18:1 以色列王以拉的兒子何細亞第三年,猶大王亞哈斯的兒子希西家登基。
18:2 他登基的時候年二十五歲,在耶路撒冷作王二十九年。他母親名叫亞比,是撒迦利雅的女兒。
18:3 希西家行耶和華眼中看為正的事,效法他祖大衛一切所行的。
18:4 他廢去邱壇,毀壞柱像,砍下木偶,打碎摩西所造的銅蛇,因為到那時以色列人仍向銅蛇燒香。希西家叫銅蛇為銅塊(或譯:人稱銅蛇為銅像)。
18:5 希西家倚靠耶和華─以色列的上帝,在他前後的猶大列王中沒有一個及他的。
18:6 因為他專靠耶和華,總不離開,謹守耶和華所吩咐摩西的誡命。
18:7 耶和華與他同在,他無論往何處去盡都亨通。他背叛、不肯事奉亞述王。
18:8 希西家攻擊非利士人,直到迦薩,並迦薩的四境,從瞭望樓到堅固城。
18:9 希西家王第四年,就是以色列王以拉的兒子何細亞第七年,亞述王撒縵以色上來圍困撒馬利亞;
18:10 過了三年就攻取了城。希西家第六年,以色列王何細亞第九年,撒馬利亞被攻取了。
18:11 亞述王將以色列人擄到亞述,把他們安置在哈臘與歌散的哈博河邊,並米底亞人的城邑;
18:12 都因他們不聽從耶和華─他們上帝的話,違背他的約,就是耶和華僕人摩西吩咐他們所當守的。
18:13 希西家王十四年,亞述王西拿基立上來攻擊猶大的一切堅固城,將城攻取。
18:14 猶大王希西家差人往拉吉去見亞述王,說:「我有罪了,求你離開我;凡你罰我的,我必承當。」於是亞述王罰猶大王希西家銀子三百他連得,金子三十他連得。
18:15 希西家就把耶和華殿裡和王宮府庫裡所有的銀子都給了他。
18:16 那時,猶大王希西家將耶和華殿門上的金子和他自己包在柱上的金子都刮下來,給了亞述王。
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah[a] daughter of Zechariah. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[b])
5 Hezekiah trusted 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. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
9 In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes. 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.
13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[c] of silver and thirty talents[d] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.
16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
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希西家王是上帝所喜悅的猶大王,聖經的描述是:「希西家行耶和華眼中看為正的事,效法他祖大衛一切所行的。他廢去邱壇,毀壞柱像,砍下木偶,打碎摩西所造的銅蛇,因為到那時以色列人仍向銅蛇燒香。希西家叫銅蛇為銅塊(或譯:人稱銅蛇為銅像)。希西家倚靠耶和華─以色列的上帝,在他前後的猶大列王中沒有一個及他的。因為他專靠耶和華,總不離開,謹守耶和華所吩咐摩西的誡命。耶和華與他同在,他無論往何處去盡都亨通。他背叛、不肯事奉亞述王。」
可見他清楚上帝的主權,知道一切都是在上帝的掌握之中,專心依賴上帝勝過一切,不管是宗教或是軍事、政治,都比不上上帝的保守與看顧,因為唯有上帝是人永遠的堅固保障!
雖然在當時的強權是亞述帝國,但是希西家王靠上帝堅立,不屈服、不討好亞述王,雖然以色列國被亞述所滅,他也不懼怕!雖然後來也遇到亞述的攻擊,失去土地又賠款,心中仍然堅信上帝!
基督徒在世上也需要有這樣的精神,因為我們求的不是一時或現實的順利,而是在永生裡的福樂,那是一種永遠的福樂,是只有從上帝的恩賜中才能享受到的,是上帝真真實實的愛與憐憫,是任何事物無法比擬與取代的!