“ Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”

耶和华必使亚述王攻击你的日子临到你和你的百姓，并你的父家，自从以法莲离开犹大以来，未曾有这样的日子。

耶和华必使亚述王临到你和你的百姓，并你的父家，自从以法莲脱离犹大的时候，未曾有过这样的日子。

耶和华必使亚述王临到你和你的百姓，并你的父家，自从以法莲脱离犹大的时候，未曾有过这样的日子。

“之后，耶和华必让亚述王来攻击你们。这是你全家及你的人民自以色列与犹大分裂以来从未有的日子。

“耶和华必使灾难的日子临到你和你的人民，以及你的父家，自从以法莲脱离犹大以来，未曾有过这样的日子，就是亚述王的入侵。”

耶和华必使亚述王攻击的日子临到你、你的子民和你的父家；这是自从以法莲脱离犹大以来，未曾有过的日子。

耶和華必使亞述王攻擊你的日子臨到你和你的百姓，並你的父家，自從以法蓮離開猶大以來，未曾有這樣的日子。

耶和華必使亞述王臨到你和你的百姓，並你的父家，自從以法蓮脫離猶大的時候，未曾有過這樣的日子。

耶和華必使亞述王臨到你和你的百姓，並你的父家，自從以法蓮脫離猶大的時候，未曾有過這樣的日子。

「之後，耶和華必讓亞述王來攻擊你們。這是你全家及你的人民自以色列與猶大分裂以來從未有的日子。

“耶和華必使災難的日子臨到你和你的人民，以及你的父家，自從以法蓮脫離猶大以來，未曾有過這樣的日子，就是亞述王的入侵。”

永恆主必使患難的日子臨到你和你的人民、以及你父的家，就是自從以法蓮脫離猶大以來、未曾有過這樣日子的——亞述王之侵犯。』

耶和華必使亞述王攻擊的日子臨到你、你的子民和你的父家；這是自從以法蓮脫離猶大以來，未曾有過的日子。

耶和華必使患難之日臨爾、與爾民眾、及爾父家、自以法蓮叛離猶大、未有若此者、即亞述王為禍也、○

耶和華將使亞述王降災於汝、及爾國家、自以法蓮叛猶大國、迄今未有若是之甚、

主必使降災之日、臨爾與爾民及爾父家、自以法蓮叛猶大以來、未有若是之日、即使亞述王至而攻爾、

The Lord 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.”

The Lord will also bring the king of Assyria against you. And he will bring him against your people and the whole royal family. That will be a time of trouble. It will be unlike any since the people of Ephraim broke away from Judah.”

The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah— the king of Assyria!”

The LORD will bring on you, your people, and your father’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah: He will bring the king of Assyria.”

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah— the days of the king of Assyria.”

The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house— days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah.”

Jehovah will 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.

The Lord will bring on you, your people, and the house of your father, such a time as has never been since Ephraim separated from Judah— the king of Assyria is coming.”

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.

The LORD will bring on you, your people, and your father’s family a time unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah– the king of Assyria!”

Yahweh will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria.

“ What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.

Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River— the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channelsand sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.

“ And now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of unfailing love, do not let all the hardships we have suffered seem insignificant to you. Great trouble has come upon us and upon our kings and leaders and priests and prophets and ancestors— all of your people— from the days when the kings of Assyria first triumphed over us until now.

When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded,“ Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!” So all the people of Israel returned home.But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, to restore order, but the people of Israel stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.And to this day the northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David.

The Lord was humbling Judah because of King Ahaz of Judah, for he had encouraged his people to sin and had been utterly unfaithful to the Lord.So when King Tiglath pileser of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him.Ahaz took valuable items from the Lord’s Temple, the royal palace, and from the homes of his officials and gave them to the king of Assyria as tribute. But this did not help him.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.Then the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.These are the officials who went out to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:“ This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!“ But perhaps you will say to me,‘ We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?“ I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers?What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us,‘ Attack this land and destroy it!’”Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff,“ Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.”But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied,“ Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall,“ Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying,‘ The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’“ Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me— open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one— a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.“ Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying,‘ The Lord will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them,“ Do not answer him.”Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and he bound Jehoiakim in bronze chains and led him away to Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the treasures from the Temple of the Lord, and he placed them in his palace in Babylon.The rest of the events in Jehoiakim’s reign, including all the evil things he did and everything found against him, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then his son Jehoiachin became the next king.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. Jehoiachin did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of the Lord were also taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, as the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord.He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God’s name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple.But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.The king took home to Babylon all the articles, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the Lord’s Temple and from the palace of the king and his officials.Then his army burned the Temple of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value.The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

After Hezekiah had faithfully carried out this work, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified towns, giving orders for his army to break through their walls.When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib also intended to attack Jerusalem,he consulted with his officials and military advisers, and they decided to stop the flow of the springs outside the city.They organized a huge work crew to stop the flow of the springs, cutting off the brook that ran through the fields. For they said,“ Why should the kings of Assyria come here and find plenty of water?”Then Hezekiah worked hard at repairing all the broken sections of the wall, erecting towers, and constructing a second wall outside the first. He also reinforced the supporting terraces in the City of David and manufactured large numbers of weapons and shields.He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate. Then Hezekiah encouraged them by saying:“ Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” Hezekiah’s words greatly encouraged the people.While King Sennacherib of Assyria was still besieging the town of Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah and all the people in the city:“ This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?Hezekiah has said,‘ The Lord our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria.’ Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst!Don’t you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the Lord’s shrines and altars? He commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar at the Temple and to offer sacrifices on it alone.“ Surely you must realize what I and the other kings of Assyria before me have done to all the people of the earth! Were any of the gods of those nations able to rescue their people from my power?Which of their gods was able to rescue its people from the destructive power of my predecessors? What makes you think your God can rescue you from me?Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you! Don’t let him fool you like this! I say it again— no god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!”And Sennacherib’s officers further mocked the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah, heaping insult upon insult.The king also sent letters scorning the Lord, the God of Israel. He wrote,“ Just as the gods of all the other nations failed to rescue their people from my power, so the God of Hezekiah will also fail.”The Assyrian officials who brought the letters shouted this in Hebrew to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to terrify them so it would be easier to capture the city.These officers talked about the God of Jerusalem as though he were one of the pagan gods, made by human hands.Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven.And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.That is how the Lord rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the others who threatened them. So there was peace throughout the land.From then on King Hezekiah became highly respected among all the surrounding nations, and many gifts for the Lord arrived at Jerusalem, with valuable presents for King Hezekiah, too.About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill. He prayed to the Lord, who healed him and gave him a miraculous sign.But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud. So the Lord’s anger came against him and against Judah and Jerusalem.Then Hezekiah humbled himself and repented of his pride, as did the people of Jerusalem. So the Lord’s anger did not fall on them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.Hezekiah was very wealthy and highly honored. He built special treasury buildings for his silver, gold, precious stones, and spices, and for his shields and other valuable items.He also constructed many storehouses for his grain, new wine, and olive oil; and he made many stalls for his cattle and pens for his flocks of sheep and goats.He built many towns and acquired vast flocks and herds, for God had given him great wealth.He blocked up the upper spring of Gihon and brought the water down through a tunnel to the west side of the City of David. And so he succeeded in everything he did.However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.The rest of the events in Hezekiah’s reign and his acts of devotion are recorded in The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah Son of Amoz, which is included in The Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.When Hezekiah died, he was buried in the upper area of the royal cemetery, and all Judah and Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became the next king.

Hezekiah son of Ahaz began to rule over Judah in the third year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel.He was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah.He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done.He removed the pagan shrines, smashed the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had been offering sacrifices to it. The bronze serpent was called Nehushtan.Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time.He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses.So the Lord was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute.He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its territory, from their smallest outpost to their largest walled city.During the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege against it.Three years later, during the sixth year of King Hezekiah’s reign and the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Samaria fell.At that time the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant— all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded them to obey.In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:“ I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw.” The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and one ton of gold.To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasury.Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king.Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:“ This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?

When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded,“ Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!” So the people of Israel returned home.But Rehoboam continued to rule over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.King Rehoboam sent Adoniram, who was in charge of forced labor, to restore order, but the people of Israel stoned him to death. When this news reached King Rehoboam, he quickly jumped into his chariot and fled to Jerusalem.And to this day the northern tribes of Israel have refused to be ruled by a descendant of David.

So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.