Isaiah 36

1 And it comes to pass, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Asshur has come up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and seizes them.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.

2 And the king of Asshur sends Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a heavy force, and he stands by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller’s field,

And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, with a great army, against King Hezekiah, and he halted at the aqueduct of the upper pool, in the highway to the fuller's field.

3 and Eliakim son of Hilkiah goes forth to him, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer.

Then came forth to him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the palace, and Shebna the scribe, and Josh, the son of Asaph, the annalist.

4 And Rabshakeh says to them, “Now say to Hezekiah, Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur: What [is] this confidence in which you have confided?

And Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What a confidence is this which thou cherishest!

5 I have said, Only a word of the lips! Counsel and might [are] for battle. Now, on whom have you trusted, that you have rebelled against me?

Thou sayest, (but it is vain talk, ) “I have counsel and strength for war.” In whom, then, dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

6 Behold, you have trusted on the staff of this broken reed—on Egypt—which a man leans on, and it has gone into his hand, and pierced it—so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.

Behold, thou trustest in that broken reed-staff, Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will pierce his hand, and go through it. Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.

7 And do you say to me, We have trusted in our God YHWH? Is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has turned aside, and says to Judah and to Jerusalem, Bow yourselves before this altar?

But if ye say to me, “We trust in Jehovah, our God,”—is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship before this altar?

8 And now, please negotiate with my lord the king of Asshur, and I give two thousand horses to you, if you are able to put riders on them for yourself.

Engage, now, with my master, the king of Assyria! and I will give thee two thousand horses, when thou art able to provide for thyself riders for them.

9 And how do you turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and trust on Egypt for yourself, for chariot and for horsemen?

How, then, canst thou resist a single captain, one of the least of the servants of my master? Yet thou trustest in Egypt, on account of her chariots and her horsemen.

10 And now, without YHWH have I come up against this land to destroy it? YHWH said to me, Go up to this land, and you have destroyed it.”

And am I now come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah hath said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it!”

11 And Eliakim says—and Shebna and Joah—to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants [in] Aramaic, for we are understanding; and do not speak to us [in] Jewish, in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall.”

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Josh to Rabshakeh: Speak, we beseech thee, to thy servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.

12 And Rabshakeh says, “To your lord, and to you, has my lord sent me to speak these words? Is it not for the men—those sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water with you?”

But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to speak these words to thy master and to thee only, and not to the people who sit upon the wall, to eat their own dung, and to drink their own urine with you?

13 And Rabshakeh stands and calls with a great voice [in] Jewish, and says, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Asshur—

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

14 thus said the king: Do not let Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you;

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

15 and do not let Hezekiah make you trust to YHWH, saying, YHWH certainly delivers us, this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.

And let not Hezekiah persuade you to trust in Jehovah, saying, “Jehovah will certainly deliver us. This city shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of Assyria.”

16 Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur: Make a blessing with me, and come out to me, and each of you eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and each drink the waters of his own well,

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

17 until my coming in, and I have taken you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards;

until I come, and take you to a land like your own land; a land of corn, and of new wine, a land of bread and of vineyards.

18 lest Hezekiah persuades you, saying, YHWH delivers us. Have the gods of the nations each delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur?

Be not persuaded by Hezekiah, when he saith, “Jehovah will deliver us.” Have the gods of the nations delivered every one his own land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arphad?

19 Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where [are] the gods of Sepharvaim, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And did the gods deliver Samaria from my hand?

20 Who among all the gods of these lands [are] they who have delivered their land out of my hand, that YHWH delivers Jerusalem out of my hand?”

Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that hath delivered his land out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

21 And they keep silent, and have not answered him a word, for a command of the king is, saying, “Do not answer him.”

But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's command was, “Answer him not.”

22 And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, comes in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer, to Hezekiah, with torn garments, and they declare to him the words of Rabshakeh.

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