12 This happened because the Israelites did not obey the Lord their God. They broke his agreement and did not obey everything that Moses, the Lord’S servant, had commanded. The Israelites would not listen to the Lord’s agreement, or do what it taught them to do.
13 During Hezekiah’s 14th year as king, King Sennacherib of Assyria went to fight against all the strong cities of Judah. Sennacherib defeated them all.
14 Then King Hezekiah of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. Hezekiah said, “I have done wrong. Leave me alone, and I will pay whatever you want.” Then the king of Assyria told King Hezekiah of Judah to pay over 11 tons of silver and over 1 ton of gold.
15 Hezekiah gave all the silver that was in the Lord’S Temple and in the king’s treasuries.
16 That is when Hezekiah cut off the gold that he had put on the doors and doorposts of the Lord’S Temple and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17 The king of Assyria sent his three most important officers with a large army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. They left Lachish and went to Jerusalem. They stood near the aqueduct by the Upper Pool, on the street that leads up to Laundryman’s Field.
18 These men called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah son of Asaph went out to meet them. Eliakim was the palace manager, Joah was the record keeper, and Shebna was the royal secretary.