink water from your own wells,

32until I arrive and transfer you into a land, similar to your own land, a fruitful and fertile land of wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives and oil and honey. And you will live, and not die. Do not choose to listen to Hezekiah, who deceives you, saying: ‘The Lord will free us.’

33Have any of the gods of the nations freed their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

34Where is the god of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and of Avva? Have they freed Samaria from my hand?

35Which ones among all the gods of the lands have rescued their region from my hand, so that the Lord would be able to rescue Jerusalem from my hand?”

36But the people were silent, and they did not respond at all to him. For indeed, they had received an instruction from the king that they should not respond to him.

37And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the first ruler of the house, and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the keeper of records, went to Hezekiah with their garments torn. And they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.