Isaiah 36

1 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.

Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

2 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.

And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem against king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field.

3 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.

Then came forth to him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder.

4 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?

And Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which thou trustest?

5 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?

I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words ) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

6 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.

Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will enter his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

7 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.’

But if thou shalt say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

8 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.

Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou canst on thy part set riders upon them.

9 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:

How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 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.’”

And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

11 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.”

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

12 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?”

But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may devour their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?

13 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.

Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

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

Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

15 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.’

Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

16 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,

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

17 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.

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

18 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?

Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

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

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

20 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?”

Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

21 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.”

But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

22 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.

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