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.
Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.
He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and {Or, it was called}he called it {That is, A piece of brass.}Nehushtan.
He trusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him.
For he clave to Jehovah; he departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which Jehovah commanded Moses.
And Jehovah was with him; whithersoever he went forth he prospered: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.
He smote the Philistines unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
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.
And at the end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
And the king of Assyria carried Israel away unto Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
because they obeyed not the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded, and would not hear it, nor do it.
Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did {Hebrew: Sanherib.}Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
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.
And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king's house.
At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and from the {Or, doorposts}pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
And the king of Assyria sent {The titles of Assyrian officers.}Tartan and {The titles of Assyrian officers.}Rab-saris and {The titles of Assyrian officers.}Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great army unto 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.
And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the {Or, secretary}scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the {Or, chronicler}recorder.
And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
Thou sayest (but they are but {Hebrew: a word of the lips.}vain words), There is counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?
Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon 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.
But if ye say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God; is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
Now therefore, I pray thee, {Or, make a wager with}give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
How then canst 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?
Am I now come up without Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the {Hebrew: Aramean.}Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not with us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
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 that sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake, saying, Hear ye the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
neither let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, {Hebrew: Make with me a blessing.}Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;
until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive-trees and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken not unto Hezekiah, when he persuadeth you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us.
Hath any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who 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.
Querverweise zu 2. Könige 18,25 2Kön 18,25
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
By thy messengers thou hast defied the Lord, and hast said, With the {According to another reading, driving.}multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice {Or, cypress}fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his fruitful field.
I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of {Or, defence Hebrew: Mazor.}Egypt.
Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
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 grain blasted before it is grown up.
But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me.
Because of thy raging against me, and because {Or, thy careless ease}thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I 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.
And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, 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 fruit thereof.
And {Hebrew: the escaped of the house of Judah that remain.}the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of {According to another reading, Jehovah of hosts, and so in Isaiah 37:32.}Jehovah shall perform this.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah.
For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that {According to another reading, Adrammeleeh and Sharezer his sons (and so in Isaiah 37:38).}Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
But he sent ambassadors to him, saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have war; and God {Or, hath given command to speed me}hath commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.
{Or, Woe to Asshur}Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation!
I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and {Hebrew: to make them a treading down.}to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?
Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have {Or, authority}power to release thee, and have {Or, authority}power to crucify thee?
Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no {Or, authority}power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.