After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them.

Post quæ et hujuscemodi veritatem, venit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum, et ingressus Judam, obsedit civitates munitas, volens eas capere.

After all this faithful service done, Juda was invaded by Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, who laid siege to its fortified cities, thinking to make them his own.

And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,

Quod cum vidisset Ezechias, venisse scilicet Sennacherib, et totum belli impetum verti contra Jerusalem,

Ezechias, warned by his approach that Jerusalem was the chief object of his attack,

He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city: and as they were all of this mind,

inito cum principibus consilio, virisque fortissimis, ut obturarent capita fontium qui erant extra urbem: et hoc omnium decernente sententia,

bade his nobles and commanders consider the plan of shutting in the water courses that ran beyond the city walls.

He gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and find abundance of water.

congregavit plurimam multitudinem, et obturaverunt cunctos fontes, et rivum qui fluebat in medio terræ, dicentes: Ne veniant reges Assyriorum, et inveniant aquarum abundantiam.

To this all agreed, and he set a multitude of hands to work stopping up all the springs, as well as the stream that flowed through the open country; should there be water flowing freely for the kings of Assyria to profit by it?

He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without: and he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields:

Ædificavit quoque, agens industrie, omnem murum qui fuerat dissipatus, et exstruxit turres desuper, et forinsecus alterum murum: instauravitque Mello in civitate David, et fecit universi generis armaturam et clypeos:

No pains did he spare to rebuild the wall where it had fallen into disrepair, with towers to crown it and a second wall within; Mello, too, in the Keep of David he fortified anew, and prepared shields and all other weapons of defence.

And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying:

constituitque principes bellatorum in exercitu, et convocavit universos in platea portæ civitatis, ac locutus est ad cor eorum, dicens:

Then he appointed commanders for his army; and these he bade assemble in the open space by the city gate, where he spoke to them for their encouragement.

Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are many more with us than with him.

Viriliter agite, et confortamini: nolite timere, nec paveatis regem Assyriorum, et universam multitudinem quæ est cum eo: multo enim plures nobiscum sunt, quam cum illo.

Play the man, he said, and keep your courage high; let there be no shrinking, no faint hearts, at the sight of the Assyrian king and the hordes that follow him; we have many more on our side than they on theirs.

For with him is an arm of flesh: with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and fighteth for us. And the people were encouraged with these words of Ezechias king of Juda.

Cum illo enim est brachium carneum: nobiscum Dominus Deus noster, qui auxiliator est noster, pugnatque pro nobis. Confortatusque est populus hujuscemodi verbis Ezechiæ regis Juda.

Theirs is but mortal strength; we have the Lord our God to aid us, and fight on our side. In such words from king Ezechias the hearts of the men of Juda found support.

After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants to Jerusalem, (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis,) to Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city, saying:

Quæ postquam gesta sunt, misit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum servos suos in Jerusalem (ipse enim cum universo exercitu obsidebat Lachis) ad Ezechiam regem Juda, et ad omnem populum qui erat in urbe, dicens:

Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, was laying siege with his army to Lachis; and now he sent envoys to Jerusalem with a message for king Ezechias and for all the citizens;

Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem?

Hæc dicit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum: In quo habentes fiduciam sedetis obsessi in Jerusalem?

Word to you, they said, from the king of Assyria. What confidence is it that makes you so bold, cooped up there in Jerusalem?

Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by hunger and thirst, affirming that the Lord your God shall deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?

num Ezechias decipit vos, ut tradat morti in fame et siti, affirmans quod Dominus Deus vester liberet vos de manu regis Assyriorum?

Will you die there of hunger and thirst, deluded by Ezechias’ promise that the Lord your God will deliver you from the power of the Assyrian king?

Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying: You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense?

Numquid non iste est Ezechias, qui destruxit excelsa illius, et altaria, et præcepit Juda et Jerusalem, dicens: Coram altari uno adorabitis, et in ipso comburetis incensum?

Tell me, who is Ezechias? Is he not the man who has robbed this God of hill-shrine and altar, leaving you but one altar to repair to, when you would do worship and burn incense before him?

Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the lands? have the gods of any nations and lands been able to deliver their country out of my hand?

an ignoratis quæ ego fecerim, et patres mei, cunctis terrarum populis? numquid prævaluerunt dii gentium, omniumque terrarum, liberare regionem suam de manu mea?

See how I and my fathers have subdued the world, and the gods of a whole world could not rescue it from me!

Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand?

Quis est de universis diis gentium, quas vastaverunt patres mei, qui potuerit eruere populum suum de manu mea, ut possit etiam Deus vester eruere vos de hac manu?

Tell me, in all these countries my fathers and I have laid waste, was there ever a god found could save his people from my power, that you should trust this God of yours when the same power threatens you?

Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand.

non vos ergo decipiat Ezechias, nec vana persuasione deludat, neque credatis ei. Si enim nullus potuit deus cunctarum gentium atque regnorum liberare populum suum de manu mea, et de manu patrum meorum, consequenter nec Deus vester poterit eruere vos de manu mea.

Do not be deluded by the persuasions of Ezechias; do not listen to him. All those peoples and kingdoms my fathers and I have conquered, their gods notwithstanding; will your God do better?

And many other things did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant.

Sed et alia multa locuti sunt servi ejus contra Dominum Deum, et contra Ezechiam servum ejus.

Much else these courtiers said in dispraise of the Lord God, and his servant Ezechias;

He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the God of Israel, and he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand.

Epistolas quoque scripsit plenas blasphemiæ in Dominum Deum Israël, et locutus est adversus eum: Sicut dii gentium ceterarum non potuerunt liberare populum suum de manu mea, sic et Deus Ezechiæ eruere non poterit populum suum de manu ista.

there was a letter, too, Sennacherib wrote, full of blasphemy against the Lord God of Israel, boasting that Ezechias’ God could not save his people from attack, where the gods of so many other nations had failed them.

Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews’ tongue, to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten them, and take the city.

Insuper et clamore magno, lingua judaica, contra populum qui sedebat in muris Jerusalem, personabat, ut terreret eos, et caperet civitatem.

Nay, they must needs raise a cry in the Hebrew tongue, to daunt the folk who sat on Jerusalem walls, and persuade them to yield up the city.

And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men.

Locutusque est contra Deum Jerusalem, sicut adversum deos populorum terræ, opera manuum hominum.

Lightly did they speak of Jerusalem’s God, as if he had been all one with those old gods the Chanaanites worshipped, idols made by human hands.

And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the prophet the son of Amos, prayed against this blasphemy, and cried out to heaven.

Oraverunt igitur Ezechias rex, et Isaias filius Amos prophetes, adversum hanc blasphemiam, ac vociferati sunt usque in cælum.

Against such blasphemers, king Ezechias and the prophet Isaias, son of Amos, fell to prayer, crying out to heaven for aid;

And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the stout men and the warriors, and the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and he returned with disgrace into his own country. And when he was come into the house of his god, his sons that came out of his bowels, slew him with the sword.

Et misit Dominus angelum, qui percussit omnem virum robustum, et bellatorem, et principem exercitus regis Assyriorum: reversusque est cum ignominia in terram suam. Cumque ingressus esset domum dei sui, filii qui egressi fuerant de utero ejus interfecerunt eum gladio.

and with that, the Lord sent out his angel, who smote down warrior and chieftain and commander in the Assyrian king’s camp, so that he went home in sorry plight. And there, when he was at worship in the temple of his god, two sons of his own body drew their swords on him and slew him.

And the Lord saved Ezechias and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of the hand of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and out of the hand of all, and gave them treasures on every side.

Salvavitque Dominus Ezechiam et habitatores Jerusalem de manu Sennacherib regis Assyriorum, et de manu omnium, et præstitit eis quietem per circuitum.

Thus it was the Lord rescued Ezechias and the men of Jerusalem from the Assyrian king’s power, and of all else that assailed them; on every side he kept them free from alarm.

Many also brought victims, and sacrifices to the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Ezechias king of Juda: and he was magnified thenceforth in the sight of all nations.

Multi etiam deferebant hostias et sacrificia Domino in Jerusalem, et munera Ezechiæ regi Juda: qui exaltatus est post hæc coram cunctis gentibus.

Many were the victims and offerings that were brought to the Lord at Jerusalem; many were the gifts made by Ezechias king of Juda, whom all the nations held thenceforward in high renown.

In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and he prayed to the Lord: and he heard him, and gave him a sign.

In diebus illis ægrotavit Ezechias usque ad mortem, et oravit Dominum: exaudivitque eum, et dedit ei signum.

And now Ezechias fell sick, and was at death’s door; but he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered his prayer, giving him a sign of his recovery.

But he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up: and wrath was enkindled against him, and against Juda and Jerusalem.

Sed non juxta beneficia quæ acceperat, retribuit, quia elevatum est cor ejus: et facta est contra eum ira, et contra Judam et Jerusalem.

Yet it was an ill return he made for all these benefits; his heart was puffed up with pride, so that he brought punishment upon himself, on Juda, too, and Jerusalem;

And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Ezechias.

Humiliatusque est postea, eo quod exaltatum fuisset cor ejus, tam ipse quam habitatores Jerusalem: et idcirco non venit super eos ira Domini in diebus Ezechiæ.

for this pride of his, both he and the citizens of Jerusalem afterwards humbled themselves, and it was not in Ezechias’ own time that the Lord’s vengeance fell.

And Ezechias was rich, and very glorious, and he gathered himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of spices, and of arms, of all kinds, and of vessels of great price.

Fuit autem Ezechias dives, et inclytus valde, et thesauros sibi plurimos congregavit argenti, et auri, et lapidis pretiosi, aromatum, et armorum universi generis, et vasorum magni pretii.

Great were the riches of Ezechias and his fame; great was the store of silver and gold, of jewels and spices, of weapons for every purpose and of precious ware, that king Ezechias laid up.

Storehouses also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all beasts, and folds for cattle.

Apothecas quoque frumenti, vini, et olei, et præsepia omnium jumentorum, caulasque pecorum,

He had store-houses too, for corn, wine and oil, stables full of beasts, and folds full of flocks;

And he built himself cities: for he had flocks of sheep, and herds without number, for the Lord had given him very much substance.

et urbes ædificavit sibi: habebat quippe greges ovium et armentorum innumerabiles, eo quod dedisset ei Dominus substantiam multam nimis.

new cities he must build, so many were his herds of sheep and cattle, so abundant were the possessions the Lord had given him.

This same Ezechias was he that stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the west of the city of David: in all his works he did prosperously what he would.

Ipse est Ezechias, qui obturavit superiorem fontem aquarum Gihon, et avertit eas subter ad occidentem urbis David: in omnibus operibus suis fecit prospere quæ voluit.

It was this Ezechias that blocked the upper waters of the Gihon stream, and conveyed them under ground into the western part of the Keep of David. In all that he did, he prospered;

But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be made known that were in his heart.

Attamen in legatione principum Babylonis, qui missi fuerant ad eum ut interrogarent de portento quod acciderat super terram, dereliquit eum Deus ut tentaretur, et nota fierent omnia quæ erant in corde ejus.

and if, when the princes of Babylon came to enquire about the portent that had happened in his country, God left him to his own counsel, it was but to try him, and test the dispositions of his heart.

Now the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and of his mercies are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.

Reliqua autem sermonum Ezechiæ, et misericordiarum ejus, scripta sunt in visione Isaiæ filii Amos prophetæ, et in libro regum Juda et Israël.

What else Ezechias did, all his acts of piety, may be found set down in the Vision of Isaias, son of Amos, and in the Record of the kings of Juda and Israel.

And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and they buried him above the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral: and Manasses his son reigned in his stead.

Dormivitque Ezechias cum patribus suis, et sepelierunt eum super sepulchra filiorum David: et celebravit ejus exequias universus Juda, et omnes habitatores Jerusalem: regnavitque Manasses filius ejus pro eo.

So Ezechias was laid to rest with his fathers, on the slope where the tombs of David’s sons are; and all Juda and Jerusalem did honour to his funeral. And the throne passed to his son Manasses.