9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah and the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked Samaria. He threw a siege around it 10 and after three years captured it. It was in the sixth year of Hezekiah and the ninth year of Hoshea that Samaria fell to Assyria. 11 The king of Assyria took Israel into exile and relocated them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in towns of the Medes. 12 All this happened because they wouldn't listen to the voice of their God and treated his covenant with careless contempt. They refused either to listen or do a word of what Moses, the servant of God, commanded.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the outlying fortress cities of Judah and captured them. 14 King Hezekiah sent a message to the king of Assyria at his headquarters in Lachish: "I've done wrong; I admit it. Pull back your army; I'll pay whatever tribute you set." 15 Hezekiah turned over all the silver he could find in The Temple of God and in the palace treasuries. 16 Hezekiah even took down the doors of The Temple of God and the doorposts that he had overlaid with gold and gave them to the king of Assyria.
17 So the king of Assyria sent his top three military chiefs (the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh) from Lachish with a strong military force to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool on the road to the laundry commons. 18 They called loudly for the king. Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went out to meet them. 19 The third officer, the Rabshakeh, was spokesman. He said, "Tell Hezekiah: A message from The Great King, the king of Assyria: You're living in a world of make-believe, of pious fantasy. 20 Do you think that mere words are any substitute for military strategy and troops? Now that you've revolted against me, who can you expect to help you? 21 You thought Egypt would, but Egypt's nothing but a paper tiger - one puff of wind and she collapses; Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but bluff and bluster. 22 Or are you going to tell me, 'We rely on God'? But Hezekiah has just eliminated most of the people's access to God by getting rid of all the local God-shrines, ordering everyone in Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship at the Jerusalem altar only.' 23 "So be reasonable. Make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you two thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them. 24 You can't do it? Well, then, how do you think you're going to turn back even one raw buck private from my master's troops? How long are you going to hold on to that figment of your imagination, these hoped-for Egyptian chariots and horses? 25 "Do you think I've come up here to destroy this country without the express approval of God? The fact is that God expressly ordered me, 'Attack and destroy this country!'" 26 Eliakim son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please, speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand Aramaic. Don't speak in Hebrew - everyone crowded on the city wall can hear you." 27 But the Rabshakeh said, "We weren't sent with a private message to your master and you; this is public - a message to everyone within earshot. After all, they're involved in this as well as you; if you don't come to terms, they'll be eating their own turds and drinking their own pee right along with you." 28 Then he stepped forward and spoke in Hebrew loud enough for everyone to hear, "Listen carefully to the words of The Great King, the king of Assyria: 29 Don't let Hezekiah fool you; he can't save you. 30 And don't let Hezekiah give you that line about trusting in God, telling you, 'God will save us - this city will never be abandoned to the king of Assyria.' 31 Don't listen to Hezekiah - he doesn't know what he's talking about. Listen to the king of Assyria - deal with me and live the good life; I'll guarantee everyone your own plot of ground - a garden and a well! 32 I'll take you to a land sweeter by far than this one, a land of grain and wine, bread and vineyards, olive orchards and honey. You only live once - so live, really live! 33 Has there ever been a god anywhere who delivered anyone from the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? And Samaria - did their gods save them? 35 Can you name a god who saved anyone anywhere from me, the king of Assyria? So what makes you think that God can save Jerusalem from me?" 36 The people were silent. No one spoke a word for the king had ordered, "Don't anyone say a word - not one word!" 37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, and Shebna the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the court historian went back to Hezekiah. They had ripped their robes in despair; they reported to Hezekiah the speech of the Rabshakeh.
191 When Hezekiah heard it all, he too ripped his robes apart and dressed himself in rough burlap. Then he went into The Temple of God. 2 He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all of them dressed in rough burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, "A message from Hezekiah: 'This is a black day, a terrible day - doomsday! Babies poised to be born, No strength to birth them. 4 "'Maybe God, your God, has been listening to the blasphemous speech of the Rabshakeh who was sent by the king of Assyria, his master, to humiliate the living God; maybe God, your God, won't let him get by with such talk; and you, maybe you will lift up prayers for what's left of these people.'" 5 That's the message King Hezekiah's servants delivered to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah answered them, "Tell your master, 'God's word: Don't be at all concerned about what you've heard from the king of Assyria's bootlicking errand boys - these outrageous blasphemies. 7 Here's what I'm going to do: Afflict him with self-doubt. He's going to hear a rumor and, frightened for his life, retreat to his own country. Once there, I'll see to it that he gets killed.'"
8 The Rabshakeh left and found that the king of Assyria had pulled up stakes from Lachish and was now fighting against Libnah. 9 Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to fight against him. So he sent another envoy with orders to deliver this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: 10 "Don't let that god that you think so much of keep stringing you along with the line, 'Jerusalem will never fall to the king of Assyria.' That's a barefaced lie. 11 You know the track record of the kings of Assyria - country after country laid waste, devastated. And what makes you think you'll be an exception? 12 Take a good look at these wasted nations, destroyed by my ancestors; did their gods do them any good? Look at Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, the people of Eden at Tel Assar. Ruins. 13 And what's left of the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivvah? Bones." 14 Hezekiah took the letter from the envoy and read it. He went to The Temple of God and spread it out before God. 15 And Hezekiah prayed - oh, how he prayed! God, God of Israel, seated in majesty on the cherubim-throne. You are the one and only God, sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, Maker of heaven, maker of earth. 16 Open your ears, God, and listen, open your eyes and look. Look at this letter Sennacherib has sent, a brazen insult to the living God! 17 The facts are true, O God: The kings of Assyria have laid waste countries and kingdoms. 18 Huge bonfires they made of their gods, their no-gods hand-made from wood and stone. 19 But now O God, our God, save us from raw Assyrian power; Make all the kingdoms on earth know that you are God, the one and only God.
20 It wasn't long before Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah: 21 This is my response to him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion holds you in utter contempt; Daughter Jerusalem thinks you're nothing but scum. 22 Who do you think it is you've insulted? Who do you think you've been bad-mouthing? Before whom do you suppose you've been strutting? The Holy One of Israel, that's who! 23 You dispatched your errand boys to humiliate the Master. You bragged, "With my army of chariots I've climbed the highest mountains, snow-peaked alpine Lebanon mountains! I've cut down its giant cedars, chopped down its prize pine trees. I've traveled the world, visited the finest forest retreats. 24 I've dug wells in faraway places and drunk their exotic waters; I've waded and splashed barefoot in the rivers of Egypt." 25 Did it never occur to you that I'm behind all this? Long, long ago I drew up the plans, and now I've gone into action, Using you as a doomsday weapon, reducing proud cities to piles of rubble, 26 Leaving their people dispirited, slumped shoulders, limp souls. Useless as weeds, fragile as grass, insubstantial as wind-blown chaff. 27 I know when you sit down, when you come and when you go; And, yes, I've marked every one of your temper tantrums against me. 28 It's because of your temper, your blasphemous foul temper, That I'm putting my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth And turning you back to where you came from. 29 And this, Hezekiah, will be for you the confirming sign: This year you'll eat the gleanings, next year whatever you can beg, borrow, or steal; But the third year you'll sow and harvest, plant vineyards and eat grapes. 30 A remnant of the family of Judah yet again will sink down roots and raise up fruit. 31 The remnant will come from Jerusalem, the survivors from Mount Zion. The Zeal of God will make it happen. 32 To sum up, this is what God says regarding the king of Assyria: He won't enter this city, nor shoot so much as a single arrow there; Won't brandish a shield, won't even begin to set siege; 33 He'll go home by the same road he came; he won't enter this city. God's word! 34 I'll shield this city, I'll save this city, for my sake and for David's sake.
35 And it so happened that that very night an angel of God came and massacred a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians. When the people of Jerusalem got up next morning, there it was - a whole camp of corpses! 36 Sennacherib king of Assyria got out of there fast, headed straight home for Nineveh, and stayed put. 37 One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer murdered him and then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon became the next king.
461 God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. 2 We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, 3 Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel armies protects us. 4 River fountains splash joy, cooling God's city, this sacred haunt of the Most High. 5 God lives here, the streets are safe, God at your service from crack of dawn.
6 Godless nations rant and rave, kings and kingdoms threaten, but Earth does anything he says. 7 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel armies protects us. 8 Attention, all! See the marvels of God! He plants flowers and trees all over the earth, 9 Bans war from pole to pole, breaks all the weapons across his knee. 10 "Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything." 11 Jacob-wrestling God fights for us, God of angel armies protects us.
801 Listen, Shepherd, Israel's Shepherd - get all your Joseph sheep together. Throw beams of light from your dazzling throne 2 So Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh can see where they're going. Get out of bed - you've slept long enough! Come on the run before it's too late. 3 God, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation. 4 God, God of the angel armies, how long will you smolder like a sleeping volcano while your people call for fire and brimstone? 5 You put us on a diet of tears, bucket after bucket of salty tears to drink. 6 You make us look ridiculous to our friends; our enemies poke fun day after day. 7 God of the angel armies, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation.
8 Remember how you brought a young vine from Egypt, cleared out the brambles and briers and planted your very own vineyard? 9 You prepared the good earth, you planted her roots deep; the vineyard filled the land. 10 Your vine soared high and shaded the mountains, even dwarfing the giant cedars. 11 Your vine ranged west to the Sea, east to the River. 12 So why do you no longer protect your vine? Trespassers pick its grapes at will; 13 Wild pigs crash through and crush it, and the mice nibble away at what's left. 14 God of the angel armies, turn our way! Take a good look at what's happened and attend to this vine. 15 Care for what you once tenderly planted - the vine you raised from a shoot. 16 And those who dared to set it on fire - give them a look that will kill! 17 Then take the hand of your once-favorite child, the child you raised to adulthood. 18 We will never turn our back on you; breathe life into our lungs so we can shout your name! 19 God, God of the angel armies, come back! Smile your blessing smile: That will be our salvation.
1351 Hallelujah! Praise the name of God, praise the works of God. 2 All you priests on duty in God's temple, serving in the sacred halls of our God, 3 Shout "Hallelujah!" because God's so good, sing anthems to his beautiful name. 4 And why? Because God chose Jacob, embraced Israel as a prize possession.
5 I too give witness to the greatness of God, our Lord, high above all other gods. 6 He does just as he pleases - however, wherever, whenever. 7 He makes the weather - clouds and thunder, lightning and rain, wind pouring out of the north. 8 He struck down the Egyptian firstborn, both human and animal firstborn. 9 He made Egypt sit up and take notice, confronted Pharaoh and his servants with miracles. 10 Yes, he struck down great nations, he slew mighty kings - 11 Sihon king of the Amorites, also Og of Bashan - every last one of the Canaanite kings! 12 Then he turned their land over to Israel, a gift of good land to his people. 13 God, your name is eternal, God, you'll never be out-of-date. 14 God stands up for his people, God holds the hands of his people.
15 The gods of the godless nations are mere trinkets, made for quick sale in the markets: 16 Chiseled mouths that can't talk, painted eyes that can't see, 17 Carved ears that can't hear - dead wood! cold metal! 18 Those who make and trust them become like them. 19 Family of Israel, bless God! Family of Aaron, bless God! 20 Family of Levi, bless God! You who fear God, bless God! 21 Oh, blessed be God of Zion, First Citizen of Jerusalem! Hallelujah!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 1:0
Complete ConciseChapter Contents
The revolt of Moab-Sickness of Ahaziah, king of Israel. (1-8) Fire called from heaven by Elijah-Death of Ahaziah. (9-18)
Commentary on 2 Kings 1:1-8
(Read 2 Kings 1:1-8)
When Ahaziah rebelled against the Lord, Moab revolted from him. Sin weakens and impoverishes us. Man's revolt from God is often punished by the rebellion of those who owe subjection to him. Ahaziah fell through a lattice, or railing. Wherever we go, there is but a step between us and death. A man's house is his castle, but not to secure him against God's judgments. The whole creation, which groans under the burden of man's sin, will, at length, sink and break under the weight like this lattice. He is never safe that has God for his enemy. Those that will not inquire of the word of God for their comfort, shall hear it to their terror, whether they will or no.
Commentary on 2 Kings 1:9-18
(Read 2 Kings 1:9-18)
Elijah called for fire from heaven, to consume the haughty, daring sinners; not to secure himself, but to prove his mission, and to reveal the wrath of God from heaven, against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Elijah did this by a Divine impulse, yet our Saviour would not allow the disciples to do the like, Luke 9:54. The dispensation of the Spirit and of grace by no means allowed it. Elijah was concerned for God's glory, those for their own reputation. The Lord judges men's practices by their principles, and his judgment is according to truth. The third captain humbled himself, and cast himself upon the mercy of God and Elijah. There is nothing to be got by contending with God; and those are wise for themselves, who learn submission from the fatal end of obstinacy in others. The courage of faith has often struck terror into the heart of the proudest sinner. So thunderstruck is Ahaziah with the prophet's words, that neither he, nor any about him, offer him violence. Who can harm those whom God shelters? Many who think to prosper in sin, are called hence like Ahaziah, when they do not expect it. All warns us to seek the Lord while he may be found.