11. 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.
12. 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.
13. During Hezekiah’s fourteenth year as king, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the strong, walled cities of Judah and captured them.
14. 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.
15. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was in the Temple of the Lord and in the palace treasuries.
16. 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.
17. The king of Assyria sent out his supreme commander, his chief officer, and his field commander. They went with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When they came near the waterway from the upper pool on the road where people do their laundry, they stopped.
18. They called for the king, so the king sent Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah out to meet them. Eliakim son of Hilkiah was the palace manager, Shebna was the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph was the recorder.
19. The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this:“ ‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says: What can you trust in now?
20. You say you have battle plans and power for war, but your words mean nothing. Whom are you trusting for help so that you turn against me?
21. Look, you are depending on Egypt to help you, but Egypt is like a splintered walking stick. If you lean on it for help, it will stab your hand and hurt you. The king of Egypt will hurt all those who depend on him.
22. You might say, “We are depending on the Lord our God,” but Hezekiah destroyed the Lord’s altars and the places of worship. Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar in Jerusalem.”
23. “ ‘Now make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough men to ride them.
24. You cannot defeat one of my master’s least important officers, so why do you depend on Egypt to give you chariots and horsemen?
25. I have not come to attack and destroy this place without an order from the Lord. The Lord himself told me to come to this country and destroy it.’ ”