He did what was right(A) in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David(B) had done. He removed(C) the high places,(D) smashed the sacred stones(E) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake(F) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[a])

Hezekiah trusted(G) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast(H) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful(I) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled(J) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and snake.

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did.

He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.

And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

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Hezekiah’s Prayer(A)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(B) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(C) you alone(D) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(E) Lord, and hear;(F) open your eyes,(G) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(H) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(I) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(J) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(K) of the earth may know(L) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

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14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

16 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

17 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,

18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

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