2 Kings 18: King Hezekiah Trusts God in the Face of Assyrian Threat – Clear & Engaging Audio Bible Reading | Rebellion, Conquest, and Faith Amidst Opposition

Listen to this clear and engaging audio recording of 2 Kings 18 to witness the unfolding drama of rebellion, conquest, and faith amidst opposition. Follow the captivating story of King Hezekiah’s confrontation with the powerful Assyrian army and his unwavering trust in God’s protection. Perfect for Bible study, reflection, or meditation, immerse yourself in this powerful chapter and let the Scriptures come alive.

2 KINGS 18 (NIV)

1 In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of
Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

2 He was twenty-five years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name
was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.

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

4 He removed the high places, smashed
the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the
bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been
burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)

5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him
among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.

6 He held fast
to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had
given Moses.

7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he
undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

8
From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza
and its territory.

9 In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of
Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and
laid siege to it.

10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So
Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of
Hoshea king of Israel.

11 The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and
settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.

12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had
violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They
neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of
Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

14 So
Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I
have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.”
The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents
of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver
that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal
palace.

16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had
covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the
king of Assyria.

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his
field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.
They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on
the road to the Washerman’s Field.

18 They called for the king; and Eliakim
son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of
Asaph the recorder went out to them.

19 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you
basing this confidence of yours?

20 You say you have the counsel and the might
for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you
rebel against me?

21 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered
reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is
Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.

22 But if you say to me, “We
are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and
altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship
before this altar in Jerusalem”?

23 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give
you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

24 How can you repulse
one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are
depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

25 Furthermore, have I come to
attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord? The Lord himself
told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field
commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it.
Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

27 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my
master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the
wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own
urine?”

28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the
great king, the king of Assyria!

29 This is what the king says: Do not let
Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand.

30 Do not let
Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely
deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make
peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your
own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern,

32 until I come
and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of
bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not
death!
“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord
will deliver us.’

33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from
the hand of the king of Assyria?

34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?
Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria
from my hand?

35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save
his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king
had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary,
and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,
and told him what the field commander had said.