6. Hezekiah was loyal to the Lord. He did not stop following the Lord. He obeyed the commands the Lord had given Moses.
7. And the Lord was with Hezekiah. He had success in everything he did. He turned against the king of Assyria and stopped serving him.
8. Hezekiah defeated the Philistines all the way to Gaza and its borders. He defeated them everywhere, from the watchtower to the strong, walled city.
9. Shalmaneser king of Assyria surrounded Samaria and attacked it. This was in the fourth year Hezekiah was king. And it was the seventh year Hoshea son of Elah was king of Israel.
10. After three years the Assyrians captured Samaria. This was in the sixth year Hezekiah was king. And it was Hoshea’s ninth year as king of Israel.
11. The king of Assyria took the Israelites away to Assyria. He put them in Halah and in Gozan on the Habor River. He also put them in the cities of the Medes.
12. This happened because they did not obey the Lord their God. They broke his agreement. They 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 Judah. He attacked all the strong, walled cities of Judah and defeated 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. Then I will pay anything you demand of me.” So the king of Assyria told Hezekiah how much to pay. It was about 22,000 pounds of silver and 2,000 pounds of gold.