2 Reis 18 - Bíblia Online

No terceiro ano de Oséias, filho de Elá, rei de Israel, começou a reinar Ezequias, filho de Acaz, rei de Judá. 
Tinha vinte e cinco anos quando começou a reinar, e reinou vinte e nove anos em Jerusalém. Sua mãe chamava-se Abi, filha de Zacarias. 
Ele fez o que era reto aos olhos de Jeová, segundo o que tinha feito Davi, seu pai. 
Tirou os altos, quebrou as colunas, deitou abaixo a Asera; fez em pedaços a serpente de cobre que Moisés tinha feito (porque até esses dias os filhos de Israel lhe queimavam incenso), e chamou-lhe Neustã. 
Confiou em Jeová Deus de Israel, de modo que depois dele não houve dentre todos os reis de Judá quem lhe fosse semelhante, nem entre os que foram antes dele. 
Pois se apegou a Jeová, não se apartou dele, mas guardou os mandamentos que Jeová ordenou a Moisés. 
Jeová era com ele; para onde quer que saía, prosperava. Rebelou-se contra o rei da Assíria e não o serviu. 
Ele feriu os filisteus até Gaza, e os seus termos, desde a torre das atalaias até a cidade fortificada. 
No quarto ano do rei Ezequias, que era o sétimo ano de Oséias, filho de Elá, rei de Israel, subiu Salmaneser, rei da Assíria, contra Samaria, e a sitiou. 
Ao cabo de três anos tomaram-na; isto é, no sexto ano de Ezequias, que era o ano nono de Oséias, rei de Israel, foi Samaria tomada. 
O rei da Assíria transferiu a Israel para Assíria, e pô-los em Hala, junto a Habor, rio de Gozã, e nas cidades dos medos; 
porque não obedeceram à voz de Jeová seu Deus, mas transgrediram a sua aliança, a saber, tudo o que Moisés, servo de Jeová, ordenou, e não o quiseram ouvir nem observar. 
No décimo quarto ano do rei Ezequias subiu Senaqueribe, rei da Assíria, contra todas as cidades fortificadas de Judá, e tomou-as. 
Ezequias, rei de Judá, enviou ao rei da Assíria, a Laquis, mensageiros que lhe dissessem: Estou em culpa; retira-te de mim; suportarei tudo o que me impuseres. O rei da Assíria, então, impôs a Ezequias, rei de Judá, trezentos talentos de prata e trinta talentos de ouro. 
Ezequias deu-lhe toda a prata que se achou na casa de Jeová e nos tesouros da casa do rei. 
Nesse tempo cortou Ezequias o ouro das portas do templo de Jeová e das colunas que Ezequias, rei de Judá, tinha forrado, e o deu ao rei da Assíria. 
O rei da Assíria enviou de Laquis Tartã, Rabe-Saris e Rabsaqué com um grande exército ao rei Ezequias a Jerusalém. Subiram e foram a Jerusalém. Tendo subido, vieram e pararam junto ao aqueduto da piscina superior que está no caminho do campo do lavandeiro. 
Tendo eles chamado o rei, saíram-lhes ao encontro Eliaquim, filho de Hilquias, mordomo, e Sebna secretário, e Joá, filho de Asafe, cronista mor. 
Disse-lhes Rabsaqué: Dizei a Ezequias: Assim diz o grande rei, o rei da Assíria: Que confiança é essa em que te estribas? 
Dizes (são, porém, palavras vãs): Há conselho e poder para a guerra. Em quem, pois, agora confias, para que te tenhas rebelado contra mim? 
Eis que agora confias no bordão dessa cana esmagada, que é o Egito; sobre o qual se o homem se firmar, se lhe meterá pela mão e a traspassará: assim é Faraó, rei do Egito, para todos os que nele confiam. 
Mas se me disserdes: Confiamos em Jeová nosso Deus: não é este aquele cujos altos e altares Ezequias demolia, e disse a Judá e a Jerusalém: Diante deste altar adorareis em Jerusalém? 
Agora faze um convênio com o rei da Assíria, meu amo, e dar-te-ei dois mil cavalos, se da tua parte puderes achar homens para os montar. 
Como poderias repelir um só capitão dos menores dos servos do meu amo? Confias no Egito para obteres cavalos e carros. 
É, porventura, sem a vontade de Jeová que subi contra este lugar para o destruir? Jeová disse-me: Sobe contra esta terra, e destrói-a. 
Então disseram Eliaquim, filho de Hilquias, e Sebna, e Joá a Rabsaqué: Rogamos-te que fales aos teus servos na língua aramaica; pois nós a entendemos; não nos fales na língua dos judeus aos ouvidos do povo que está em cima do muro. 
Mas Rabsaqué respondeu-lhes: Enviou-me, porventura, meu amo a teu amo e a ti para falar estas palavras? não me enviou aos homens que estão sentados em cima do muro, para que juntamente convosco comam o seu excremento e bebam a sua urina? 
Rabsaqué pôs-se em pé e gritou em alta voz na língua dos judeus, e falou: Ouvi a palavra do grande rei, do rei da Assíria. 
Assim diz o rei: Não vos engane Ezequias, porque não vos poderá livrar da sua mão, 
nem tão pouco vos faça Ezequias confiar em Jeová, dizendo: Jeová, na verdade, nos livrará, e esta cidade não será entregue nas mãos do rei da Assíria. 
Não deis ouvidos a Ezequias, pois assim diz o rei da Assíria: Fazei pazes comigo, e saí para mim; coma cada um de vós da sua vinha, e da sua figueira, e beba cada um as águas da sua cisterna, 
até que eu venha e vos transfira para uma terra que é semelhante à vossa terra, terra de trigo e de mosto, terra de pão e de vinhas, terra de azeite de oliveira e de mel, para que vivais e não morrais. Não deis ouvidos a Ezequias, porque vos engana, dizendo: Jeová nos livrará. 
Acaso qualquer dos deuses das nações pôde jamais livrar a sua terra das mãos do rei da Assíria? 
Onde estão os deuses de Hamate e de Arpade? Onde estão os deuses de Sefarvaim, de Hena e de Iva? livraram eles da minha mão a Samaria? 
Quais são entre todos os deuses das terras os que livraram da minha mão a sua terra, para que Jeová possa livrar da minha mão a Jerusalém? 
O povo, porém, ficou calado, e não lhe respondeu palavra, pois o rei ordenou, dizendo: Não lhe respondais. 
Então, rasgados os vestidos, vieram Eliaquim, filho de Hilquias, mordomo, e Sebna secretário, e Joá, filho de Asafe, cronista mor, ter com Ezequias, e lhe referiram as palavras de Rabsaqué. 

Now in the third year of Hoshea, son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, became king of Judah. 
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. 
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done. 
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. 
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. 
For his heart was fixed on the Lord, not turning from his ways, and he did his orders which the Lord gave to Moses. 
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. 
He overcame the Philistines as far as Gaza and its limits, from the tower of the watchman to the walled town. 
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. 
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. 
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; 
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. 
Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the walled towns of Judah and took them. 
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. 
So Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the house of the Lord, and in the king's store-house. 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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? 
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? 
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. 
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? 
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. 
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: 
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. 
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. 
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. 
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; 
This is what the king says: Do not be tricked by Hezekiah, for there is no salvation for you in him. 
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. 
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; 
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. 
Has any one of the gods of the nations kept his land from falling into the hands of the king of Assyria? 
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? 
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? 
But the people kept quiet and gave him no answer: for the king's order was, Give him no answer. 
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. 

2 Reis 19