And it happened because the sons of Israel had sinned against Jehovah their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,

and walked in the statutes of the nations whom Jehovah cast out from before the sons of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which the nations had made.

And the sons of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Jehovah their God. And they built high places in all their cities for themselves, from the Watch Tower to the fortified city.

And they set up images and Asherahs for themselves in every high hill, and under every green tree.

And they burned incense in all the high places, like the nations whom Jehovah had removed from before them; and did evil things to provoke Jehovah to anger.

For they served the idols, of which Jehovah had said to them, You shall not do this thing.

And Jehovah testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.

But they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like the neck of their fathers who did not believe in Jehovah their God.

And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He testified against them. And they went after the vain thing, and became vain, and after the nations around them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them not to do like them.

And they left all the commandments of Jehovah their God, and made molten images, two calves, for themselves. And they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. And they used divination and incantations, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke Him to anger.

So Jehovah was very angry with Israel, and turned them away from His face; not one was left, only the tribe of Judah by itself.

Also Judah did not keep the commandments of Jehovah their God, but walked in the statutes which Israel made.

And Jehovah rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

For He tore Israel from the house of David. And they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. And Jeroboam drove Israel away from following Jehovah, and made them sin a great sin.

For the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did. They did not depart from them

until Jehovah turned away Israel from His face, as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria until 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 sons of Israel. And they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities.

And it happened at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear Jehovah. And Jehovah sent lions among them, who killed them.

And they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the manner of the God of the land. And He has sent lions among them, and, behold, they kill them because they do not know the way of the God of the land.

And the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Cause one of the priests whom you removed from there to go there. And they shall go and live there, and he shall teach them the way of the God of the land.

And one of the priests whom they had removed from Samaria came and lived in Bethel. And he taught them how they should fear Jehovah.

And every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived.

And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,

and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their sons with fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

So they feared Jehovah, and made to themselves, of the lowest of them, priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

They feared Jehovah and served their own gods, according to the custom of the nations whom they removed from there.

Until this day they do according to their former ways. They do not fear Jehovah, neither do they do according to their statutes, or according to their ordinances, or according to the Law and commandment which Jehovah commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

but Jehovah, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and a stretched-out arm, you shall fear Him, and you shall worship Him, and you shall do sacrifice to Him.

And the statutes, and the ordinances, and the Law, and the commandment, which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to do forever. And you shall not fear other gods.

And the covenant that I have made with you, you shall not forget, and you shall not fear other gods.

And you shall fear Jehovah your God. And He shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.

But they did not listen, but they followed after their former way.

And it happened, these nations feared Jehovah, and they served their graven images, both their sons and their sons' sons, as their fathers did, they do until this day.

And it happened in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

And he did the right in the sight of Jehovah, according to all that David his father did.

He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent which Moses had made; for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it. And he called it Nehushtan.

He trusted in Jehovah, the God of Israel, and after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him.

And Jehovah was with him. He was blessed wherever he went. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and did not serve him.

He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the Watch Tower to the fortified city.

And it happened in 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 besieged it.

And at the end of three years they took it, in the sixth year of Hezekiah, it was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

And the king of Assyria carried away Israel to Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

because they did not obey the voice of Jehovah their God, but transgressed His covenant, and all that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded, and would not listen to them, nor do them.

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

And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; turn back from me. Whatever you put on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria appointed to Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.

And Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of Jehovah and in the treasures of the king's house.

At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid. And he gave them to the king of Assyria.

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan, and the chief of the eunuchs, and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish, to King Hezekiah with a great army against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the Fuller's Field.

And they called to 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, went out to them.

And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Speak now to Hezekiah, So says the great king, the king of Assyria, What hope is this in which you trust?

Do you say that a mere word of the lips is wisdom and strength for the war? Now on whom do you trust that you rebel against me?

Now, behold, you trust on the staff of this bruised reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust on him.

But if you say to me, We trust in Jehovah our God, is He not the one whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

And now, please give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver two thousand horses to you if you are able to set riders on them.

And how will you turn away the face of one commander of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah said to the chief of the cupbearers, Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand. And do not talk with us in Jewish, in the ears of the people who are on the wall.

And the chief of the cupbearers said to them, Has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?

And the chief of the cupbearers stood and cried with a loud voice in Jewish, and spoke, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:

so says the king, Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. For he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand.

And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of Assyria.

Do not listen to Hezekiah. For so says the king of Assyria, Make with me a blessing, and come out to me, and you each shall eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and you each shall drink of the waters of his own cistern,

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

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

Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

But the people kept silent and did not answer him a word. For the king's command was, saying, Do not answer him.

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

And it happened when King Hezekiah heard, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth. And he went into the house of Jehovah.

And 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.

And they said to him, So says Hezekiah, This is a day of trouble and of rebuke and contempt. For the sons have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.

It may be Jehovah your God will hear all the words of the chief cupbearer with which his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah your God has heard. And you shall lift up prayer for the rest who are left.

And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

And Isaiah said to them, You shall say to your master, So says Jehovah, Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

Behold, I will send a blast on him, and he shall hear a rumor and shall return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

And the chief cupbearer returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

So you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by completely destroying them. And shall you be delivered?

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

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and of Ivah?

And Hezekiah received the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Hezekiah went up into the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.

And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubs, You are God Himself, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.

Jehovah, bow down Your ear and hear. O Jehovah, open Your eyes and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, who has sent him to taunt the living God.

Truly, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,

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

And now, O, Jehovah our God, I beseech You, save us out of his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are Jehovah God, and You only.

And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, So says Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have heard what you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria.

This is the word that Jehovah has spoken concerning him: The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you and laughed you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

Whom have you mocked and blasphemed? And against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Even against the Holy One of Israel!

You have mocked Jehovah by your messengers, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down its tall cedar trees, its choice fir trees. And I will enter into the lodgings of its borders, its densest forest;

I have dug and drunk foreign waters, and with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.

And their people were of small power, they were fearful and put to shame. They were like the grass of the field, and the green herb, like the grass on the house-tops, and like grain blasted before it was grown up.

Because of your rage against Me, and because your arrogance has come up into My ears, even I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips. And I will turn you back by the way in which you came.

And this shall be a sign to you: you shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springs up of the same. And in the third year, sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruits of them.

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

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they who escape out of Mount Zion. The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts shall do this.

So Jehovah says this concerning the king of Assyria. He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor throw up a bank against it.

By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and shall not come into this city, says Jehovah.

And it happened that night, the Angel of Jehovah went out and struck a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And they arose early in the morning, and behold, they were all dead bodies.

And it happened as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.