2 Kings 18
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Now it came to pass in the third year of a Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that b Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.
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He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was c Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
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And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.
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d He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the e bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.
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He f trusted in the LORD God of Israel, g so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.
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For he h held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.
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The LORD i was with him; he j prospered wherever he went. And he k rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
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l He subdued the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory, m from watchtower to fortified city.
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Now n it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea the 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. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, o the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
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p Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them q in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
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because they r did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do them.
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And s in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
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Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay." And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
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So Hezekiah t gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king's house.
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At that time Hezekiah stripped 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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Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they had come up, they went and stood by the u aqueduct from the upper pool, v which was on the highway to the Fuller's Field.
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And when they had called to the king, w Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them.
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Then the Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: x "What confidence is this in which you trust?
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"You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me?
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y "Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
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"But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not He z whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?" '
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"Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses - if you are able on your part to put riders on them!
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"How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
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"Have 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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a Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in b Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."
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But the Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?"
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Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!
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"Thus says the king: c 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand;
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'nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." '
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"Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own d vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;
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'until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, e a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us."
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f 'Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
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'Where are the gods of g Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim and Hena and h Ivah? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
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'Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their countries from my hand, i that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?' "
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But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him."
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Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah j with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:1
In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned nine years.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 28:27
So Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. Then Hezekiah his son reigned in his place.
2 Chronicles 29:1
Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah the daughter of Zechariah.
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Cross References
Isaiah 38:5
Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 31:1
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars - from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh - until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.
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Cross References
Numbers 21:5 - 9
And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.
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Cross References
2 Kings 19:10
"Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."
Job 13:15
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
Psalms 13:5
But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
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Cross References
2 Kings 23:25
Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; nor after him did any arise like him.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 10:20
You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.
Joshua 23:8
But you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 15:2
And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
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Cross References
Genesis 39:2
The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
Genesis 39:3
And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.
1 Samuel 18:5
So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
1 Samuel 18:14
And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him.
Psalms 60:12
Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
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Cross References
2 Kings 16:7
So Ahaz sent messengers to TiglathPile'ser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 4:41
These recorded by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and they attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and utterly destroyed them, as it is to this day. So they dwelt in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks there.
2 Chronicles 28:18
The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Sochoh with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and Gimzo with its villages; and they dwelt there.
Isaiah 14:29
Do not rejoice, all you of Philistia, Because the rod that struck you is broken; For out of the serpent's roots will come forth a viper, And its offspring will be a fiery flying serpent.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:9
Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:3
Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him; and Hoshea became his vassal, and paid him tribute money.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:6
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
Hosea 1:4
Then the LORD said to him: "Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Amos 4:2
The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: "Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks, And your posterity with fishhooks.
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Cross References
1 Chronicles 5:26
So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, that is, TiglathPile'ser king of Assyria. He carried the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into captivity. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan to this day.
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:7 - 18
For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 32:1
After these deeds of faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah; he encamped against the fortified cities, thinking to win them over to himself.
Isaiah 36:1
Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
Isaiah 39:8
So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!" For he said, "At least there will be peace and truth in my days.
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Cross References
1 Kings 15:18
Then Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the treasuries of the king's house, and delivered them into the hand of his servants. And King Asa sent them to BenHadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying.
1 Kings 15:19
" Let there be a treaty between you and me, as there was between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a present of silver and gold. Come and break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will withdraw from me."
2 Kings 12:18
And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and in the king's house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.
2 Kings 16:8
And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria.
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Cross References
2 Kings 20:20
Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah - all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city - are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
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Cross References
Isaiah 7:3
Then the LORD said to Isaiah, "Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and ShearJa'shub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller's Field.
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Cross References
2 Kings 19:2
Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
Isaiah 22:20
Then it shall be in that day, That I will call My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 32:10
Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: 'In what do you trust, that you remain under siege in Jerusalem?
Psalms 118:8
It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man.
Psalms 118:9
It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes.
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Cross References
Isaiah 30:2 - 7
Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Ezekiel 29:6
Then all the inhabitants of Egypt Shall know that I am the LORD, Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
Ezekiel 29:7
When they took hold of you with the hand, You broke and tore all their shoulders; When they leaned on you, You broke and made all their backs quiver.
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Cross References
2 Kings 18:4
He removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan.
2 Chronicles 31:1
Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke the sacred pillars in pieces, cut down the wooden images, and threw down the high places and the altars - from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh - until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned to their own cities, every man to his possession.
2 Chronicles 32:12
Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, "You shall worship before one altar and burn incense on it"?
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Cross References
Isaiah 36:11
Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.
Isaiah 39:8
So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!" For he said, "At least there will be peace and truth in my days.
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Cross References
Ezra 4:7
In the days of Artaxerxes also, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabel, and the rest of their companions wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the letter was written in Aramaic script, and translated into the Aramaic language.
Daniel 2:4
Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 32:15
'Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this, and do not believe him; for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?'"
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Cross References
1 Kings 4:20
Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.
1 Kings 4:25
And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 8:7 - 9
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills.
Deuteronomy 11:12
A land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.
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Cross References
2 Kings 19:12
Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?
Isaiah 10:10
As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria.
Isaiah 10:11
As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?'
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Cross References
2 Kings 19:13
'Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?'"
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Cross References
2 Kings 17:24
Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.
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Cross References
Daniel 3:15
"Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
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Cross References
Isaiah 33:7
Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside, The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.