Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it. Do not speak with us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

But Rabshakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to your master, and to you, to speak these words? Hasn't he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own water with you?"

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spoke, 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 given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

Do not listen to Hezekiah.' For thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern;

until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and of honey, that you may live, and not die. Do not listen to Hezekiah, when he persuades you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us."

Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

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

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, came with Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"

Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall 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 had departed from Lachish.

'Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, "Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar?

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?"'"

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, "The LORD, the God of Israel, who sit above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Incline your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, with which he has sent to defy the living God.

Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,

and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them.

This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: "The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

By your messengers you have defied the Lord, and have said, 'With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.

I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.'

Haven't you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now have I brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up.

But I know your sitting down, and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging against me.

Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came."

"'This shall be the sign to you: You shall eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit.

The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The zeal of the LORD will perform this.'

By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come to this city,' says the LORD.

'For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"

It happened that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

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

It happened, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.

In those days was Hezekiah sick to death. Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order; for you shall die, and not live.'"

Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying,

"Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly.

It happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle part of the city, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

"Turn back, and tell Hezekiah the prince of my people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father, "I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day, you shall go up to the house of the LORD.

I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake."'"

Isaiah said, "Take a cake of figs." They took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the LORD the third day?"

Isaiah the prophet cried to the LORD; and he brought the shadow ten steps backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz.

At that time Berodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Hezekiah was delighted at this, and showed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say? From where did they come to you?" Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, even from Babylon."

'Behold, the days come, that all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,' says the LORD.

'Of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you shall father, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "Isn't it so, if peace and truth shall be in my days?"

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit, and brought water into the city, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hephzibah.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them.

He made his son to pass through the fire, and practiced sorcery, and practiced divination, and consulted mediums, and spiritists: he worked much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

He set the engraved image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to Solomon his son, "In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever;

neither will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them."

But they did not listen: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than the nations did whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

"Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols;

therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle.

I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

I will cast off the remnant of my inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies. They will become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;

because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even to this day.'"

Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his place.

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.

He walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them:

and he forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD.

The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house.

But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.

He did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

"Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the money which is brought into the house of the LORD, which the keepers of the threshold have gathered of the people.

Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD; and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the LORD, to repair the breaches of the house,

to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons, and for buying timber and cut stone to repair the house.

However there was no accounting made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand; for they dealt faithfully."

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD." Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD."

The king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying,

"Go inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us."

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her.

"Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will bring disaster on this place, and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read.

Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and it shall not be quenched.'"

because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard what I spoke against this place, and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and have torn your clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard you,' says the LORD.

'Therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the disaster which I will bring on this place.'"'" They brought back this message to the king.

The king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.

The king went up to the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.

The king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and all his soul, to confirm the words of this covenant that were written in this book: and all the people stood to the covenant.

The king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the threshold, to bring forth out of the LORD's temple all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside of Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.

He put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD, outside of Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and beat it to dust, and cast its dust on the graves of the common people.

He brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

The king broke down the altars that were on the roof of the upper room of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, and beat them down from there, and cast their dust into the brook Kidron.