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Home > Bible > 2 Kings > Chapter 18
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2 Kings Chapter 18

The reign of Hezekiah: he abolishes idolatry and prospers. Sennacherib comes up against him: Rabsaces solicits the people to revolt; and blasphemes the Lord.

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 In the third year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, reigned Ezechias, the son of Achaz, king of Juda. 2 He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zacharias. 3 And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to all that David, his father, had done: 4 He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its name Nohestan. And he called its name Noheston... That is, their brass; or a little brass. So he called it in contempt, because they had made an idol of it. 5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel: so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were before him: 6 And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. 7 Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and served him not. 8 He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 9 In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians, came up to Samaria, and besieged it, 10 And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee, king of Israel, Samaria was taken: 11 And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the rivers of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. 12 Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, their God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, they would not hear, nor do.

13 In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took them. 14 Then Ezechias, king of Juda, sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians, to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias, king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures. 16 At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians. 17 And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan, and Rabsaris, and Rabsaces, from Lachis, to king Ezechias, with a strong army, to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller's field. 18 And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder. 19 And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein thou trustest? 20 Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel? 21 Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him. 22 But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 23 Now therefore come over to my master, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them. 24 And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my master's servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land, and destroy it. 26 Then Eliacim, the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe, said to Rabsaces: We pray thee, speak to us, thy servants, in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall. 27 And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you? 28 Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the word of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. 29 Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand. 30 Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. 31 Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns, 32 Till I come, and take you away, to a land, like to your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil, and honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. 33 Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 35 Who are they among all the gods of the nations that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for they had received commandment from the king that they should not answer him. 37 And Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Anno tertio Osee filii Ela regis Israël, regnavit Ezechias filius Achaz regis Juda. 2 Viginti quinque annorum erat cum regnare cœpisset, et viginti novem annis regnavit in Jerusalem: nomen matris ejus Abi filia Zachariæ. 3 Fecitque quod erat bonum coram Domino, juxta omnia quæ fecerat David pater ejus. 4 Ipse dissipavit excelsa, et contrivit statuas, et succidit lucos, confregitque serpentem æneum quem fecerat Moyses: siquidem usque ad illud tempus filii Israël adolebant ei incensum: vocavitque nomen ejus Nohestan. 5 In Domino Deo Israël speravit: itaque post eum non fuit similis ei de cunctis regibus Juda, sed neque in his qui ante eum fuerunt: 6 et adhæsit Domino, et non recessit a vestigiis ejus, fecitque mandata ejus, quæ præceperat Dominus Moysi. 7 Unde et erat Dominus cum eo, et in cunctis ad quæ procedebat, sapienter se agebat. Rebellavit quoque contra regem Assyriorum, et non servivit ei. 8 Ipse percussit Philisthæos usque ad Gazam, et omnes terminos eorum, a turre custodum usque ad civitatem munitam. 9 Anno quarto regis Ezechiæ, qui erat annus septimus Osee filii Ela regis Israël, ascendit Salmanasar rex Assyriorum in Samariam, et oppugnavit eam, 10 et cepit. Nam post annos tres, anno sexto Ezechiæ, id est nono anno Osee regis Israël, capta est Samaria: 11 et transtulit rex Assyriorum Israël in Assyrios, collocavitque eos in Hala et in Habor fluviis Gozan in civitatibus Medorum: 12 quia non audierunt vocem Domini Dei sui, sed prætergressi sunt pactum ejus: omnia quæ præceperat Moyses servus Domini non audierunt, neque fecerunt.

13 Anno quartodecimo regis Ezechiæ, ascendit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum ad universas civitates Juda munitas, et cepit eas. 14 Tunc misit Ezechias rex Juda nuntios ad regem Assyriorum in Lachis, dicens: Peccavi: recede a me, et omne quod imposueris mihi, feram. Indixit itaque rex Assyriorum Ezechiæ regi Judæ trecenta talenta argenti, et triginta talenta auri. 15 Deditque Ezechias omne argentum quod repertum fuerat in domo Domini et in thesauris regis. 16 In tempore illo confregit Ezechias valvas templi Domini, et laminas auri quas ipse affixerat, et dedit eas regi Assyriorum. 17 Misit autem rex Assyriorum Tharthan, et Rabsaris, et Rabsacen de Lachis ad regem Ezechiam cum manu valida Jerusalem: qui cum ascendissent, venerunt Jerusalem, et steterunt juxta aquæductum piscinæ superioris, quæ est in via Agrifullonis. 18 Vocaveruntque regem: egressus est autem ad eos Eliacim filius Helciæ præpositus domus, et Sobna scriba, et Joahe filius Asaph a commentariis. 19 Dixitque ad eos Rabsaces: Loquimini Ezechiæ: Hæc dicit rex magnus, rex Assyriorum: Quæ est ista fiducia, qua niteris? 20 forsitan inisti consilium, ut præpares te ad prælium. In quo confidis, ut audeas rebellare? 21 an speras in baculo arundineo atque confracto Ægypto, super quem, si incubuerit homo, comminutus ingredietur manum ejus, et perforabit eam? sic est Pharao rex Ægypti omnibus qui confidunt in se. 22 Quod si dixeritis mihi: In Domino Deo nostro habemus fiduciam: nonne iste est, cujus abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria, et præcepit Judæ et Jerusalem: Ante altare hoc adorabitis in Jerusalem? 23 Nunc igitur transite ad dominum meum regem Assyriorum, et dabo vobis duo millia equorum, et videte an habere valeatis ascensores eorum. 24 Et quomodo potestis resistere ante unum satrapam de servis domini mei minimis? an fiduciam habes in Ægypto propter currus et equites? 25 Numquid sine Domini voluntate ascendi ad locum istum, ut demolirer eum? Dominus dixit mihi: Ascende ad terram hanc, et demolire eam. 26 Dixerunt autem Eliacim filius Helciæ, et Sobna, et Joahe Rabsaci: Precamur ut loquaris nobis servis tuis syriace: siquidem intelligimus hanc linguam: et non loquaris nobis judaice, audiente populo qui est super murum. 27 Responditque eis Rabsaces, dicens: Numquid ad dominum tuum, et ad te misit me dominus meus, ut loquerer sermones hos, et non potius ad viros qui sedent super murum, ut comedant stercora sua, et bibant urinam suam vobiscum? 28 Stetit itaque Rabsaces, et exclamavit voce magna judaice, et ait: Audite verba regis magni, regis Assyriorum. 29 Hæc dicit rex: Non vos seducat Ezechias: non enim poterit eruere vos de manu mea: 30 neque fiduciam vobis tribuat super Dominum, dicens: Eruens liberabit nos Dominus, et non tradetur civitas hæc in manu regis Assyriorum. 31 Nolite audire Ezechiam. Hæc enim dicit rex Assyriorum: Facite mecum quod vobis est utile, et egredimini ad me: et comedet unusquisque de vinea sua, et de ficu sua: et bibetis aquas de cisternis vestris, 32 donec veniam, et transferam vos in terram quæ similis est terræ vestræ, in terram fructiferam, et fertilem vini, terram panis et vinearum, terram olivarum et olei ac mellis: et vivetis, et non moriemini. Nolite audire Ezechiam, qui vos decipit, dicens: Dominus liberabit nos. 33 Numquid liberaverunt dii gentium terram suam de manu regis Assyriorum? 34 ubi est deus Emath, et Arphad? ubi est deus Sepharvaim, Ana, et Ava? numquid liberaverunt Samariam de manu mea? 35 Quinam illi sunt in universis diis terrarum, qui eruerunt regionem suam de manu mea, ut possit eruere Dominus Jerusalem de manu mea? 36 Tacuit itaque populus, et non respondit ei quidquam: siquidem præceptum regis acceperant ut non responderent ei. 37 Venitque Eliacim filius Helciæ, præpositus domus, et Sobna scriba, et Joahe filius Asaph a commentariis ad Ezechiam scissis vestibus, et nuntiaverunt ei verba Rabsacis.

Copyright © 2008 by Kevin Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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