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



Jehovah will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you. In that day Jehovah will whistle for the flies that are at the distant branches of the Nile River in Egypt and for the bees that are in Assyria. All of them will come and settle in the deep valleys, in the cracks in the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and at all the water holes. read more.
In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard. On that day a person will keep alive a young cow and two sheep. They will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat. When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze.

Before the boy knows how to say Father or Mother the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria. Jehovah spoke to me again, He said: These people have rejected the gently flowing water of Shiloah and find joy in Rezin and Remaliah's son. read more.
That is why Jehovah is going to bring against them the raging and powerful floodwaters of the Euphrates River, that is, the king of Assyria with all his power. It will overflow all its channels and go over all its banks. It will sweep through Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will be neck-high. Its outspread wings will extend over your entire country, O Immanuel. Be broken, you people. Be terrified. Listen all you distant parts of the earth. Prepare for battle and be terrified. Prepare for battle and be terrified! Make plans for battle, but they will never succeed. Give orders, but they will not be carried out, because God is with us!

How horrible it will be for Assyria! It is the rod of my anger. My fury is in the staff of the Assyrians' hands. I send him against a godless nation. I commission him against the people of my fury to capture booty and to seize plunder, and to trample them down like mud (clay) in the streets. But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations. read more.
He boasts: 'Every one of my commanders is a king! Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand took hold of the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose carved images were greater then those of Jerusalem and Samaria, As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?' It will happen when Jehovah has performed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. He will say: I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty appearance. The king of Assyria says: By the strength of my hand I have done it. By my wisdom and understanding I have done it! I am prudent! Also I have removed the boundaries of the nations. I have robbed their treasuries. I have brought down people like a mighty man! I found the riches of nations as one finds a nest. I gathered the whole world as one gathers abandoned eggs. Not one of them flapped a wing, opened its mouth, or peeped.' Can an ax attack the person who cuts with it? Can a saw make itself greater than the person who saws with it? A rod cannot move the person who lifts it. A wooden stick cannot pick up a person. That is why the Almighty Jehovah of Hosts will send a degenerative disease against brave men. A flame will be turned into a raging fire under his power. The Light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame. It will burn and consume his thorns and his briers in a single day! It will completely destroy the splendor of his forests and fertile fields, as when a sick man wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on the one who defeated them. They will truly rely on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty (Powerful) God. Yes, a remnant will return! Your people, O Israel, are like the sand of the sea. Yet only a remnant within them will return. Overwhelming and righteous destruction has been decreed. The Sovereign Lord Jehovah of Hosts, will carry out the complete destruction decreed upon the whole land. Therefore, this is what the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, declares: O my people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians. They beat you with a rod and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did. Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction. Jehovah of Hosts will stir up enemies against you as when he struck down Midian at the rock of Oreb. His wrath will come by way of the sea, as he did in Egypt. In that day your burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat. They enter Aiath and they pass through Migron. They store supplies at Micmash. They go over the pass and make Geba their camping place for the night. Ramah trembles and Gibeah of Saul flees. Cry out, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen and pay attention, O Laishah! Poor afflicted Anathoth! Madmenah has fled; the people of Gebim take cover. This day they will halt at Nob. They will shake their fist at the mount of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah of Hosts will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be cut down! The tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an ax. Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One.

Jehovah of Hosts has sworn an oath: What I have intended (devised) will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. In my land of Israel I will trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. This is my purpose (plan) (advise) for the world, and my arm (extended power) is stretched out to punish the nations. read more.
Jehovah of Hosts is determined to do this. He has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him. This message was proclaimed in the year that King Ahaz died:

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. Jehovah of Hosts has blessed, saying: Blessed is Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

The name of Jehovah is going to come from far away. His anger is burning. His burden is heavy. His lips are filled with fury. His tongue is like a devouring flame. His breath is like an overflowing stream. It raises neck high and sifts the nations with a sieve of destruction. It places a bit in the mouths of the people to lead them astray. You will sing a song like the song you sing on a festival night. Your hearts will be happy like someone going out with a flute on the way to Jehovah's mountain, to the rock of Israel. read more.
Jehovah will make his majestic voice heard. He will come with all his might, with furious anger, with firestorms, windstorms, rainstorms, and hailstones. The people of Assyria will be shattered at the sound of Jehovah's voice. He will strike them with his rod. To the sound of tambourines and lyres, Jehovah will pound on them. He will fight them in battle, swinging his fists (displaying his power). Topheth was prepared long ago. It was made ready for the king. It was made deep and wide and piled high with plenty of burning logs. Jehovah's breath will be like a flood of burning sulfur, setting it on fire.

Then Assyrians will be killed with a sword not made by human hands. The swords not made by human hands will destroy them. They will flee from battle, and their young men will be made to do forced labor. In terror they will run to their stronghold, and their officers will be frightened at the sight of the battle flag. Jehovah declares this. His fire (light) is in Zion and his furnace is in Jerusalem.

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: This is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word Jehovah spoke against him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? It is against the Holy One of Israel! read more.
By your messengers you have heaped insults on Jehovah. You said: With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I reach its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I dug wells and drank the water there. With the bottom of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt. Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it! And now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people are drained of power. They are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, parched before it grows. I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. For the reason that you rage against me and because your insolence (arrogance) has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you return by the way you came. This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: 'This year you will eat what grows by itself. The second year you will eat what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Again a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. Out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Jehovah will accomplish this. Therefore this is what Jehovah says concerning the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield, or build a siege ramp against it. He will return by the way that he came. He will not enter this city, declares Jehovah. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!'

I am going to call every family and kingdom from the north, says Jehovah. They will come, and they will set up their thrones at the entrance of Jerusalem's gates. They will attack all the walls around the city and all the cities of Judah.

The word of Jehovah came to Jonah a second time: Arise and go to the great city, Nineveh. Proclaim to it the proclamation I give you. So Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Jehovah. Nineveh was a very important and large city, a three days' walk [from one side to the other]. read more.
Jonah began to enter into the city, a day's journey walking, and he shouted: Nineveh will be overthrown in Forty days.

He will stretch out his hand (exercise his power) against the north, and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh a desolation. It will be barren like the desert wilderness. And herds will lie down in her midst, all the beasts of the nations. The pelican and the porcupine will lodge on the top of her pillars. Their voice will sing (hoot) (croak) in the windows. Desolation will be in the thresholds for he will lay bare that which is built with cedar. This is the joyous city that dwelled in security. She said in her heart, 'I am! There is no one else!' She has become an object of desolation, a place for wild animals to lie down in. Every one who passes by her will hiss, and wag his hand.

He will pass through the sea of affliction and will strike the waves in the sea. The depths of the Nile will dry up; and the pride of Assyria will be removed and the scepter of Egypt will depart.


How horrible it will be for Assyria! It is the rod of my anger. My fury is in the staff of the Assyrians' hands. I send him against a godless nation. I commission him against the people of my fury to capture booty and to seize plunder, and to trample them down like mud (clay) in the streets.

It will sweep through Judah. It will overflow and pass through. It will be neck-high. Its outspread wings will extend over your entire country, O Immanuel.

Jehovah raises up a flag for the nations far away. With a whistle he signals those at the ends of the earth. Look, they are coming very quickly!

Jehovah will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you. In that day Jehovah will whistle for the flies that are at the distant branches of the Nile River in Egypt and for the bees that are in Assyria. All of them will come and settle in the deep valleys, in the cracks in the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes, and at all the water holes. read more.
In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.

It will happen when Jehovah has performed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. He will say: I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty appearance.


Then Assyrians will be killed with a sword not made by human hands. The swords not made by human hands will destroy them. They will flee from battle, and their young men will be made to do forced labor. In terror they will run to their stronghold, and their officers will be frightened at the sight of the battle flag. Jehovah declares this. His fire (light) is in Zion and his furnace is in Jerusalem.

It will happen when Jehovah has performed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. He will say: I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty appearance. The king of Assyria says: By the strength of my hand I have done it. By my wisdom and understanding I have done it! I am prudent! Also I have removed the boundaries of the nations. I have robbed their treasuries. I have brought down people like a mighty man! I found the riches of nations as one finds a nest. I gathered the whole world as one gathers abandoned eggs. Not one of them flapped a wing, opened its mouth, or peeped.' read more.
Can an ax attack the person who cuts with it? Can a saw make itself greater than the person who saws with it? A rod cannot move the person who lifts it. A wooden stick cannot pick up a person. That is why the Almighty Jehovah of Hosts will send a degenerative disease against brave men. A flame will be turned into a raging fire under his power. The Light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame. It will burn and consume his thorns and his briers in a single day! It will completely destroy the splendor of his forests and fertile fields, as when a sick man wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down.

Jehovah of Hosts has sworn an oath: What I have intended (devised) will happen. What I have determined to do will be done.

The people of Assyria will be shattered at the sound of Jehovah's voice. He will strike them with his rod. To the sound of tambourines and lyres, Jehovah will pound on them. He will fight them in battle, swinging his fists (displaying his power). Topheth was prepared long ago. It was made ready for the king. It was made deep and wide and piled high with plenty of burning logs. Jehovah's breath will be like a flood of burning sulfur, setting it on fire.


The others did not satisfy you so you ran after the Assyrians. You were their prostitute, but they did not satisfy you either.

Oholah played the prostitute while she was mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors.

She gave her acts of fornication to them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself. She did not forsake her acts of fornication from the time in Egypt. In her youth men had lain with her. They handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust 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, but they killed her with the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her. Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she. Her prostitution was more than the fornication of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she had defiled herself and that they both went the same way. So she increased her acts of fornication. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion (reddish-orange color), girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. The Babylonians came to her, to the bed of love, and defiled her with their acts of prostitution. When they had defiled her, she became disgusted with them. She uncovered her acts if prostitution and uncovered her nakedness. I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister. Yet she multiplied her acts of prostitution. She remembered the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt. She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose genital organ is like the genital organ of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth. Therefore, O Oholibah, the Lord Jehovah says: 'Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated. I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet. I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. I will set my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears. Your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters. The fire will consume your survivors. They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. I will make your lewdness and your fornication brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.' The Lord Jehovah says: 'Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your fornications will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your acts of prostitution. These things will be done to you because you have played the prostitute with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister. Therefore I will give her cup into your hand. The Lord Jehovah says this: 'You will drink your sister's cup, which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; it contains much. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of horror and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria. You will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw its fragments and tear your breasts. I have spoken, declares the Lord Jehovah.' Therefore, the Lord Jehovah says: 'Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your acts of prostitution.' Jehovah said to me: Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to me, to pass through the fire to them as food. Again, they have done this to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and have profaned my Sabbaths. For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered my sanctuary on the same day to profane it. Then they did within my house. Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent. They came and you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments for them. You sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set my incense and my oil. The sound of a carefree multitude was with her. Drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adultery: Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus? But they went into her as they would go into a prostitute. Thus they went into Oholah and into Oholibah, the lewd women. But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. The Lord Jehovah says: 'Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder. The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords. They will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land. All women will be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. Your lewdness will be repaid upon you. You will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols. You will know that I am the Lord Jehovah!'


Did the gods of other nations save their countries from the king of Assyria? Where are they now? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our king? What makes you think Jehovah can save Jerusalem?

You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries. They totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? Did the gods of the nations that my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath? Where is the king of Arpad? And where is the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'

Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand took hold of the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose carved images were greater then those of Jerusalem and Samaria, As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not also do to Jerusalem and her idols?' read more.
It will happen when Jehovah has performed all his work on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. He will say: I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty appearance. The king of Assyria says: By the strength of my hand I have done it. By my wisdom and understanding I have done it! I am prudent! Also I have removed the boundaries of the nations. I have robbed their treasuries. I have brought down people like a mighty man! I found the riches of nations as one finds a nest. I gathered the whole world as one gathers abandoned eggs. Not one of them flapped a wing, opened its mouth, or peeped.'


Before the boy knows how to say Father or Mother the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria.

The people of Ephraim will not stay in Jehovah's land. They will return to Egypt and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

The idol will be carried off to Assyria as tribute to the great emperor. The people of Israel will be disgraced and put to shame because of the advice they followed.

Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?


Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them. Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib at Lachish: I have done wrong. Stop your attack and I will pay whatever you demand. The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. Hezekiah sent him all the silver in the Temple and in the palace treasury. read more.
Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of Jehovah's Temple and from the doorposts plated by him. He stripped it off and gave it to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief (Tartan), his quartermaster, and his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They stood at the channel for the Upper Pool on the road to the Laundryman's Field. They sent for the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. The Rabshakeh said to them: Say to Hezekiah: These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope? You say you have counsel and [military] strength for war. These are only words. To whom are you looking for support that you rebel against me? You rely on Egypt that broken reed of a staff. If a man leans on it (relies on its power) his hand (strength) will be pierced (wounded) (diminished). So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who put their faith in him. If you say to me: We trust in Jehovah our God, is he not the one whose high places and altars have been taken away by Hezekiah. For he told Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem? And now, make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. How then can you put to shame the least of my master's servants? You put your hope in Egypt for chariots and horsemen: Have I now come to destroy this place without Jehovah? It was Jehovah who said to me: 'Go up against this land and make it waste.' Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh (the commander): Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants. We are used to it. Do not use the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall. He replied: Do you think you and the king are the only ones the king sent me to say these things? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall. They will have to eat their excrement and drink their own urine, just as you will. The official stood up and shouted in Hebrew: Listen to what the king of Assyria is telling you! He warns you: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah cannot save you.' Do not let Hezekiah convince you to rely on Jehovah. Do not think that Jehovah will save you or that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing you. Do not listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. Make peace with me and you will be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells (cisterns). The king will resettle you in a country much like your own. There are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread there. It is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. Do what he commands and you will not die. Do not let Hezekiah fool you into thinking Jehovah will rescue you. Did the gods of other nations save their countries from the king of Assyria? Where are they now? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our king? What makes you think Jehovah can save Jerusalem? The people kept quiet. They did as King Hezekiah told them. They did not say a word. Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief. They reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.


Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings. Hoshea's treachery became clear to the king of Assyria. He had sent representatives to the king of Egypt. He did not send his offering to the king of Assyria like he did in previous years. So the king of Assyria had him put in chains and locked in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the land and advanced to Samaria. He besieged the city for three years. read more.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He led the Israelites away to Assyria. He stationed them in Halah and Habor on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes.

Then the king of Assyria took men from Babylon and from Cuthah and Avva and Hamath and Sepharvaim, and put them in the towns of Samaria in place of the children of Israel. They acquired Samaria for their heritage, living in its towns. When they first lived there they did not respect Jehovah. So Jehovah sent lions among them, causing some of them to die. They said to the king of Assyria: The nations you have taken as prisoners and put in the towns of Samaria have no knowledge of the way of the god of the land. He has sent lions among them causing their death. This is because they have no knowledge of his way. read more.
Then the king of Assyria gave orders, saying: Send one of the priests you took from there. Let him live there and teach the people the way of the god of the land.

It was the fourth year of King Hezekiah, the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel. Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and laid siege to it. It was captured at the end of three years. Samaria was taken in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel. The king of Assyria took Israel away as prisoners into Assyria. They placed them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in towns of the Medes. read more.
They did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God. In fact they went against his agreement, even against everything ordered by Moses, the servant of Jehovah. They did not listen to or obey Jehovah.

The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria. The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.


The king of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief (Tartan), his quartermaster, and his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They stood at the channel for the Upper Pool on the road to the Laundryman's Field. They sent for the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. The Rabshakeh said to them: Say to Hezekiah: These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope? read more.
You say you have counsel and [military] strength for war. These are only words. To whom are you looking for support that you rebel against me? You rely on Egypt that broken reed of a staff. If a man leans on it (relies on its power) his hand (strength) will be pierced (wounded) (diminished). So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who put their faith in him. If you say to me: We trust in Jehovah our God, is he not the one whose high places and altars have been taken away by Hezekiah. For he told Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem? And now, make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. How then can you put to shame the least of my master's servants? You put your hope in Egypt for chariots and horsemen: Have I now come to destroy this place without Jehovah? It was Jehovah who said to me: 'Go up against this land and make it waste.' Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh (the commander): Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants. We are used to it. Do not use the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall. He replied: Do you think you and the king are the only ones the king sent me to say these things? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall. They will have to eat their excrement and drink their own urine, just as you will. The official stood up and shouted in Hebrew: Listen to what the king of Assyria is telling you! He warns you: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah cannot save you.' Do not let Hezekiah convince you to rely on Jehovah. Do not think that Jehovah will save you or that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing you. Do not listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. Make peace with me and you will be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells (cisterns). The king will resettle you in a country much like your own. There are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread there. It is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. Do what he commands and you will not die. Do not let Hezekiah fool you into thinking Jehovah will rescue you.

Tell King Hezekiah of Judah: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria. You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries. They totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? Did the gods of the nations that my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? read more.
Where is the king of Hamath? Where is the king of Arpad? And where is the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'


Did the gods of the nations that my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath? Where is the king of Arpad? And where is the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?' Hezekiah read the letters from the messengers. Then he went to Jehovah's Temple and shared them with Jehovah. read more.
He prayed: Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, you are enthroned above the angels. You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. Turn your ear (listen) (pay attention) to me, O Jehovah, and listen. Open your eyes, Jehovah, and see. Listen to the message Sennacherib sent to defy the living God. It is true Jehovah. The kings of Assyria have devastated nations. They threw the gods from these countries into fires because these gods are not real gods. They are only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. Rescue us from Assyria's control, O Jehovah our God, so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are Jehovah God. Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says: 'You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you. This is Jehovah's message to Sennacherib: 'My people, the virgin daughter of Zion, despise you and laugh at you. My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back. Whom are you defying and slandering? Against whom are you shouting? Who are you looking at so arrogantly? It is the Holy One of Israel! You defy Jehovah and through your servants you say: 'With my many chariots I ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I travel to its most distant borders and its most fertile forests. I will dig wells and drink foreign water. I will dry up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.' Have you not heard? I did this long ago. I planned it in the past. Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities into piles of rubble. The inhabitants of these cities are weak, discouraged, and ashamed. They will be like plants in the field, like fresh green grass on the roofs, scorched before it grows up. I know when you get up and sit down. I know when you go out and come in. I know how you rage against me. Since you rage against me and you boast in my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your mouth. I will make you go back the way you came. This will be a sign for you, Hezekiah: You will eat what grows by itself this year and next year. But in the third year you will plant and harvest, plant vineyards, and eat what is produced. The remnant in Judah who survives will flourish like plants that send roots deep into the ground and produce fruit. There will be a remnant of people in Jerusalem and on Mount Zion who will survive. Jehovah is determined to make this happen. This is what Jehovah said about the Assyrian king: 'He will not enter this city or shoot a single arrow against it. No soldiers with shields will come near the city. No siege mounds will be built around it.' He will go back by the same road he came. He will not enter the city. I, Jehovah, have spoken! I will defend this city and protect it. It is for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: This is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word Jehovah spoke against him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? It is against the Holy One of Israel! read more.
By your messengers you have heaped insults on Jehovah. You said: With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I reach its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I dug wells and drank the water there. With the bottom of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt. Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it! And now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people are drained of power. They are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, parched before it grows. I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. For the reason that you rage against me and because your insolence (arrogance) has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you return by the way you came.


The people of Israel went to Assyria. They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone. The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.

When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb. He is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.

Ephraim, you are like a simpleminded, senseless dove. You call to Egypt and run to Assyria for help.


Whom are you defying and slandering? Against whom are you shouting? Who are you looking at so arrogantly? It is the Holy One of Israel! You defy Jehovah and through your servants you say: 'With my many chariots I ride up the high mountains, up the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses. I travel to its most distant borders and its most fertile forests. I will dig wells and drink foreign water. I will dry up all the streams of Egypt with the soles of my feet.'

He boasts: 'Every one of my commanders is a king!


Why are you going to Egypt to drink water from the Nile (Shihor) River? You will not gain anything by going to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates River.

You change your mind so easily. You will be shamed by Egypt as you were shamed by Assyria.


From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

King Sennacherib of Assyria returned to his home at Nineveh and stayed there.


In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tiglathpileser king of Assyria captured Ijon and Abelbethmaacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali. He took the people captive to Assyria.

Pul king of Assyria came against the land. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver to let him keep the kingdom.


In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will come to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. Jehovah of Hosts has blessed, saying: Blessed is Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.

Then they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt. They will come from Egypt even to the River, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.


The king will resettle you in a country much like your own. There are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread there. It is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. Do what he commands and you will not die. Do not let Hezekiah fool you into thinking Jehovah will rescue you.

Then I will come and take you away to a country like your own. It is a country with grain and new wine, a country with bread and vineyards.


How horrible it will be for Assyria! It is the rod of my anger. My fury is in the staff of the Assyrians' hands. I send him against a godless nation. I commission him against the people of my fury to capture booty and to seize plunder, and to trample them down like mud (clay) in the streets.

In that day Jehovah will whistle for the flies that are at the distant branches of the Nile River in Egypt and for the bees that are in Assyria.


In the days of King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim,

As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar (Babylon) and settled there.


Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king. He ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah his God considered evil. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked Jehoiakim and put him in bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also brought some of the utensils of Jehovah's Temple to Babylon. He put them in his palace (temple) in Babylon. read more.
Everything about Jehoiakim, the disgusting things he did and all the charges against him are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiakin succeeded him as king. Jehoiakin was eight years old when he began to rule as king. He was king for three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah considered evil. In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiakin and brought him to Babylon with the valuable utensils from Jehovah's Temple. Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiakin's uncle Zedekiah king of Judah and Jerusalem. Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to rule. He ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what Jehovah his God considered evil. He did not humble himself in front of the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke Jehovah's word. Zedekiah also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah swear an oath of allegiance to him in God's name. But Zedekiah became so stubborn and so impossible to deal with that he refused to turn back to Jehovah the God of Israel. All the officials, the priests, and the people became increasingly unfaithful and followed all the disgusting practices of the nations. Although Jehovah made the Temple in Jerusalem holy, they made the Temple unclean. Jehovah the God of their ancestors repeatedly sent messages through his prophets because he wanted to spare his people and his dwelling place. They mocked God's messengers. They despised his words, and made fun of his prophets until Jehovah became angry with his people. He could no longer heal them. So he had the Babylonian king attack them and execute their best young men in their holy temple. He did not spare the best men or the unmarried women, the old people or the sick people. God handed all of them over to him. He brought to Babylon each of the utensils from God's temple, the treasures from Jehovah's Temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials. He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. The survivors were taken to Babylonia as prisoners. They served as slaves of the king and his sons, until Persia became a powerful nation. This fulfilled the word of Jehovah that was spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept Sabbath until seventy years were complete.



King Tillegath Pilneser of Assyria attacked Ahaz. Instead of strengthening Ahaz, Tillegath Pilneser made trouble for him. Ahaz took some of the things from Jehovah's temple, the royal palace, and the princes. He gave them to the king of Assyria. But that did not help him.


King Tillegath Pilneser of Assyria attacked Ahaz. Instead of strengthening Ahaz, Tillegath Pilneser made trouble for him. Ahaz took some of the things from Jehovah's temple, the royal palace, and the princes. He gave them to the king of Assyria. But that did not help him.


In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tiglathpileser king of Assyria captured Ijon and Abelbethmaacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali. He took the people captive to Assyria.

and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria took into exile. Beerah was a leader of the Reubenites.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan, where they are to this day.


Pul king of Assyria came against the land. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver to let him keep the kingdom.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan, where they are to this day.


Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah. That is why it is said: Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Jehovah. The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in Shinar. read more.
From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

They will rule the land of Assyria and the entrances to the land of Nimrod with the sword. When he comes to our land and treads inside our borders he will deliver us from the Assyrian.


So Jehovah made the army commanders of the king of Assyria invade Judah. They took Manasseh captive, put a hook in his nose, put him in bronze shackles, and brought him to Babylon.


Hezekiah read the letters from the messengers. Then he went to Jehovah's Temple and shared them with Jehovah. He prayed: Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, you are enthroned above the angels. You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. Turn your ear (listen) (pay attention) to me, O Jehovah, and listen. Open your eyes, Jehovah, and see. Listen to the message Sennacherib sent to defy the living God. read more.
It is true Jehovah. The kings of Assyria have devastated nations. They threw the gods from these countries into fires because these gods are not real gods. They are only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. Rescue us from Assyria's control, O Jehovah our God, so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are Jehovah God.


Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib at Lachish: I have done wrong. Stop your attack and I will pay whatever you demand. The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. Hezekiah sent him all the silver in the Temple and in the palace treasury. Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of Jehovah's Temple and from the doorposts plated by him. He stripped it off and gave it to the king of Assyria.


Did the gods of other nations save their countries from the king of Assyria? Where are they now? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our king? What makes you think Jehovah can save Jerusalem?


Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you. They traded with you in choice garments, in clothes of blue and embroidered work, and in carpets of many colors and tightly wound cords, which were among your merchandise.


Pul king of Assyria came against the land. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver to let him keep the kingdom. Menahem extracted the money from men of wealth in Israel. Every man gave fifty silver shekels to give to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria turned back and did not stop in the land.


In that day Jehovah will thresh from the flowing Euphrates River to the Wadi (streambed) of Egypt. You, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one. A great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship Jehovah on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.


The people of Ephraim will not stay in Jehovah's land. They will return to Egypt and they will eat unclean food in Assyria.

Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?

They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes, declares Jehovah.


Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches and forest shade, and very high, and its top was among the clouds. The waters made it grow, the deep made it high. With its rivers it continually extended all around its planting place, and sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. Therefore its height was loftier than all the trees of the field. 'Its boughs became many and its branches long because of many waters as it spread them out. read more.
All the birds of the heavens nested in its boughs. Under its branches all the beasts of the field gave birth and all great nations lived under its shade. So it was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots extended to many waters. The cedars in God's garden could not match it. The cypresses could not compare with its boughs. The plane trees could not match its branches. No tree in God's garden could compare with it in its beauty. I made it beautiful with the multitude of its branches. All the trees of Eden in the garden of God were jealous of it.' The Lord Jehovah says: 'Because it is high in stature and has set its top among the clouds, and its heart is haughty in its loftiness, I will give it into the hand of a despot of the nations. He will thoroughly deal with it. According to its wickedness I have driven it away. Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen and its boughs have been broken in all the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the earth have gone down from its shade and left it. On its ruin all the birds of the heavens will dwell. All the beasts of the field will be on its fallen branches so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.' The Lord Jehovah says: 'On the day when it went down to the grave I caused cries of sorrow. I closed the deep over it and held back its rivers. Its many waters were stopped up, and I made Lebanon mourn for it. All the trees of the field wilted away on account of it. I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to the grave with those who go down to the pit. All the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath. They also went down with it to the grave to those who were slain by the sword. Those who were its strength lived under its shade among the nations.'


Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah. That is why it is said: Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Jehovah. The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in Shinar. read more.
From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,


Ahaz sent representatives to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, saying: I am your servant and your son. Come help me against the kings of Aram and Israel who have taken up arms against me. Ahaz took the silver and gold in the Temple of Jehovah and in the king's storehouse, and sent them as an offering to the king of Assyria.


Then the king of Assyria invaded the land and advanced to Samaria. He besieged the city for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He led the Israelites away to Assyria. He stationed them in Halah and Habor on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes.


From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

The name of the third river is the Tigris. It runs along the east side of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.


Jehovah raises up a flag for the nations far away. With a whistle he signals those at the ends of the earth. Look, they are coming very quickly! None of them grow tired or stumble. None of them slumber or sleep. The belts on their waists are not loose or their sandal straps broken. Their arrows are sharpened. All their bows are strung and ready to shoot. Their horses' hoofs are as hard as flint. Their chariot wheels are as quick as the wind. read more.
They roar like a lioness. They growl like a young lion. They growl as they snatch their prey and carry it off to where no one can rescue it.


In the days of Pekah king of Israel Tiglathpileser king of Assyria captured Ijon and Abelbethmaacah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee and all the land of Naphtali. He took the people captive to Assyria.


Nevertheless Kain will be consumed! How long will Asshur keep you captive?


Then the king of Assyria took men from Babylon and from Cuthah and Avva and Hamath and Sepharvaim, and put them in the towns of Samaria in place of the children of Israel. They acquired Samaria for their heritage, living in its towns.


It happened that night. Jehovah's angel killed one hundred and eighty five thousand soldiers in the Assyrian camp. The next morning the Judeans saw all the corpses.


King Sennacherib of Assyria returned to his home at Nineveh and stayed there.


Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them.


Pul king of Assyria came against the land. Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver to let him keep the kingdom.


EVERY NATION MADE GODS FOR THEMSELVES. They put them in the houses of the high places the Samaritans had made.


While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer assassinated him. They escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.


The king of Assyria, in answer to his request, went up against Damascus and captured it. He took its people away as prisoners to Kir, and put Rezin to death.


Hoshea's treachery became clear to the king of Assyria. He had sent representatives to the king of Egypt. He did not send his offering to the king of Assyria like he did in previous years. So the king of Assyria had him put in chains and locked in prison.


Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings.


Hoshea's treachery became clear to the king of Assyria. He had sent representatives to the king of Egypt. He did not send his offering to the king of Assyria like he did in previous years. So the king of Assyria had him put in chains and locked in prison.


The name of the third river is the Tigris. It runs along the east side of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.


Behold, Jehovah has a strong and mighty one (Assyria). He will cast down to the earth with military power. It will be like a destructive thunderstorm with hail and a mighty flood of water.


But the Assyrian emperor has his own violent plans in mind. He is determined to destroy many nations.


Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. Hoshea became his servant and sent him offerings. Hoshea's treachery became clear to the king of Assyria. He had sent representatives to the king of Egypt. He did not send his offering to the king of Assyria like he did in previous years. So the king of Assyria had him put in chains and locked in prison. Then the king of Assyria invaded the land and advanced to Samaria. He besieged the city for three years. read more.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He led the Israelites away to Assyria. He stationed them in Halah and Habor on the Gozan River, and in the towns of the Medes. The wrath (intense anger) of Jehovah came on Israel because they had done evil against Jehovah their God, who took them out of the land of Egypt from under the yoke of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods. They lived by the rules of the nations whom Jehovah sent out from before the children of Israel. The children of Israel secretly did things that were not right according to Jehovah their God. They built high places for themselves in all their towns, from the watchtower to the walled towns. They erected pillars of stone and wood on every high hill and under every green tree. They burned their offerings in all the high places, as those nations did whom Jehovah sent away from them. They did evil things, moving Jehovah to anger. They made themselves servants of disgusting things. Even though Jehovah said: You should not do this. Jehovah sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands. The commandments contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors. I handed them on to you through my servants the prophets. They would not obey. They were stubborn like their ancestors. They did not trust in Jehovah their God. They refused to obey his instructions. They did not keep the covenant he made with their ancestors. They disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying Jehovah's command not to imitate them. They broke all the laws of Jehovah their God. They made two metal bull-calves to worship. They also made an image of the goddess Asherah. Also they worshiped the stars and served the god Baal. They caused their sons and their daughters to go through the fire to be sacrificed. They made use of secret arts and unnatural powers, and gave themselves up to doing evil in the eyes of Jehovah, till they provoked him to anger. Jehovah was very angry with Israel. He removed them from his sight. Only the tribe of Judah kept its place. But even Judah did not obey the commands of Jehovah their God. They were guided by the rules Israel made. So Jehovah would have nothing to do with all the offspring of Israel. He caused trouble for them. He gave them up into the hands of their attackers, till he had sent them away from before his face. He tore Israel from the house of David and made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove them away from the laws of Jehovah and made them do a great sin. The children of Israel walked in all the sins Jeroboam committed. They did not depart from these sins. Jehovah removed Israel from his sight as he said he would through all his servants the prophets. Israel was taken away from their land to Assyria, to this day.


The Lord Jehovah says: At first my people went down to Egypt to live as aliens. Now Assyria has oppressed them.


In that day Jehovah will hire the king of Assyria from beyond the Euphrates River to be a razor to shave the hair on your head, the hair on your legs, and even your beard.


Before the boy knows how to say Father or Mother the wealth of Damascus and the loot from Samaria will be carried away to the king of Assyria.


There is no relief for your pain. Your wound is grievous! All who hear the report about you applaud for your wickedness affected everyone.


Assyria will not save us and we will not ride on horses. We will not say again: Our god, to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy.


The people of Israel went to Assyria. They were like wild donkeys wandering off alone. The people of Ephraim sold themselves to their lovers.


They will rule the land of Assyria and the entrances to the land of Nimrod with the sword. When he comes to our land and treads inside our borders he will deliver us from the Assyrian.


The angel of Jehovah put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. The people got up the next morning and saw all the dead bodies!


In his days, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, sent his armies against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went out against him. Josiah was killed when he saw him at Megiddo.


Then I will come and take you away to a country like your own. It is a country with grain and new wine, a country with bread and vineyards.


Haran, Canneh, Eden, the traders of Sheba, Asshur and Chilmad traded with you.


The rest of the nations the great and noble Osnappar took over and put in Samaria and the rest of the country over the river:


His descendants lived as nomads from the region of Havilah to Shur. This is near Egypt, in the direction of Assyria. He died in the presence of all his brothers.


When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb. He is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.


We have given our hands to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians so that we might have enough bread.


The king will resettle you in a country much like your own. There are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread there. It is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. Do what he commands and you will not die. Do not let Hezekiah fool you into thinking Jehovah will rescue you.


It was the fourth year of King Hezekiah, the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel. Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and laid siege to it. It was captured at the end of three years. Samaria was taken in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel. The king of Assyria took Israel away as prisoners into Assyria. They placed them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in towns of the Medes. read more.
They did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God. In fact they went against his agreement, even against everything ordered by Moses, the servant of Jehovah. They did not listen to or obey Jehovah. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them. Hezekiah sent a message to Sennacherib at Lachish: I have done wrong. Stop your attack and I will pay whatever you demand. The emperor's answer was that Hezekiah should send him ten tons of silver and one ton of gold. Hezekiah sent him all the silver in the Temple and in the palace treasury. Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of Jehovah's Temple and from the doorposts plated by him. He stripped it off and gave it to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria sent his commander-in-chief (Tartan), his quartermaster, and his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They stood at the channel for the Upper Pool on the road to the Laundryman's Field. They sent for the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to them. The Rabshakeh said to them: Say to Hezekiah: These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope? You say you have counsel and [military] strength for war. These are only words. To whom are you looking for support that you rebel against me? You rely on Egypt that broken reed of a staff. If a man leans on it (relies on its power) his hand (strength) will be pierced (wounded) (diminished). So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who put their faith in him. If you say to me: We trust in Jehovah our God, is he not the one whose high places and altars have been taken away by Hezekiah. For he told Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem? And now, make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. How then can you put to shame the least of my master's servants? You put your hope in Egypt for chariots and horsemen: Have I now come to destroy this place without Jehovah? It was Jehovah who said to me: 'Go up against this land and make it waste.' Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh (the commander): Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants. We are used to it. Do not use the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall. He replied: Do you think you and the king are the only ones the king sent me to say these things? No, I am also talking to the people who are sitting on the wall. They will have to eat their excrement and drink their own urine, just as you will. The official stood up and shouted in Hebrew: Listen to what the king of Assyria is telling you! He warns you: 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Hezekiah cannot save you.' Do not let Hezekiah convince you to rely on Jehovah. Do not think that Jehovah will save you or that he will stop our Assyrian army from capturing you. Do not listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria commands you to come out of the city and surrender. Make peace with me and you will be allowed to eat grapes from your own vines and figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own wells (cisterns). The king will resettle you in a country much like your own. There are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread there. It is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. Do what he commands and you will not die. Do not let Hezekiah fool you into thinking Jehovah will rescue you. Did the gods of other nations save their countries from the king of Assyria? Where are they now? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did anyone save Samaria? When did any of the gods of all these countries ever save their country from our king? What makes you think Jehovah can save Jerusalem? The people kept quiet. They did as King Hezekiah told them. They did not say a word. Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes in grief. They reported to the king what the Assyrian official had said.


The king will resettle you in a country much like your own. There are vineyards to give wine and there is grain for making bread there. It is a land of olives, olive oil, and honey. Do what he commands and you will not die. Do not let Hezekiah fool you into thinking Jehovah will rescue you.

Then I will come and take you away to a country like your own. It is a country with grain and new wine, a country with bread and vineyards.


References

Hastings

Easton

American

Morish

Watsons

Smith