Isaiah 36

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

When King Hezekiah had been [ruling Judah] for almost 14 years, King Sennacherib of Assyria came [with his army] to attack the cities in Judah that had walls around them. [They did not conquer Jerusalem, but] they conquered all the other cities.

2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a strong army. And he halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool on the highway of the washer's field.

Then the king of Assyria sent a large army with some of his important officials from Lachish [city] to [persuade] King Hezekiah [to surrender]. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they stood in their positions alongside the aqueduct/channel in which water flows into the upper pool [into Jerusalem], near the road to the field where the women wash clothes.

3 Then came forth unto him Elyakim, the son of Chilkiyahu, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph, the recorder.

The Israeli officials who went out of the city to talk with them were Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, the (palace administrator/man who supervised the workers in the palace), Shebna the king’s secretary, and Asaph’s son Joah, who wrote down the government decisions.

4 And Rabshakeh said unto them, —Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus hath said the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted?

Then one of Sennacherib’s important officials told them to take this message to Hezekiah: This is what the King of Assyria, the great king, says: “What are you trusting in to rescue you?

5 I have said, but it was only a word uttered with the lips, [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now, on whom didst thou trust, that thou rebelledst against me?

You say that you have weapons to fight us and some country’s promises [to help you], [and that will enable you to defeat us], but that is only talk [RHQ]. Who do you think will help you to rebel against my [soldiers from Assyria]?

6 Behold, thou trustedst on yon cracked reed-staff, on Egypt; which, if a man lean on it, will enter into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all that trust on him.

Listen to me! You are relying on [the army of] Egypt. But [that will be like] [MET] using a broken reed for a walking stick on which you could lean. [But] it would pierce the hand of anyone who would lean on it! That is what the King of Egypt would be like for anyone who relied on him [for help].

7 But if thou shouldst say to me, In the Lord our God have we trusted: is he not the one whose high-places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves?

But perhaps you will say to me, ‘[No], we are relying on Yahweh our God [to help us].’ [I would reply], ‘Is he not the one whom [you insulted by] tearing down his shrines and altars and forcing everyone in Jerusalem and [other places in] Judah to worship [only] in front of the altar [in Jerusalem]?’

8 And now I pray thee, enter into a contest with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

So I suggest that you make a deal with my master/boss, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses, but [I do not think that] you can find 2,000 of your men who can ride on them!

9 How then wilt thou turn back the face of a single chieftain of the least of my masters' servants, while thou hast put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

You are expecting the king of Egypt to send chariots and men riding horses [to assist you]. But they certainly would not [RHQ] be able to resist/defeat even the most insignificant/unimportant official in the army of Assyria!

10 And now am I come up without the Lord ['s will] against this land to destroy it? The Lord hath said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

Furthermore, [do not think that] [RHQ] we have come here to attack and destroy this land without Yahweh’s orders! It is Yahweh himself who told us to come here and destroy this land!”

11 Then said Elyakim and Shebna and Yoach unto Rabshakeh, Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jewish language, before the ears of the people that are on the wall.

Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the official from Assyria, “Please speak to us in [your] Aramaic language, because we understand it. Do not speak to us in [our] Hebrew language, because the people who are standing on the wall will understand it [and become frightened].”

12 But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master then sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? is it not rather to the men who sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own excrements, and drink their own urine with you?

But the official replied, “Do you think that my master sent me to say these things [only] to you, and not to the people standing on the wall [RHQ]? [If you reject this message], the [people in this city] will soon need to eat their own dung and drink their own urine, just like you will, [because there will be nothing more for you to eat or drink].”

13 Then stood Rabshakeh up, and called out in a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

Then the official stood up and shouted in the Hebrew language [to the people sitting on the wall]. He said, “Listen to this message from the great king, the King of Assyria!

14 Thus hath said the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you;

He says, ‘Do not allow Hezekiah to deceive you! He will not be able to rescue you!

15 Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Do not allow him to persuade you to trust in Yahweh, saying that Yahweh will rescue you, and that [the army of] the King of Assyria will never capture this city!’

16 Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, 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 cistern;

Do not pay attention to what Hezekiah says! This is what the king [of Assyria] says: ‘Come out of the city and surrender to me. [If you do that, I will arrange for] each of you to drink the juice from your own grapevines and to eat figs from your own trees, and to drink water from your own well.

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

[You will be able to do that] until we come and take you to a land that is like your land—a land where there is grain to make bread and [vineyards to produce grapes for making] new wine and, and where we make lots of bread.’

18 So that Hezekiah may not mislead you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Do not allow Hezekiah to mislead you by saying, “Yahweh will rescue us.” The gods that people of other nations worship have never [RHQ] rescued any of them from the power [MTY] of the King of Assyria!

19 Where are the gods of Chamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvayim? and have they then delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Why were the gods of Hamath and Arpad [cities], and the gods of Sepharvaim unable to rescue Samaria from my power [MTY]?

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?

No, no god [RHQ] of any nation has been able to rescue their people from me. So why do you think that Yahweh will rescue you people of Jerusalem from my power [MTY]?’”

21 But they remained silent, and answered him not a word; for it was the king's command, saying, Ye shall not answer him.

But the people [who were listening] were silent. No one said anything, because King [Hezekiah] had commanded, “[When the official from Assyria talks to you], do not answer him.”

22 Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, that was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent; and they told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn [because they were extremely distressed]. They told him what the official from Assyria had said.