Assyria in the Bible

Meaning: country of Assur or Ashur

Exact Match

And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-ir, and Calah,

And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.


“Nevertheless the Kenites will be consumed.
How long will Asshur (Assyria) keep you (Israel) captive?”


“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And shall afflict Asshur (Assyria) and Eber;
So they (the victors) also will come to destruction.”

And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand.

And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.

In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying, I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.

And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria.

And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof.

And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the LORD for the king of Assyria.

Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents.

And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison.

Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.

In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.

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.

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 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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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:

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.

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:

Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

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.

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.

"This is what the LORD says: "Never be afraid of the words that you have heard by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Look! I'm going to cause an attitude to grow within him so that he'll hear a rumor and return to his own territory, where I'll make him die by the sword in his own land!"'"

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

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.

Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?

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.


‘Have you not heard [asks the God of Israel]?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] should [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.


‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your arrogance and complacency have come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back [to Assyria] by the way that you came.

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.

It happened in that night that an angel of Yahweh went out, and he struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of Assyria. When they got up early in the morning, look! All of them [were] dead corpses.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him.

Beerah his son, whom Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.

For a great number fell mortally wounded, because the battle was of God. And these Israelites settled in their territory until the exile [by Assyria more than five centuries later].

And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.

And Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.

For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.

So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

"Listen, you descendants of Israel! Come back to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so he may come back to those of you who have escaped and survived from domination by the kings of Assyria. Don't be like your ancestors and your relatives, who weren't faithful to the LORD God of their ancestors, who, as a result, made them a desolate horror, as you well know.

After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.

So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?

Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:

After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,

Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

Doth not Hezekiah persuade you to give over yourselves to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.

Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side.

Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

then they drew near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers houses , and said unto them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do; and we sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.

And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy: for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

Assyria also is joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot. Selah

The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.

In the same day shall the Lord shave with a rasor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.

For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.

Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:


“Then it will sweep on into Judah; it will overflow and pass through [the hills],
Reaching even to the neck [of which Jerusalem is the head],
And its outstretched wings (the armies of Assyria) will fill the width of Your land, O Immanuel.


Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],
The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!


I send Assyria against a godless nation
And commission it against the people of My wrath
To take the spoil and to seize the plunder,
And to trample them down like mud in the streets.


Yet it is not Assyria’s intention [to do My will],
Nor does it plan so in its heart,
But instead it is its purpose to destroy
And to cut off many nations.


For Assyria says, “Are not my princes all kings?


Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?” [declares Assyria].

Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.


Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, will send a wasting disease among the stout warriors of Assyria;
And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.


And the Light of Israel will become a fire and His Holy One a flame,
And it will burn and devour Assyria’s thorns and briars in a single day.


The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria’s forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts: "My people who live [in] Zion, you must not be afraid of Assyria. It beats you with the rod, and it lifts up its staff against you {as the Egyptians did}.

Assyria has come to Aiath
and has gone through Migron,
storing his equipment at Michmash.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

to break Assyria in my land, and I will trample him down on my mountains; and he shall remove his yoke from them, and he shall remove his burden from his shoulders."

This is the plan [of God] decided for the whole earth [regarded as conquered and put under tribute by Assyria]; and this is the hand [of God] that is stretched out over all the nations.

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Damascus [capital of Aram (Syria), and Israel’s defense against Assyria].

“Listen carefully, Damascus will cease to be a city
And will become a fallen ruin.

The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.

Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.

In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;

So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.

And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?

Look [at] the land of the Chaldeans! {This people no longer exists. Assyria destined} it for wild animals. They erected its siege towers; they demolished its citadel fortresses. It made her like a ruin.

Thematic Bible



"Yahweh will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your ancestor days that have not come since [the] day Ephraim departed from Judah: the king of Assyria." And this shall happen: On that day, Yahweh will whistle for the fly that [is] at the end of the stream of Egypt and the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria. And all of them will come and settle in the rivers of the cliffs and in the clefts of the rocks and on all of the thornbushes and watering places. read more.
On that day, the Lord will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a razor of the one hired from beyond [the] river--with the king of Assyria--and it will even take off the beard. And this shall happen: on that day, a young man will keep a young cow of [the] herd and two sheep alive. And this shall happen: because of the abundance of milk production, he will eat curds, for every one that is left in the midst of the land will eat curds and honey. And this shall happen on that day: Every place where there are a thousand vines for a thousand silver [pieces] will become briers, and it will be thornbushes. One will go there with arrows and bow, for all of the land will be briers and thornbushes. And [as for] all of the hills that they hoed with the hoe, you will not go there, [for] fear of briers and thornbushes. And it will become like pastureland [for] cattle and overtrodden land [for] sheep.

For before the boy knows to call 'my father' and 'my mother,' [one] will carry away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria." And Yahweh continued to speak to me again, saying, "Because this people has refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices [over] Rezin and the son of Remaliah, read more.
therefore look! The Lord [is] bringing up the waters of the great and mighty river against them, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And he will rise above all his channels, and he will flow over all his banks. And he will sweep into Judah; he will overflow and he will flood up to [the] neck. He will reach, and {he will spread his wings out over your entire land}, God with us." Be broken, [you] peoples, and be dismayed. And listen, all distant [parts of the] earth; gird yourselves and be dismayed; gird yourselves and be dismayed! {Make a plan}, but it will be frustrated! Speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us!

Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff is in their hand: my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them a trampling place, like [the] clay of [the] streets. But he does not think this, and his heart does not plan this. For [it is] in his heart to destroy and to cut off not a few nations. read more.
For he says, "[Are] not my commanders altogether kings? [Is] not Calno like Carchemish? [Is] not Hamath like Arpad? [Is] not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols --and their images were {greater than those of} Jerusalem and Samaria-- shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols what I have done to Samaria and her idols?" And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against {Mount Zion} and Jerusalem, "I will punish the {arrogance} of the king of Assyria and {his haughtiness}." For he says, "I have done [it] by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed [the] boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down {the inhabitants}. And my hand has found, like nest, the wealth of the peoples, and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth. And [there] was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp." Does the ax boast against the one who cuts with it, or the saw magnify itself against [the] one who moves it to and fro? {As if a rod should move the one who lifts it}! {As if a staff should lift up that which is not wood}! Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send leanness among his sturdy warriors, and a burning like [the] burning of fire will burn under his glory. And the light of Israel will become like a fire, and his holy one like a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard {completely}, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick. And the rest of the trees of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them [down]. And this shall happen: on that day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will not continue to lean on [the] one who struck it but will lean on Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return-- the remnant of Jacob--to [the] mighty God. For though your people Israel was like the sand of the sea, [only] a remnant of it will return. Annihilation [is] determined, overflowing [with] righteousness. For the Lord Yahweh of hosts [is] about to make a complete destruction and a determined end in the midst of all the earth. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh of hosts: "My people who live [in] Zion, you must not be afraid of Assyria. It beats you with the rod, and it lifts up its staff against you {as the Egyptians did}. [My] indignation will come to an end {in just a very little while}, and my anger [will be] directed to their destruction." And Yahweh of hosts is going to swing a whip against him, as when Midian was defeated at the rock of Oreb; and his staff [will be] over the sea, and he will lift him up {as he did in Egypt}. And this shall happen: on that day, he will remove his burden from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck, {and a yoke will be destroyed because of fat}. He has come to Aiath, he has passed through Migron; at Micmash he deposited his baggage. They crossed over [the] pass; Geba [is] a place of overnight lodging for us. Ramah trembles; Gibeah of Saul has fled. Daughter of Gallim, cry out [with] your voice; Laishah, listen! {Anathoth is poor}. Madmenah flees! The inhabitants of Gebim bring themselves into safety! {This day} {taking a stand} at Nob, he will shake his fist [at] the mountain of the daughter of Zion, [at] the hill of Jerusalem. Look! The Lord Yahweh of hosts is about to lop off [the] branches with great power, and {the towering trees} will be felled, and the {tall trees} will be brought low. And he will cut down the thickets of the forest with the axe, and Lebanon will fall by [the] mighty [one].

Yahweh of hosts has sworn, saying, "{Surely} just as I have intended, so it shall be. And just as I have planned, it shall stand: to break Assyria in my land, and I will trample him down on my mountains; and he shall remove his yoke from them, and he shall remove his burden from his shoulders." This [is] the plan that is planned concerning all of the earth; and this [is] the hand that is stretched out over all of the nations. read more.
For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate [it]? And his hand [is] stretched out, and who will turn it back? In the year of the death of king Ahaz there was this oracle:

On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria. On that day, Israel will be [the] third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, "May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel."

Look! The name of Yahweh comes from afar, burning [with] his anger and heaviness of cloud. His lips are full [of] indignation, and his tongue [is] like a devouring fire. And his breath [is] like an overflowing river; it reaches up to [the] neck to shake [the] nations with [the] sieve of worthlessness; and a bridle that leads astray [is] on [the] jawbones of [the] peoples. {You shall have a song} as [in] [the] night when a holy festival is kept, and a gladness of heart like one who goes with the flute, to go to the mountain of Yahweh, to the rock of Israel. read more.
And Yahweh will cause the majesty of his voice to be heard, and he will cause the descent of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, [with] a cloudburst and a rainstorm and stones of hail. Indeed, Assyria will be shattered by the voice of Yahweh; he strikes with the rod. And every stroke of [the] staff of foundation that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres, and he will fight against it with battles of brandishing. For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday; indeed, it is made ready for the king. He makes its pile of wood deep and wide; he makes fire and wood {abundant}. The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.

And Assyria shall fall by a sword not [of] a man, and a sword not [of] a human shall devour him; and he shall flee from [the] sword, and his young men shall be [put] to forced labor. And his rock will pass over because of terror, and his officers will be terrified because of [the] flag," {declares} Yahweh, who has a fire in Zion and has a furnace in Jerusalem.

And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'Because you have prayed to me {concerning} Sennacherib, king of Assyria, this [is] the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion; she shakes [her] head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you taunted and blasphemed, and against whom have you raised up [your] voice and lifted your eyes upward? To the holy one of Israel! read more.
By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots, I myself have gone up [the] height of [the] mountains, [to] the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off {its tall cedars}, the choicest of its junipers. And I came [to] the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard. I myself dug and drank waters, and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet." Have you not heard from {a long time ago}? I have made it from days of primeval time, and I formed it. Now I have brought it [about], and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones. And their inhabitants [are] {weak}; they are dismayed, and they are ashamed; they have become [like] plants of [the] field, and [like] greens of grass, [like] grass on [the] roofs and a cultivated field {before} the standing grain. And I know your sitting down and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging {against} me. Because you were enraged {against} me, and your noise has come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips, and I will turn you back on the way [by] which you came. And this [shall be] the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plants this year, and in the second year self-seeded plants, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall {grow} roots downwards and make fruit upwards. For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem and survivors from mountain Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.' Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come to this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, and he shall not meet it [with] a shield, and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her. He shall return by the way that he came, and he shall not come to this city,' {declares} Yahweh. 'And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.'"

For, look, I [am] calling to all [the] clans of [the] kingdoms of [the] north," {declares} Yahweh, "and they will come and set each one his throne [at] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah.

And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second [time], saying, "Get up! Go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the message that I [am] telling you." So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was {an extraordinarily great city}--a journey of three days [across]. read more.
And Jonah began to go into the city a journey of one day, and he cried out and said, "Forty more days and Nineveh will be demolished!"

And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and he will destroy Assyria and will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry wasteland like the desert. Herds shall lie down in her midst, every wild animal of a nation; even the desert owl and the screech owl shall lodge on her capitals. A voice shall hoot in the window; rubble on the threshold; for the cedar [is] laid bare. This [is] the city of rejoicing that lived securely; the one saying in her heart, "{I am, and there is none besides me}." How she has become a desolation, a lair for wild animals! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.

And he will pass through the sea of distress, and he will strike the waves of the sea, and all [the] depths of the Nile will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought low, and the scepter of Egypt will depart.


Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff is in their hand: my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them a trampling place, like [the] clay of [the] streets.

And he will sweep into Judah; he will overflow and he will flood up to [the] neck. He will reach, and {he will spread his wings out over your entire land}, God with us."

And he will raise a signal for a nation from afar, and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth. And look! It comes quickly, swiftly!

"Yahweh will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your ancestor days that have not come since [the] day Ephraim departed from Judah: the king of Assyria." And this shall happen: On that day, Yahweh will whistle for the fly that [is] at the end of the stream of Egypt and the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria. And all of them will come and settle in the rivers of the cliffs and in the clefts of the rocks and on all of the thornbushes and watering places. read more.
On that day, the Lord will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a razor of the one hired from beyond [the] river--with the king of Assyria--and it will even take off the beard.

And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against {Mount Zion} and Jerusalem, "I will punish the {arrogance} of the king of Assyria and {his haughtiness}."


And Assyria shall fall by a sword not [of] a man, and a sword not [of] a human shall devour him; and he shall flee from [the] sword, and his young men shall be [put] to forced labor. And his rock will pass over because of terror, and his officers will be terrified because of [the] flag," {declares} Yahweh, who has a fire in Zion and has a furnace in Jerusalem.

And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against {Mount Zion} and Jerusalem, "I will punish the {arrogance} of the king of Assyria and {his haughtiness}." For he says, "I have done [it] by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed [the] boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down {the inhabitants}. And my hand has found, like nest, the wealth of the peoples, and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth. And [there] was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp." read more.
Does the ax boast against the one who cuts with it, or the saw magnify itself against [the] one who moves it to and fro? {As if a rod should move the one who lifts it}! {As if a staff should lift up that which is not wood}! Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send leanness among his sturdy warriors, and a burning like [the] burning of fire will burn under his glory. And the light of Israel will become like a fire, and his holy one like a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard {completely}, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick. And the rest of the trees of his forest will be a small number, and a boy can write them [down].

Yahweh of hosts has sworn, saying, "{Surely} just as I have intended, so it shall be. And just as I have planned, it shall stand:

Indeed, Assyria will be shattered by the voice of Yahweh; he strikes with the rod. And every stroke of [the] staff of foundation that Yahweh lays will be on it with timbrels and lyres, and he will fight against it with battles of brandishing. For Topheth has been prepared from yesterday; indeed, it is made ready for the king. He makes its pile of wood deep and wide; he makes fire and wood {abundant}. The breath of Yahweh burns in it like a stream of sulfur.


And you prostituted with the {Assyrians} on account of {your insatiable lust}, and you prostituted [with] them, and still you were not satisfied.

And Oholah prostituted [herself] {while she was still mine}, and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria [who was] nearby,

And she bestowed her fornication on them, [on] the choice [ones] of the {Assyrians}, all of them, and with every one [after] which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. And her whorings from [the time of] Egypt she [did] not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the {Assyrians} {after whom she lusted}. read more.
They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her. "And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust {she behaved more corruptly than her}, and her whoring [was] more than the prostitution of her sister. She lusted after the {Assyrians}, governors and prefects, warriors clothed in perfection, {expert horsemen}, all of them {handsome young men}. And I saw that she was defiled; {they had both taken the same path}! And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved on the wall, images of Chaldeans carved in red belted with a belt at their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them [giving] [the] appearance of adjutants, the image of the {Babylonians}; Chaldea [was] the land of their birth. And she lusted for them {when her eyes saw them}, and she sent messengers to them [at] Chaldea. And so the {Babylonians} came to her [for the] bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her {just as} I turned from her sister. Yet she increased her whorings, {recalling} the days of her childhood when she was prostituted in the land of Egypt And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia [were the] genitalia of male donkeys and [their] seminal emission [was the] seminal emission of horses. And you longed [after] the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts. "Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I [am] stirring up your lovers against you [concerning] whom you turned away, and I will bring them against you from all around: the {Babylonians} and all of the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all of the {Assyrians} [along] with them, {handsome young men}, governors and prefects, all of them adjutants {and excellent horsemen}. And they will come against you [with] an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd of peoples; they will set [themselves] against you [from] all around [with] large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give {before them} judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments. And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and {those who are left}, they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and {your remnant} will be consumed by fire. And they will strip you [of] your clothes, and they will take {your splendid jewelry}. And I will put an end to your obscene conduct [coming] from you and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them; and you will not remember Egypt again.' For thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Look! I [am] giving you into the hand of those you hated, into the hand of those from whom you turned away. And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take all of your acquisitions, and they will leave you naked and [in] bareness; and the nakedness of your fornication and your obscene conduct and your whorings will be exposed. These [things] [are] accomplished against you since you prostituted yourself after the nations, [and] on account of that, you defiled yourself by their idols. You went in the [same] way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand." ' Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You will drink the deep and wide cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; {the cup holds so much}! You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation [is] the cup of your sister, Samaria. And you will drink it, and you will drain [it], and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for {I myself} spoke," {declares} the Lord Yahweh. Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Because you have forgotten me, and you threw me behind your back, now in turn you bear your obscene conduct and your whorings." And Yahweh said to me, "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah and declare their abominable deeds to them For they committed adultery, and blood [is] on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me--they sacrificed them as food! Also they did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that day, and they profaned my Sabbaths and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, {this is what they did in my house}! {What is worse}, they sent for men {who come} from a distant place, [to] whom a messenger [was] sent to them, and look! They came! [Men] for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself [with] an ornament. And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared {before her}, and my incense and my olive oil you put on her. And a sound of a carefree crowd [was] with it, and in addition to [these] men, {a crowd of drunken men was brought in} from [the] desert, and they put bracelets on their arms and a crown of splendor on their heads. And I said to the one worn out [with] adulteries, 'Now they will prostitute [her] [concerning] her fornication, even her.' And [so] they went to her like going to a female prostitute; and thus they went to Oholah and to Oholibah, the women of obscene conduct. But righteous men, they will judge them [with] [the] judgment of committing adultery, and [with] [the] judgment of shedding blood; for they were committing adultery, and blood [was] on their hands." For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Bring up against them an assembly, and make them as a thing of horror and as plunder. And an assembly must stone them [with] stones, and they must cut them down. With their swords they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and with fire they shall burn their houses. And {I will cause obscene conduct to cease from the land}, and all of the women will be warned, and they will not do according to your wickedness. And they will repay your obscene conduct upon you, and the guilt of your idols you will bear, and you will know that I [am] the Lord Yahweh.


Did the gods of each of the nations ever rescue the land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? For did they rescue Samaria from my hand? Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'"

Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, by utterly destroying them, and shall you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that my {predecessors} destroyed deliver them? [Not] Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, [nor] the children of Eden who [were] in Tel Assar. Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'"

[Is] not Calno like Carchemish? [Is] not Hamath like Arpad? [Is] not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols --and their images were {greater than those of} Jerusalem and Samaria-- shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols what I have done to Samaria and her idols?" read more.
And this shall happen: when the Lord has finished all his work against {Mount Zion} and Jerusalem, "I will punish the {arrogance} of the king of Assyria and {his haughtiness}." For he says, "I have done [it] by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed [the] boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down {the inhabitants}. And my hand has found, like nest, the wealth of the peoples, and like the gathering of forsaken eggs, I myself have gathered all the earth. And [there] was no fluttering wing or open mouth or chirp."


For before the boy knows to call 'my father' and 'my mother,' [one] will carry away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria."

They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return [to] Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.

It will also be brought to Assyria, [as] tribute to [the] great king. Ephraim will obtain disgrace and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.

He will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to return.


In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. read more.
At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria sent the commander in chief, the chief eunuch, and the {chief advisor} from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a heavy army. They went up and came [to] Jerusalem, then they went up and came and stood at the aqueduct of the upper pool which is on the main road of the {washer's} field. Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them. Then the chief advisor said to them, "Please say to Hezekiah: 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What [is] this confidence that you trust? You think only a word of lips, '[I have] advice and power for the war.' Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? Now, look! You {rely} on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [when] a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So [is] Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him! But if you say to me, 'On Yahweh our God we trust,' [is] it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'In the presence of this altar you shall bow down [only] in Jerusalem?' So then, please make a wager with my lord, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you a thousand horses {if you are able on your part to put riders on them.} How {can you repulse a single captain among the least of the servants of my master}? [Yet] you rely for yourself on Egypt for chariots and horsemen! Have I now come up against this place without Yahweh to destroy it? Yahweh has said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it!'" '" Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the chief commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we [are] understanding, but you must not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall." The chief commander said to them, "Is it [solely] to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? [Is] it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?" Then the chief commander stood and called with a great voice in Judean, and he spoke and said, "Hear the word of the king, the great king of Assyria! Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah [make you] trust in Yahweh, saying, "Certainly Yahweh will rescue us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" ' Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make with me a treaty of peace and come out to me that each [may] eat [from] his vine and each [from] his fig tree, and each [may] drink water [from] his cistern! Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!" Did the gods of each of the nations ever rescue the land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? For did they rescue Samaria from my hand? Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'" The people were silent, and they did not answer him a word, for the command of that king was saying, "You shall not answer him." Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah [with] torn clothes, and they told him the words of the chief commander.


Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as [he had] year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him [in] a house of imprisonment. So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up [to] Samaria and besieged it [for] three years. read more.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes.

The king of Assyria brought from Babylonia, from Cush, from Arva, from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and he settled [them] in the cities of Samaria in place of the {Israelites}, so they took possession of Samaria and lived in her cities. It happened that when they began living there, they did not fear Yahweh, so Yahweh sent lions among them, and they were killing them. So they said to the king of Assyria, "The nations whom you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the customs of the God of the land, so he sent lions among them, and now they are killing them because they do not know the customs of the God of the land." read more.
Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Release one of the priests whom you deported from there, and let him go and settle there. Let him teach them the customs of the God of the land."

It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that [is,] the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her. At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is,] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured. Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes, read more.
because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen [to] nor did they obey.

Israel [is] a sheep scattered, lions drove [them] away. [The] first who devoured it [was] the king of Assyria, and now [at] the end Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, gnawed its bones."


So the king of Assyria sent the commander in chief, the chief eunuch, and the {chief advisor} from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a heavy army. They went up and came [to] Jerusalem, then they went up and came and stood at the aqueduct of the upper pool which is on the main road of the {washer's} field. Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them. Then the chief advisor said to them, "Please say to Hezekiah: 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What [is] this confidence that you trust? read more.
You think only a word of lips, '[I have] advice and power for the war.' Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? Now, look! You {rely} on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [when] a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So [is] Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him! But if you say to me, 'On Yahweh our God we trust,' [is] it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'In the presence of this altar you shall bow down [only] in Jerusalem?' So then, please make a wager with my lord, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you a thousand horses {if you are able on your part to put riders on them.} How {can you repulse a single captain among the least of the servants of my master}? [Yet] you rely for yourself on Egypt for chariots and horsemen! Have I now come up against this place without Yahweh to destroy it? Yahweh has said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it!'" '" Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the chief commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we [are] understanding, but you must not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall." The chief commander said to them, "Is it [solely] to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? [Is] it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?" Then the chief commander stood and called with a great voice in Judean, and he spoke and said, "Hear the word of the king, the great king of Assyria! Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah [make you] trust in Yahweh, saying, "Certainly Yahweh will rescue us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" ' Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make with me a treaty of peace and come out to me that each [may] eat [from] his vine and each [from] his fig tree, and each [may] drink water [from] his cistern! Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!"

"Thus you shall say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, 'Let not your God whom you [are] trusting deceive you, by his saying, "Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, by utterly destroying them, and shall you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that my {predecessors} destroyed deliver them? [Not] Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, [nor] the children of Eden who [were] in Tel Assar. read more.
Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'"


Did the gods of the nations that my {predecessors} destroyed deliver them? [Not] Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, [nor] the children of Eden who [were] in Tel Assar. Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'" Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers and read them. [Then] he went up to the temple of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread them out before the presence of Yahweh. read more.
Then Hezekiah prayed before the face of Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel who lives [above] the cherubim. You [are] God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the world; you have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ears and hear; open, O Yahweh, your eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to insult the living God. Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have utterly destroyed the nations and their land. He has hurled their gods in the fire because they [are] not gods, but the work of the hands of a human [made of] wood and stone, so they destroyed them. So then, O Yahweh our God, rescue us, please, from his hand, that all of the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Yahweh, you alone are God!" Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'What you have prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She despises you, she scorns you, the virgin daughter of Zion. Behind you the daughter of Jerusalem shakes [her] head. Whom have you mocked and reviled? And against whom have you have raised [your] voice and have haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel! By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up [to] the height of the mountains. [To] the remote areas of Lebanon, I have felled the tallest of its cedars, the choicest of its cypresses. I have entered the place of overnight lodging. Even [to] the edge of forest of its fertile land. I dug [wells] and I drank foreign water, and I dried up with the sole of my steps all the canals of Egypt.' Have you not heard? From long ago I have determined it, from the days of old I have planned it, and now I am bringing it to pass. It shall be turned into a pile of rocks; fortified cities are ruined. Their inhabitants, short of hand, shall be dismayed; and they shall be ashamed. They have become green plants of the open field, and tender grass, green grass of the roof and blight before the standing grain. Your sitting, your going out, and your coming [in] I know, and your raging against me. Because you are raging against me, and your arrogance has come up in my ears, I will put my nose ring in your nose and my bridle in your mouth. And I will turn you back on the way that you have come. " 'This will be the sign for you: Eat the volunteer plants for the year, and in the second year, the volunteer plants that spring up from that. But [in] the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. The remainder of the house of Judah which survives will again [take] root below and bear fruit above. For from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and survivors from Mount Zion; the zeal of Yahweh will do this. " 'Therefore thus says Yahweh to the king of Assyria, "He shall not come to this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow there, nor shall he bring a small shield near her, nor shall he cast a siege ramp against her. By the way that he came to her he shall return; but to this city, he shall not come," declares Yahweh. And I will defend this city to save her for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.'"

And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'Because you have prayed to me {concerning} Sennacherib, king of Assyria, this [is] the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion; she shakes [her] head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you taunted and blasphemed, and against whom have you raised up [your] voice and lifted your eyes upward? To the holy one of Israel! read more.
By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots, I myself have gone up [the] height of [the] mountains, [to] the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off {its tall cedars}, the choicest of its junipers. And I came [to] the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard. I myself dug and drank waters, and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet." Have you not heard from {a long time ago}? I have made it from days of primeval time, and I formed it. Now I have brought it [about], and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones. And their inhabitants [are] {weak}; they are dismayed, and they are ashamed; they have become [like] plants of [the] field, and [like] greens of grass, [like] grass on [the] roofs and a cultivated field {before} the standing grain. And I know your sitting down and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging {against} me. Because you were enraged {against} me, and your noise has come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips, and I will turn you back on the way [by] which you came.


For they have gone up [to] Assyria, a wild donkey alone to itself; Ephraim has sold itself [for] lovers.

And [when] Ephraim saw his illness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, he sent to the great king. But he was unable to cure you and heal your wound.

Ephraim was like a dove, silly, {without sense}; they call [to] Egypt, they go [to] Assyria.


Whom have you mocked and reviled? And against whom have you have raised [your] voice and have haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel! By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, 'With my many chariots I have gone up [to] the height of the mountains. [To] the remote areas of Lebanon, I have felled the tallest of its cedars, the choicest of its cypresses. I have entered the place of overnight lodging. Even [to] the edge of forest of its fertile land. I dug [wells] and I drank foreign water, and I dried up with the sole of my steps all the canals of Egypt.'

For he says, "[Are] not my commanders altogether kings?


And now {why do you go} the way of Egypt to drink the waters of the Shihor? And {why do you go} the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the {Euphrates}?

How you go about so much changing your way! Also by Egypt you will be put to shame, just as you were put to shame by Assyria.


From that land he went out [to] Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

Then Sennacherib king of Assyria set out and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.


In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, the Gilead, the Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali; then he deported them to Assyria.

Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, so Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul so that his hand would be with him {to strengthen his hold on the kingdom}.


On that day, there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and Egypt will worship together with Assyria. On that day, Israel will be [the] third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Yahweh of hosts blessed, saying, "May Egypt my people be blessed, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and my inheritance, Israel."

[On] that day he will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.


Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!"

until {I come} and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards,


Ah! Assyria, the rod of my anger, and a staff is in their hand: my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, and I command him against the people of my wrath, to capture spoil and to carry off plunder, and to make them a trampling place, like [the] clay of [the] streets.

And this shall happen: On that day, Yahweh will whistle for the fly that [is] at the end of the stream of Egypt and the bee that [is] in the land of Assyria.


And it happened [that] in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar, Arioch, the king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and Tidal, the king of Goiim,

And as people migrated from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.


Jehoiakim [was] twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up against him, and he bound him with bronze fetters to bring him to Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon the objects of the house of Yahweh and put them into the temple in Babylon. read more.
Now the remainder of the words of Jehoiakim and the detestable things that he did and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the scroll of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place. Jehoiachin [was] eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. And at the turn of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with objects of the treasure of the house of Yahweh. And he made Zedekiah his brother king in Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah [was] twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet {who spoke for} Yahweh. And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel. All the leaders of the priests and the people likewise increased in unfaithfulness according to all the detestable things of the nations. And they polluted the house of Yahweh that he had consecrated in Jerusalem. And Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, had repeatedly and persistently sent to them by the hand of his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He showed no mercy on a young man, a virgin, [the] elderly, or decrepit. He delivered all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, the storehouses of the house of Yahweh, and the storehouses of the king and his princes, these all he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God. And they shattered the walls of Jerusalem and burned its citadels with fire and destroyed all the vessels of its treasuries. And he took {those who escaped the sword} to Babylon. And they became servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land has enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of desolation it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.



Then Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, {instead of helping him}, for Ahaz took a portion [from] the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave [it] to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.


Then Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came against him and brought trouble for him, {instead of helping him}, for Ahaz took a portion [from] the house of Yahweh and the house of the king and the princes, and he gave [it] to the king of Assyria, but it was no help to him.


In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, the Gilead, the Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali; then he deported them to Assyria.

Beerah his son, a leader of the Reubenites, whom Tiglath-Pilneser king of Assyria deported into exile.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them [into exile], namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, until this day.


Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, so Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul so that his hand would be with him {to strengthen his hold on the kingdom}.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them [into exile], namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, until this day.


And Cush fathered Nimrod. {He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior}. He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh." Now, the beginning of his kingdom [was] Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. read more.
From that land he went out [to] Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that [is] the great city.

And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. And he will rescue [us] from the Assyrian when he comes into our land, and when they tread upon our border.


So Yahweh brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria upon them, and they took Manasseh captive with hooks, and they bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon.


Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers and read them. [Then] he went up to the temple of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread them out before the presence of Yahweh. Then Hezekiah prayed before the face of Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh, God of Israel who lives [above] the cherubim. You [are] God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the world; you have made the heavens and the earth. Incline your ears and hear; open, O Yahweh, your eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to insult the living God. read more.
Truly, O Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have utterly destroyed the nations and their land. He has hurled their gods in the fire because they [are] not gods, but the work of the hands of a human [made of] wood and stone, so they destroyed them. So then, O Yahweh our God, rescue us, please, from his hand, that all of the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Yahweh, you alone are God!"


So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria.


Did the gods of each of the nations ever rescue the land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? For did they rescue Samaria from my hand? Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'"


Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Assyria, [and] Kilmad [were] trading [with] you. They [were] trading [with] you in finery, in mantles of blue cloth and colorful embroidered work and with rugs of variegated cloth in twisted cords and knotted tightly; {these were among your merchandise}.


Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, so Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul so that his hand would be with him {to strengthen his hold on the kingdom}. Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all {the very rich}, to give to the king of Assyria fifty shekels of silver for each one. Then the king of Assyria returned and did not stay there in the land.


And this shall happen: on that day, Yahweh will thresh from the floodwaters of the Euphrates to the wadi of Egypt, and [as for] you, you will be gathered one by one, sons of Israel. And this shall happen: on that day, a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were lost in the land of Assyria will come, and those who were scattered in the land of Egypt, and they will bow down to Yahweh on the {holy mountain} at Jerusalem.


They will not remain in the land of Yahweh. But Ephraim will return [to] Egypt, and in Assyria they will eat unclean food.

He will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be his king, because they refused to return.

They will tremble like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria; and I will let them return to their homes-- a declaration of Yahweh.


Look! Assyria [was] a cedar in Lebanon, [with] beautiful branches and a forest giving shade, and {very high}, and its treetop [was] between [the] clouds. Waters made it great, the deep made it grow high; its rivers [were] going all around {its planting area}, and its channels it sent [out] to all of the trees of the field. Therefore it became tall, [with] its height more than all of the trees of the field, and its branches became numerous, and its branches became long {from its sending its shoots from abundant water}. read more.
In its branches all the birds of the heaven made their nest, and under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth, and in its shadow all [the] many nations lived. And it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches, for its root [was] toward much water. Cedars in the garden of God could not [be] equal to it; fir trees could not resemble its branches, and plane trees were not [even] like its branches; any tree [even] in the garden of God could not resemble it in its beauty. I made it beautiful with the abundance of its branches, and all of the trees of Eden that [were] in the garden of God envied it.'" Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{Because} it was tall in height and it set its treetop between thick clouds, and {he took pride in his tallness}, then I gave it into [the] hand of [the] leader of nations; he {dealt thoroughly} with it according to its wickedness. I drove it [out]. And strangers cut it off, [the most] ruthless of nations, and they abandoned it. On the mountains and in all [of the] valleys its branches fell, and its branches were broken in all the river channels of the land, and all the peoples of the world went out from its shadow, and they abandoned it. On its fallen trunk all the birds of the heaven [now] dwell, and all the animals of the field were on its branches. [This occurred] so that all of [the] trees [with abundant] water will not become tall, and they will not set their treetop between [their] thick foliage, and [so that]{all of the trees that are abundantly watered} {will not stand up to them} in their tallness, for all of them, they have been given [over] to death, to [the] world below in the midst of {mortals}, to [the people] going down to the grave." Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "On the day of its going down [to] Sheol, I caused mourning; I covered over it [with] the deep, and I withheld its rivers, and many waters were restrained, and I brought gloom over it; Lebanon and all of the trees of the field, they [had] fainted because of it. From the sound of its downfall I caused nations to shake when I made it go down to Sheol, with [the people] going down to [the] grave, and [so] in [the] world below all of the trees of Eden, [the] choice and the best of Lebanon, {all the well-watered trees} were comforted! They also went down with it to Sheol to {those who died by the sword}, and its army [who] [had] lived in its shadow in the midst of nations.


And Cush fathered Nimrod. {He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior}. He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh." Now, the beginning of his kingdom [was] Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. read more.
From that land he went out [to] Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,


Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I [am] your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel who are rising up against me." Ahaz took the silver and gold found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, and he sent a gift to the king of Assyria.


So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up [to] Samaria and besieged it [for] three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes.


From that land he went out [to] Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

And the name of the third [is] Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] the Euphrates.


And he will raise a signal for a nation from afar, and he will whistle for it from the end of the earth. And look! It comes quickly, swiftly! None [is] weary, and none among him stumbles; none slumbers and none sleeps. And no loincloth on his waist is opened, and no thong of his sandals is drawn away. Whose arrows are sharp, and all of his bows are bent. The hoofs of his horses are reckoned like flint, and his wheels like the storm wind. read more.
His roaring [is] like the lion, and he roars like young lions. And he growls and seizes his prey, and he carries [it] off, and not one can rescue [it].


In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser the king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel-Beth-Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, the Gilead, the Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali; then he deported them to Assyria.


Nevertheless, [the] Kenite will be burned; how long will Asshur keep you captive?"


The king of Assyria brought from Babylonia, from Cush, from Arva, from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and he settled [them] in the cities of Samaria in place of the {Israelites}, so they took possession of Samaria and lived in her cities.


It happened in that night that an angel of Yahweh went out, and he struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of Assyria. When they got up early in the morning, look! All of them [were] dead corpses.


Then Sennacherib king of Assyria set out and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.


In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.


Pul the king of Assyria came against the land, so Menahem gave a thousand talents of silver to Pul so that his hand would be with him {to strengthen his hold on the kingdom}.


Yet every nation was making their gods, and they put them in the shrine of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they [were] living.


It happened that he [was] worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword. Then they escaped [into] the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.


So the king of Assyria listened to him and he went up to Damascus and captured it and deported them to Kir. He also killed Rezin.


But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as [he had] year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him [in] a house of imprisonment.


Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him.


But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as [he had] year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him [in] a house of imprisonment.


And the name of the third [is] Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] the Euphrates.


Look! The Lord has mighty and strong [one], like a rainstorm of hail, a wind storm of destruction, like a rainstorm of mighty overflowing waters, he will put [them] to the earth with [his] hand.


But he does not think this, and his heart does not plan this. For [it is] in his heart to destroy and to cut off not a few nations.


Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as [he had] year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him [in] a house of imprisonment. So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up [to] Samaria and besieged it [for] three years. read more.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes. Now [this] happened because the {Israelites} had sinned against Yahweh their God when he brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt and they feared other gods. They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the {Israelites}, which the kings of Israel had introduced. The {Israelites} secretly did things which [were] not right, against Yahweh their God; they built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower up to the fortified city. They set up for themselves stone pillars and poles of Asherah worship on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned incense there on all the high places, like the nations which Yahweh deported before them, and they did evil things to provoke Yahweh. They served idols which Yahweh had said to them, "You shall not do this thing!" Yahweh warned Israel and Judah by the hand of his every prophet, [with] every seer saying, "Turn from all of your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my ordinances, according to all the law which I commanded your ancestors, which I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets." But they did not listen and they stiffened their necks, like the necks of their ancestors who did not believe in Yahweh their God. They rejected his statutes, his covenant which he {made} with their ancestors, and his warnings which he gave to them; and they went after the idols, became vain, and [went] after all the nations which [were] all around them, which Yahweh had commanded them not to do as they [did]. They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone. Even Judah did not keep the commands of Yahweh their God, and they walked in the customs of Israel which they introduced, so Yahweh rejected all the offspring of Israel and punished them, and he gave them into the hand of the plunderers until he banished them from his presence. For he had torn Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king, but Jeroboam detached Israel from following Yahweh, and he made them sin a great sin. The {Israelites} walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he committed, and they did not depart from it, until Yahweh removed Israel from his presence as he had foretold by the hand of all his servants, the prophets. And so he deported Israel from upon his land to Assyria until this day.


For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "My people went down [to] Egypt in the beginning, to dwell as aliens there, and Assyria oppressed him {without cause}.


On that day, the Lord will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a razor of the one hired from beyond [the] river--with the king of Assyria--and it will even take off the beard.


For before the boy knows to call 'my father' and 'my mother,' [one] will carry away the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria in the presence of the king of Assyria."


There is no healing for your wound; your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you will clap [their] hands [for joy] concerning you, {For who has not suffered at the hands of your endless cruelty}?


Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses, and we will say no more, "Our God," to the work of our hands because in you [the] fatherless child finds mercy.


For they have gone up [to] Assyria, a wild donkey alone to itself; Ephraim has sold itself [for] lovers.


And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. And he will rescue [us] from the Assyrian when he comes into our land, and when they tread upon our border.


And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When they rose in the morning, look! All of them [were] dead corpses.


In his days, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went to meet him, and he killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him.


until {I come} and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards,


Haran and Canneh and Eden, the traders of Sheba, Assyria, [and] Kilmad [were] trading [with] you.


and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and the rest of [the province] Beyond the River) and now


They settled from Havilah to Shur, which [was] opposite Egypt, going toward Asshur, opposite; he {settled} opposite all his brothers.


And [when] Ephraim saw his illness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, he sent to the great king. But he was unable to cure you and heal your wound.


We have made a deal with Egypt [and] Assyria to be satisfied [with] food.


Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!"


It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that [is,] the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her. At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is,] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured. Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes, read more.
because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen [to] nor did they obey. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Then Hezekiah gave all of the silver found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the storerooms of the house of the king. At that time, Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of Yahweh and the doorposts which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave them to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria sent the commander in chief, the chief eunuch, and the {chief advisor} from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a heavy army. They went up and came [to] Jerusalem, then they went up and came and stood at the aqueduct of the upper pool which is on the main road of the {washer's} field. Then they called to the king, so Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who [was] over the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them. Then the chief advisor said to them, "Please say to Hezekiah: 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: "What [is] this confidence that you trust? You think only a word of lips, '[I have] advice and power for the war.' Now, on whom do you trust that you have rebelled against me? Now, look! You {rely} on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which [when] a man leans on it, it goes into his hand and pierces it! So [is] Pharaoh the king of Egypt for all who are trusting on him! But if you say to me, 'On Yahweh our God we trust,' [is] it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, and he had said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'In the presence of this altar you shall bow down [only] in Jerusalem?' So then, please make a wager with my lord, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you a thousand horses {if you are able on your part to put riders on them.} How {can you repulse a single captain among the least of the servants of my master}? [Yet] you rely for yourself on Egypt for chariots and horsemen! Have I now come up against this place without Yahweh to destroy it? Yahweh has said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it!'" '" Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the chief commander, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we [are] understanding, but you must not speak Judean with us in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall." The chief commander said to them, "Is it [solely] to your master and to you my master has sent me to speak these words? [Is] it not for the men who sit on the wall to eat their feces and to drink their urine with you?" Then the chief commander stood and called with a great voice in Judean, and he spoke and said, "Hear the word of the king, the great king of Assyria! Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah [make you] trust in Yahweh, saying, "Certainly Yahweh will rescue us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!" ' Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make with me a treaty of peace and come out to me that each [may] eat [from] his vine and each [from] his fig tree, and each [may] drink water [from] his cistern! Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!" Did the gods of each of the nations ever rescue the land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? For did they rescue Samaria from my hand? Who among all of the gods of the countries have rescued their countries from my hand that Yahweh should rescue Jerusalem from my hand?'" The people were silent, and they did not answer him a word, for the command of that king was saying, "You shall not answer him." Eliakim the son of Hilkiah who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah [with] torn clothes, and they told him the words of the chief commander.


Until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees, olive oil, and honey, that [you may] live and not die! You must not listen to Hezekiah, for he has misled you [by] saying, "Yahweh will deliver us!"

until {I come} and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards,


References

Hastings

Easton

American

Morish

Watsons

Smith