17 Conquest by Assyria“The LORD will bring to you, to your people, and to your ancestor’s house such a time as has never been since Ephraim broke away from Judah—the king of Assyria will come.
Isaiah 7:17 Cross References - ISV
1 Kings 12:16-19
16 When all of Israel saw that the king wasn’t listening to them, the people responded to the king’s message, “What’s the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let’s go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!’ So Israel left for home.
17 And so Rehoboam ruled over the Israelis who lived in the cities of Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but all of Israel stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem. 19 That’s how Israel came to be in rebellion against David’s dynasty to this day.
18 King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but all of Israel stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem. 19 That’s how Israel came to be in rebellion against David’s dynasty to this day.
2 Kings 18:1-19
1 Hezekiah Becomes King of Judah
Now it happened that during the third year of the reign of Elah’s son Hoshea, king of Israel, that Ahaz’ son Hezekiah became king.
2 He was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother was Zechariah’s daughter Abi.
3 He did what the LORD considered to be right, according to everything that his ancestor David had done.
4Hezekiah’s Reforms
He removed the high places, demolished the sacred pillars, and tore down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had crafted, because the Israelis had been burning incense to it right up until that time. Hezekiah called it a piece of brass.
5 He trusted the LORD God of Israel, and after him there were none like him among all the kings of Judah,
6 because he depended on the LORD, not abandoning pursuit of him, and keeping the LORD’s commands that he had commanded Moses.
7 So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah prospered wherever he went, even when he rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to serve him.
8 He attacked the Philistines, invading Gaza and its borders from watchtower to fortified garrison.
9Shalmaneser Attacks SamariaIn the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign (that is, during the seventh year of Elah’s son Hoshea’s reign as king of Israel), King Shalmaneser from Assyria invaded Samaria and besieged it.
10 Three years later, they captured Samaria during the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the ninth year of Hoshea’s reign as king of Israel.
11 After this, the king of Assyria carried Israel off into exile in Assyria, settling them in Halah, on the Habor River in Gozan, and in cities controlled by the Medes,
12 because they would not obey the voice of the LORD their God. Instead, they transgressed his covenant, including everything that Moses, the servant of the LORD, had commanded, by neither listening nor putting what he had commanded into practice.
13 During the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria approached all of the walled cities of Judah and seized them. 14 So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I’ll accept whatever tribute you impose.” So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD’s Temple and from the treasuries in the king’s palace. 16 At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the LORD’s Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold, and gave the gold to the king of Assyria.
17Assyria’s King Taunts Hezekiah
Sometime later, the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, accompanied with a large army.
18 When they called for the king, Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who managed the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder went out to them.
19 Rab-shakeh told them, “Tell Hezekiah right now, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: ‘“Why are you so confident?
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13 During the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria approached all of the walled cities of Judah and seized them. 14 So Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have offended you. Withdraw from me, and I’ll accept whatever tribute you impose.” So the king of Assyria required Hezekiah to pay him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. 15 Hezekiah gave him all the silver that could be removed from the LORD’s Temple and from the treasuries in the king’s palace. 16 At that time, Hezekiah removed the doors to the LORD’s Temple and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold, and gave the gold to the king of Assyria.
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2 Chronicles 10:16-19
16 All of Israel—since the king wasn’t going to listen to them—the people responded to the king, “What’s the point in following David? We have no inheritance in the descendants of Jesse. Let’s go home, Israel! David, take care of your own household!’ So all of Israel left for home.
17 And so Rehoboam ruled over the Israelis who lived in the cities of Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but the Israelis stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem. 19 That’s how Israel came to be in rebellion against David’s dynasty to this day.
18 King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of conscripted labor, but the Israelis stoned him to death, and King Rehoboam had to jump in his chariot and flee back in a hurry to Jerusalem. 19 That’s how Israel came to be in rebellion against David’s dynasty to this day.
2 Chronicles 28:19-21
19 because the LORD was humiliating Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, since Ahaz had brought about a lack of restraint within Judah and had remained unfaithful to the LORD.
20 King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked Ahaz and, instead of helping him, attacked him.
21 Even though Ahaz took some of the assets belonging to the LORD’s Temple from the royal palace, and from the palaces belonging to the princes, and gave them to the king of Assyria, none of his gifts did any good.
2 Chronicles 32:1-33
1 Sennacherib Invades Judah
After all of these acts of faithfulness occurred, King Sennacherib of Assyria came, invaded Judah, and laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.
2 As soon as Hezekiah learned that Sennacherib had arrived and had determined to attack Jerusalem,
3 he developed a plan with his commanders and his elite forces to cut off the water supply from the springs that were outside the city, and they helped him to carry it out.
4 Many people gathered together and plugged up all the springs, along with the stream that flowed through the region. They were thinking to themselves, “Why should the Assyrian kings invade and discover an abundant water supply?”
5 Hezekiah took courage and rebuilt all of the walls that had been broken down. Then he erected watch towers on them, and added another external wall. He fortified the terrace ramparts in the City of David and prepared a large number of weapons and shields. 6 He appointed military officers to take charge of the people, who gathered them together in the square near the city gate and spoke to them encouragingly, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or disheartened because of the king of Assyria or because of the army that accompanies him, because the one who is with us is greater than the one with him. 8 He only has the strength of his own flesh, but the LORD our God is with us to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged from what King Hezekiah of Judah told them.
9Sennacherib Blasphemes God
After this, King Sennacherib of Assyria sent his messengers to Jerusalem while he was in the middle of a vigorous attack on Lachish. They delivered this message to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all the people of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem:
10 “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘What are you leaning on that makes you stay behind while Jerusalem comes under siege?
11 Isn’t Hezekiah lying to you so he can hand you over to die by famine and thirst? After all, he’s telling you “The LORD our God will deliver us from the king of Assyria’s control.”
12 Isn’t this the very same Hezekiah who removed this god’s high places and altars? Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who issued this order to Judah and Jerusalem: “You are to worship in front of only one altar and burn your sacrifices only on it.”?
13 Don’t you know what my predecessors have done to all the other people in other lands? Were the gods of the people who lived in those lands able to deliver their countries out of my control?
14 What god, out of all the gods of those nations that my predecessors utterly destroyed, has been able to deliver his people from my control or from the control of my predecessors?
15 Now therefore, don’t let Hezekiah lie to you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, because no god of any nation has been able to deliver his people from my control or from the control of my predecessors. So how much less will your God deliver you from me?’”
16 King Sennacherib’s spokesmen said even worse things against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.
17 Sennacherib also wrote letters like this that insulted and slandered the LORD God of Israel: “Just as the gods of the nations in other lands haven’t delivered their people from my control, so also the god of Hezekiah won’t deliver his people from me!” 18 His spokesmen shouted these things out with loud voices in the language of Judah to frighten and terrify the people of Jerusalem who were stationed on the city walls, to make it easier to conquer the city. 19 In doing so, they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as if he were like the gods of the nations of the earth that are made by the hands of human beings.
20Sennacherib is Defeated and Killed
Meanwhile, King Hezekiah and Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet were praying about this and crying out to heaven.
21 So the LORD sent an angel, who eliminated all of the elite forces, commanders, and officers within the encampment of the king of Assyria. As a result, he retreated to his own country, deeply ashamed and humiliated. When he visited the temple of his god, some of his sons killed him right there with swords.
22 That’s how the LORD delivered Hezekiah, as well as those who lived in Jerusalem, from Assyria’s King Sennacherib and all his forces, and provided for all of their needs.
23 Many brought gifts to the LORD in Jerusalem and brought presents to King Hezekiah of Judah. As a result, he was exalted in the opinion of all nations thereafter.
24Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
During this time Hezekiah became critically ill, and he prayed to the LORD. The LORD spoke to him and gave him a sign.
25 But Hezekiah’s response wasn’t commensurate with what had been done for him because he was arrogant in heart, so wrath came upon him, upon Judah, and upon Jerusalem.
26 But Hezekiah humbled himself while he was arrogant in heart, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem joined him in this. As a result, the LORD’s wrath did not come upon them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.
27Hezekiah’s Wealth and Accomplishments
Hezekiah received immense wealth and honor. He built treasuries for himself to store silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all sorts of valuable items,
28 along with storage facilities for grain, wine, oil, stalls for all sorts of cattle, and sheepfolds for his flocks.
29 He also built cities for himself and stored up flocks and herds in abundance, because God had given him great riches.
30 Hezekiah stopped up the upper outlet of the Gihon springs and diverted them down to the western side of the City of David. He prospered in everything he did.
31Hezekiah’s Heart is Tested by GodLater on, envoys came from the princes of Babylon to inquire about the miracle that had happened in the land. God left Hezekiah to himself, so that he might make known what was really in Hezekiah’s heart.
32 Now the rest of Hezekiah’s accomplishments and his faithful deeds are recorded in the vision of Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
33 Hezekiah died, as had his fathers, and they buried him in the upper part of the tombs of the descendants of David. All of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. But his son Manasseh reigned in his place.
5 Hezekiah took courage and rebuilt all of the walls that had been broken down. Then he erected watch towers on them, and added another external wall. He fortified the terrace ramparts in the City of David and prepared a large number of weapons and shields. 6 He appointed military officers to take charge of the people, who gathered them together in the square near the city gate and spoke to them encouragingly, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or disheartened because of the king of Assyria or because of the army that accompanies him, because the one who is with us is greater than the one with him. 8 He only has the strength of his own flesh, but the LORD our God is with us to help us and to fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged from what King Hezekiah of Judah told them.
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16 King Sennacherib’s spokesmen said even worse things against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah.
17 Sennacherib also wrote letters like this that insulted and slandered the LORD God of Israel: “Just as the gods of the nations in other lands haven’t delivered their people from my control, so also the god of Hezekiah won’t deliver his people from me!” 18 His spokesmen shouted these things out with loud voices in the language of Judah to frighten and terrify the people of Jerusalem who were stationed on the city walls, to make it easier to conquer the city. 19 In doing so, they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as if he were like the gods of the nations of the earth that are made by the hands of human beings.
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2 Chronicles 33:11
11 so the LORD brought in the army commanders who worked for the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him in bronze chains, and took him off to Babylon.
2 Chronicles 36:6-20
6 As a result, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, bound him in bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
7 Nebuchadnezzar also took articles from the LORD’s Temple to Babylon and placed them in his temple in Babylon.
8 The rest of Jehoiakim’s accomplishments—along with the detestable things that he did that were recorded in his disfavor—are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin became king to replace him.
9Jechoiachin’s Reign; Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Capture of JerusalemJehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for three months and ten days in Jerusalem, all the while doing what the LORD considered to be evil.
10 At the beginning of the next year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, along with valuable articles from the LORD’s Temple, and he installed Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah as king over Judah and Jerusalem.
11Zedekiah Rules in Judah
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 He practiced what the LORD his God considered to be evil and never humbled himself before Jeremiah the prophet who spoke for the LORD.
13 Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear allegiance in the name of God. Instead, he stiffened his resolve, and hardened his heart, and would not return to the LORD God of Israel.
14Nebuchadnezzar’s Third Capture of Jerusalem
Meanwhile, all the officials who supervised the priests and the people remained unfaithful, following the detestable example of the surrounding nations. They polluted the LORD’s Temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15 The LORD God of their ancestors pleaded with them time and again through his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on the place of his residence,
16 but they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until there was no remedy for the wrath of the LORD that arose to punish his people.
17 Therefore he brought up the king of the Chaldeans against them, who executed their young men in the holy Temple, showing no compassion on young man or young virgin, adult men or the aged. God gave them all into the king’s control,
18 who took back to Babylon every article in God’s Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple, the king’s assets, and those of his officers.
19 After this, they set fire to God’s Temple, demolished the wall around Jerusalem, burned all of its fortified buildings, and destroyed everything of value.
20 Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon those who survived the executions, and they served him and his descendants until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
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Nehemiah 9:32
32 “Now therefore, our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and gracious love, don’t let all of the difficulties seem trifling to you, all of hardships that have come upon us, upon our kings, upon our leaders, upon our priests, upon our prophets, upon our ancestors, and upon all of your people from the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.
Isaiah 8:7-8
7 watch out! The LORD God is about to bring the flood waters of the Euphrates River against them, mighty and strong.
“It’s the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river’s channels and run over all of its banks. 8 He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters reaching up to a person’s neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!”
“It’s the king of Assyria and all of his arrogance! He will rise over all of the river’s channels and run over all of its banks. 8 He will sweep on into Judah, overflowing as he passes through, like flood waters reaching up to a person’s neck. His outstretched wings will flow as wide as your land, O Immanuel!”
Isaiah 10:5-6
5 Assyria is an Instrument of Judgment“How terrible it will be for Assyria, the rod of my anger! The club is in their hands!
6 I’m sending my fury against a godless nation, and I’ll command him against the people with whom I’m angry to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
Isaiah 36:1-22
1 Sennacherib AttacksIn the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.
2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander, along with a very large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the field commander stopped at the aqueduct at the Upper Pool on the road to Laundryman’s Field,
3 Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph’s son Joah, the recorder, went out to him.
4 The field commander told them: “Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah, ‘This is what the mighty king, the king of Assyria, has to say: What is this “guarantee” that makes you yourself rely on it?
5 Do you really think that guarantees alone can withstand strategy and military strength? On whom are you now depending, that you’re rebelling against me?
6 Take note: you’re relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the palm of anyone who leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to everybody who depends on him!
7 But if you all say to me, “We are depending on the LORD our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, while he kept on telling Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You are to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem’?
8 Come now, all of you, make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you can furnish riders for them!
9 How, then, can you repulse even one officer from the least of my master’s officials, when you are depending for yourselves on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
10 One other thing: have I really marched against this country to destroy it apart from the LORD’s direction? The LORD himself ordered me, ‘March against this country to destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, “Please speak with your servants—with us—in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear.”
12 But the field commander asked, “Was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things? Wasn’t it also to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the commander stood up and shouted out loud in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!
14 This is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you—for he cannot save you!
15 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD when he says, “The LORD will really deliver us!” and “This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria!”
16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree, and everyone will drink water from his own cistern,
17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—to a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.’
18 Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, “The LORD will save us.” Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from the king of Assyria?
19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim? Have they saved Samaria from me?
20 Who among all the gods of these countries has delivered their land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from me?’”
21 But the people remained silent and didn’t respond to him with so much as a single word, because the king had commanded, “Don’t answer him.”
22 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph’s son Joah, the recorder, approached Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and let him know what the field commander had said.
4 The field commander told them:
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, “Please speak with your servants—with us—in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear.”
12 But the field commander asked, “Was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things? Wasn’t it also to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the commander stood up and shouted out loud in Hebrew:
21 But the people remained silent and didn’t respond to him with so much as a single word, because the king had commanded, “Don’t answer him.”
22 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph’s son Joah, the recorder, approached Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and let him know what the field commander had said.