Sennacherib Attacks Judah

2 Kings 18

13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16 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 1 it to the king of Assyria. 17 Then the king of Assyria sent the 2 Tartan, 2 the 4 Rabsaris, 4 and the 6 Rabshakeh 6 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. 18 And when they had called to the king, w Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the 8 scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them.

19 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? 20 "You speak of having plans and power for war; but they are 9 mere words. And in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 21 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. 22 "But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not He z whose 10 high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem'?" ' 23 "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! 24 "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? 25 "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.' "

26 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 11 Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall." 27 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?"

28 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in 12 Hebrew, and spoke, saying, "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 "Thus says the king: c 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you from his hand; 30 '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." ' 31 "Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make peace with me 13 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; 32 '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." 33 f 'Has any of the gods of the nations at all delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 '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? 35 '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?' "

36 But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him." 37 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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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?
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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"?
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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?'"
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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?'
  15. 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?'"
  16. 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.
  17. 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?"
  18. 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.
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