Because Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him,
and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took 46 of his strong fenced
cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about, I took and plundered a
countless number. From these places I took and carried off 200,156 persons, old and
young, male and female, together with horses and mules, asses and camels, oxen and
sheep, a countless multitude; and Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his
capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in,
and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape... Then upon
Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs
and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and
diverse treasures, a rich and immense booty... All these things were brought
to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government.
And like it begun.
It must end.