2 Kings 18:1-16

Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah became king during the third year Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. Hezekiah did what the LORD said was right, just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the places where gods were worshiped. He smashed the stone pillars and cut down the Asherah idols. Also the Israelites had been burning incense to Nehushtan, the bronze snake Moses had made. But Hezekiah broke it into pieces. 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. Hezekiah was loyal to the LORD and did not stop following him; he obeyed the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with Hezekiah, so he had success in everything he did. He turned against the king of Assyria and stopped serving him. Hezekiah defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and its borders, including the watchtowers and the strong, walled cities. Shalmaneser king of Assyria surrounded Samaria and attacked it in the fourth year Hezekiah was king. This was the seventh year Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel. After three years the Assyrians captured Samaria. This was in the sixth year Hezekiah was king, which was Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel. The king of Assyria took the Israelites away to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes. This happened because they did not obey the LORD their God. They broke his agreement and did not obey all that Moses, the LORD’s servant, had commanded. They would not listen to the commands or do them. During Hezekiah’s fourteenth year as king, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the strong, walled cities of Judah and captured them. Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. He said, “I have done wrong. Leave me alone, and I will pay anything you ask.” So the king of Assyria made Hezekiah pay about twenty-two thousand pounds of silver and two thousand pounds of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was in the Temple of the LORD and in the palace treasuries. Hezekiah stripped all the gold that covered the doors and doorposts of the Temple of the LORD. Hezekiah had put gold on these doors himself, but he gave it all to the king of Assyria.