3
He did what was right in the Lord's sight just as his ancestor David had done.
4
He removed the high places and shattered the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah [poles]. He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made, for the Israelites burned incense to it up to that time. He called it Nehushtan.
5
Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel; not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.
6
He held fast to the Lord and did not turn from following Him but kept the commandments the Lord had commanded Moses.
7
The Lord was with him, and wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8
He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
Review of Israel's Fall
9 In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel's King Hoshea son of Elah, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
10
The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel's King Hoshea, Samaria was captured.
11
The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan's river, and in the cities of the Medes,
12
because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord their God but violated His covenant-all He had commanded Moses the servant of the Lord. They did not listen, and they did not obey.
Sennacherib's Invasion
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.