Isaiah 36

1 Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

And it happened that, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he seized them.

2 The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. He stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool in the fuller’s field highway.

And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish into Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a great force, and he stood near the aqueduct of the upper pool, at the road to the fuller’s field.

3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder came out to him.

And those who went to him were Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the historian.

4 Rabshakeh said to them, “Now tell Hezekiah, ‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says, “What confidence is this in which you trust?

And Rabshakeh said to them: “Tell Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this faith in which you believe?

5 I say that your counsel and strength for the war are only vain words. Now in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?

And by what counsel or strength would you prepare to rebel? In whom do you have faith, so much so that you would withdraw from me?

6 Behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, in that broken staff of a reed. But if a man were to lean against it, it would enter his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him.

7 But if you tell me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is not that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?”

But if you answer me by saying: ‘We trust in the Lord our God.’ Is it not his high places and altars that Hezekiah has taken away? And he has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar.’

8 Now therefore, please make a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

And now, hand yourselves over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to find riders for them on your own.

9 How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

So how will you withstand the face of the ruler of even one place, of even the least of my lord’s subordinates? But if you trust in Egypt, in four-horse chariots and in horsemen:

10 Have I come up now without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land, and destroy it.”’”

do I intend to go up against this land to destroy it without the Lord? But the Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh: “Speak to your servants in the Syrian language. For we understand it. Do not speak to us in the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people, who are upon the wall.”

12 But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

And Rabshakeh said to them: “Has my lord sent me to your lord and to you in order to speak all these words, and not even more so to the men who are sitting on the wall, so that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and called out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

Then Rabshakeh stood up, and he cried out with a loud voice in the Jewish language, and he said: “Listen to the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.

14 The king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you.

Thus says the king: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. For he will not be able to rescue you.

15 Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’

And do not let Hezekiah cause you to trust in the Lord, saying: ‘The Lord will rescue and free us. This city will not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’

16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for the king of Assyria says, ‘Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and each of you eat from his vine, and each one from his fig tree, and each one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;

Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of the Assyrians says this: Act with me to your own benefit, and come out to me. And let each one eat from his own vine, and each one from his own fig tree. And let each one drink water from his own well,

17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

until I arrive and take you away to a land which is like your own: a land of grain and of wine, a land of bread and of vineyards.

18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria?

But you should not let Hezekiah disturb you, saying, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have any of the gods of each of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

Where is the god of Hamath and of Arpad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Have they freed Samaria from my hand?

20 Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

Who is there, among all the gods of these lands, who has rescued his land from my hand, so that the Lord would rescue Jerusalem from my hand?”

21 But they remained silent, and said nothing in reply, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.”

And they remained silent and did not answer a word to him. For the king had commanded them, saying, “You shall not respond to him.”

22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

And Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the historian, entered to Hezekiah with their garments rent, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.