1 E sucedeu que, no terceiro ano de Oséias, filho de Elá, rei de Israel, começou a reinar Ezequias, filho de Acaz, rei de Judá.

2 Tinha vinte e cinco anos de idade quando começou a reinar, e vinte e nove anos reinou em Jerusalém; e era o nome de sua mãe Abi, filha de Zacarias.

3 E fez o que era reto aos olhos do Senhor, conforme tudo o que fizera Davi, seu pai.

4 Ele tirou os altos, quebrou as estátuas, deitou abaixo os bosques, e fez em pedaços a serpente de metal que Moisés fizera; porquanto até àquele dia os filhos de Israel lhe queimavam incenso, e lhe chamaram Neustã.

5 No Senhor Deus de Israel confiou, de maneira que depois dele não houve quem lhe fosse semelhante entre todos os reis de Judá, nem entre os que foram antes dele.

6 Porque se chegou ao Senhor, não se apartou dele, e guardou os mandamentos que o Senhor tinha dado a Moisés.

7 Assim foi o Senhor com ele; para onde quer que saía se conduzia com prudência; e se rebelou contra o rei da Assíria, e não o serviu.

8 Ele feriu os filisteus até Gaza, como também os seus termos, desde a torre dos atalaias até à cidade fortificada.

9 E sucedeu, no quarto ano do rei Ezequias (que era o sétimo ano de Oséias, filho de Elá, rei de Israel), que Salmaneser, rei da Assíria, subiu contra Samaria, e a cercou.

10 E a tomaram ao fim de três anos, no ano sexto de Ezequias, que era o ano nono de Oséias, rei de Israel, quando tomaram Samaria.

11 E o rei da Assíria transportou a Israel para a Assíria; e os fez levar a Hala e a Habor, junto ao rio de Gozã, e às cidades dos medos;

12 Porquanto não obedeceram à voz do Senhor seu Deus, antes transgrediram a sua aliança; e tudo quanto Moisés, servo do Senhor, tinha ordenado, nem o ouviram nem o fizeram.

13 Porém no ano décimo quarto do rei Ezequias subiu Senaqueribe, rei da Assíria, contra todas as cidades fortificadas de Judá, e as tomou.

14 Então Ezequias, rei de Judá, enviou ao rei da Assíria, a Laquis, dizendo: Pequei; retira-te de mim; tudo o que me impuseres suportarei. Então o rei da Assíria impôs a Ezequias, rei de Judá, trezentos talentos de prata e trinta talentos de ouro.

15 Assim deu Ezequias toda a prata que se achou na casa do Senhor e nos tesouros da casa do rei.

16 Naquele tempo cortou Ezequias o ouro das portas do templo do Senhor, e das ombreiras, de que ele, rei de Judá, as cobrira, e o deu ao rei da Assíria.

17 Contudo enviou o rei da Assíria a Tartã, e a Rabe-Saris, e a Rabsaqué, de Laquis, com grande exército ao rei Ezequias, a Jerusalém; subiram, e vieram a Jerusalém. E, subindo e vindo eles, pararam ao pé do aqueduto da piscina superior, que está junto ao caminho do campo do lavandeiro.

18 E chamaram o rei; e saíram a eles Eliaquim, filho de Hilquias, o mordomo, e Sebna, o escrivão, e Joá, filho de Asafe, o cronista.

19 E Rabsaqué lhes disse: Ora, dizei a Ezequias: Assim diz o grande rei, o rei da Assíria: Que confiança é esta em que te estribas?

20 Dizes tu (porém são palavras só de lábios): Há conselho e poder para a guerra. Em quem, pois, agora confias, que contra mim te rebelas?

21 Eis que agora tu confias naquele bordão de cana quebrada, no Egito, no qual, se alguém se encostar, entrar-lhe-á pela mão e a furará; assim é Faraó, rei do Egito, para com todos os que nele confiam.

22 Se, porém, me disserdes: No Senhor nosso Deus confiamos; porventura não é esse aquele cujos altos e cujos altares Ezequias tirou, dizendo a Judá e a Jerusalém: Perante este altar vos inclinareis em Jerusalém?

23 Ora, pois, dá agora reféns ao meu senhor, o rei da Assíria, e dar-te-ei dois mil cavalos, se tu puderes dar cavaleiros para eles.

24 Como, pois, farias virar o rosto de um só capitão dos menores servos de meu senhor, quando tu confias no Egito, por causa dos carros e cavaleiros?

25 Agora, pois, subi eu porventura sem o Senhor contra este lugar, para o destruir? O Senhor me disse: Sobe contra esta terra, e destrói-a.

26 Então disse Eliaquim, filho de Hilquias, e Sebna e Joá, a Rabsaqué: Rogamos-te que fales aos teus servos em siríaco; porque bem o entendemos; e não nos fales em judaico, aos ouvidos do povo que está em cima do muro.

27 Porém Rabsaqué lhes disse: Porventura mandou-me meu senhor somente a teu senhor e a ti, para falar estas palavras e não antes aos homens, que estão sentados em cima do muro, para que juntamente convosco comam o seu excremento e bebam a sua urina?

28 Rabsaqué, pois, se pôs em pé, e clamou em alta voz em judaico, e respondeu, dizendo: Ouvi a palavra do grande rei, do rei da Assíria.

29 Assim diz o rei: Não vos engane Ezequias; porque não vos poderá livrar da sua mão;

30 Nem tampouco vos faça Ezequias confiar no Senhor, dizendo: Certamente nos livrará o Senhor, e esta cidade não será entregue na mão do rei da Assíria.

31 Não deis ouvidos a Ezequias; porque assim diz o rei da Assíria: Contratai comigo por presentes, e saí a mim, e coma cada um da sua vide e da sua figueira, e beba cada um a água da sua cisterna;

32 Até que eu venha, e vos leve para uma terra como a vossa, terra de trigo e de mosto, terra de pão e de vinhas, terra de oliveiras, de azeite e de mel; e assim vivereis, e não morrereis; e não deis ouvidos a Ezequias; porque vos incita, dizendo: O Senhor nos livrará.

33 Porventura os deuses das nações puderam livrar, cada um a sua terra, das mãos do rei da Assíria?

34 Que é feito dos deuses de Hamate e de Arpade? Que é feito dos deuses de Sefarvaim, Hena e Iva? Porventura livraram a Samaria da minha mão?

35 Quais são eles, dentre todos os deuses das terras, que livraram a sua terra da minha mão, para que o Senhor livrasse a Jerusalém da minha mão?

36 Porém calou-se o povo, e não lhe respondeu uma só palavra; porque mandado do rei havia, dizendo: Não lhe respondereis.

37 Então Eliaquim, filho de Hilquias, o mordomo, e Sebna, o escrivão, e Joá, filho de Asafe, o cronista, vieram a Ezequias com as vestes rasgadas, e lhe fizeram saber as palavras de Rabsaqué.

1 Now in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, became king of Judah.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, ruling in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years; his mother's name was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.

3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done.

4 He had the high places taken away, and the stone pillars broken to bits, and the Asherah cut down; and the brass snake which Moses had made was crushed to powder at his order, because in those days the children of Israel had offerings burned before it, and he gave it the name Nehushtan.

5 He had faith in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah who were before him.

6 For his heart was fixed on the Lord, not turning from his ways, and he did his orders which the Lord gave to Moses.

7 And the Lord was with him; he did well in all his undertakings: and he took up arms against the king of Assyria and was his servant no longer.

8 He overcame the Philistines as far as Gaza and its limits, from the tower of the watchman to the walled town.

9 Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, shutting it in with his armies.

10 And at the end of three years they took it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the ninth year of Hoshea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken.

11 And the king of Assyria took Israel away as prisoners into Assyria, placing them in Halah and in Habor on the river Gozan, and in the towns of the Medes;

12 Because they did not give ear to the voice of the Lord their God, but went against his agreement, even against everything ordered by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and they did not give ear to it or do it.

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

14 And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to Lachish, to the king of Assyria, saying, I have done wrong; give up attacking me, and whatever you put on me I will undergo. And the payment he was to make was fixed by the king of Assyria at three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the house of the Lord, and in the king's store-house.

16 And at that time Hezekiah had the gold from the doors of the Lord's house, and from the door-pillars plated by him, cut off and gave it to the king of Assyria.

17 Then the king of Assyria sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a strong force. And they went up and came to Jerusalem, and took up their position by the stream of the higher pool, by the highway of the washerman's field.

18 And 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.

19 And the Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, These are the words of the great king, the king of Assyria: In what are you placing your hope?

20 You say you have a design, and strength for war, but these are only words. Now to whom are you looking for support, that you have gone against my authority?

21 See, now, you are basing your hope on that broken rod of Egypt, which will go through a man's hand if he makes use of it for a support; for so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all who put their faith in him.

22 And if you say to me, Our hope is in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem that worship may only be given before this altar in Jerusalem?

23 And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

24 How then may you put to shame the least of my master's servants? and you have put your hope in Egypt for war-carriages and horsemen:

25 And have I now come up to send destruction on this place without the Lord's authority? It was the Lord himself who said to me, Go up against this land and make it waste.

26 Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the Rab-shakeh, Will you kindly make use of the Aramaean language in talking to your servants, for we are used to it, and do not make use of the Jews' language in the hearing of the people on the wall.

27 But the Rab-shakeh said to them, Is it to your master or to you that my master has sent me to say these words? has he not sent me to the men seated on the wall? for they are the people who will be short of food with you when the town is shut in.

28 Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews' language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria;

29 This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him.

30 And do not let Hezekiah make you put your faith in the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly keep us safe, and this town will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

31 Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;

32 Till I come and take you away to a land like yours, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vine-gardens, a land of oil-giving olives and of honey, so that life and not death may be your fate. Give no attention to Hezekiah when he says to you, The Lord will keep us safe.

33 Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria?

34 Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena and Ivvah? have they kept Samaria out of my hands?

35 Who among all the gods of these countries have kept their country from falling into my hands, to give cause for the thought that the Lord will keep Jerusalem from falling into my hands?

36 But the people kept quiet and gave him no answer: for the king's order was, Give him no answer.

37 Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah, with their clothing parted as a sign of grief, and gave him an account of what the Rab-shakeh had said.