Hezekiah Reigns in Judah

2 Kings 18

¹ In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign. ² He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. ³ He did what was right in the sight of the Lord just as his ancestor David had done. ⁴ He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. ₁ He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan. ⁵ He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel; so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah after him, or among those who were before him. ⁶ For he held fast to the Lord; he did not depart from following him but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. ⁷ The Lord was with him; wherever he went, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. ⁸ He attacked the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

⁹ In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against Samaria, besieged it, ¹⁰ and at the end of three years, took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of King Hoshea of Israel, Samaria was taken. ¹¹ The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria, settled them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, ¹² because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant--all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.