4. He destroyed the local shrines, then tore down the images of foreign gods and cut down the sacred pole for worshipping the goddess Asherah. He also smashed the bronze snake Moses had made. The people had named it Nehushtan and had been offering sacrifices to it.
5. Hezekiah trusted the Lord God of Israel. No other king of Judah was like Hezekiah, either before or after him.
6. He was completely faithful to the Lord and obeyed the laws the Lord had given to Moses for the people.
7. The Lord helped Hezekiah, so he was successful in everything he did. He even rebelled against the king of Assyria, refusing to be his servant.
8. Hezekiah defeated the Philistine towns as far away as Gaza—from the smallest towns to the large, walled cities.
9. During the fourth year of Hezekiah's rule, which was the seventh year of Hoshea's rule in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria led his troops to Samaria, the capital city of Israel. They attacked
10. and captured it three years later, in the sixth year of Hezekiah's rule and the ninth year of Hoshea's rule.