1. After everything Hezekiah had done so faithfully, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to invade Judah. He set up camp ⌊to attack⌋ the fortified cities. He intended to conquer them himself.
2. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to wage war against Jerusalem,
3. he, his officers, and his military staff made plans to stop the water from flowing out of the springs outside the city. They helped him do it.
4. A large crowd gathered as they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria find plenty of water?”
5. Hezekiah worked hard. He rebuilt all the broken sections of the wall, made the towers taller, built another wall outside ⌊the city wall⌋, strengthened the Millo in the City of David, and made plenty of weapons and shields.
6. He appointed military commanders over the troops and gathered the commanders in the square by the city gate. He spoke these words of encouragement:
7. “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be frightened or terrified by the king of Assyria or the crowd with him. Someone greater is on our side.
8. The king of Assyria has human power on his side, but the Lord our God is on our side to help us and fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged by what King Hezekiah of Judah said.
9. After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his royal forces were attacking Lachish, he sent his officers to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all of the people in Judah who were in Jerusalem to say:
10. “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: Why are you so confident as you live in Jerusalem while it is blockaded?
11. Isn’t Hezekiah misleading you and abandoning you to die from hunger and thirst when he says, ‘The Lord our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria?’
12. Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who got rid of the Lord’s places of worship and altars and told Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Worship and sacrifice at one altar?’
13. Don’t you know what I and my predecessors have done to the people of all other countries? Were any of the gods of these other nations ever able to rescue their countries from me?
14. Were the gods of these nations able to rescue their people from my control? My predecessors claimed and destroyed those nations. Is your God able to rescue you from my control?
15. Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this. Don’t believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom could save his people from me or my ancestors. Certainly, your God will not rescue you from me!”
16. Sennacherib’s officers said more against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah.
17. Sennacherib wrote letters cursing the Lord God of Israel. These letters said, “As the gods of the nations in other countries couldn’t rescue their people from me, Hezekiah’s God cannot rescue his people from me.”