1. After Hezekiah had faithfully carried out this work, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified towns, giving orders for his army to break through their walls.
2. When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib also intended to attack Jerusalem,
3. he consulted with his officials and military advisers, and they decided to stop the flow of the springs outside the city.
4. They organized a huge work crew to stop the flow of the springs, cutting off the brook that ran through the fields. For they said, “Why should the kings of Assyria come here and find plenty of water?”
5. Then Hezekiah worked hard at repairing all the broken sections of the wall, erecting towers, and constructing a second wall outside the first. He also reinforced the supporting terraces in the City of David and manufactured large numbers of weapons and shields.
6. He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate. Then Hezekiah encouraged them by saying:
7. “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!
8. He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” Hezekiah’s words greatly encouraged the people.
9. While King Sennacherib of Assyria was still besieging the town of Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah and all the people in the city:
10. “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?
11. Hezekiah has said, ‘The lord our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria.’ Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst!
12. Don’t you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the lord’s shrines and altars? He commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar at the Temple and to offer sacrifices on it alone.
13. “Surely you must realize what I and the other kings of Assyria before me have done to all the people of the earth! Were any of the gods of those nations able to rescue their people from my power?
14. Which of their gods was able to rescue its people from the destructive power of my predecessors? What makes you think your God can rescue you from me?