Isaiah 36
1 And it cometh to pass, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, come up hath Sennacherib king of Asshur against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them.
In the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah.
2 And the king of Asshur sendeth Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, unto the king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, and he standeth by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field,
The king of Assyria sent his army general, along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field.
3 and go forth unto him doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer.
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with him.
4 And Rabshakeh saith unto them, 'Say ye, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, 'Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What [is] this confidence in which thou hast confided?
The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence?
5 I have said: Only, a word of the lips! counsel and might [are] for battle: now, on whom hast thou trusted, that thou hast rebelled against me?
You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me?
6 'Lo, thou hast trusted on the staff of this broken reed — on Egypt — which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it — so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.
Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him.
7 'And dost thou say unto me, Unto Jehovah our God we have trusted? is it not He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath turned aside, and saith to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar ye do bow yourselves?
If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’?
8 'And now, negotiate, I pray thee, with my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to put for thee riders on them.
Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them!
9 And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and dost trust for thee on Egypt, for chariot and for horsemen?
How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
10 And now, without Jehovah have I come up against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up unto this land, and thou hast destroyed it.'
More than that—would I have come to attack this place without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”
11 And Eliakim saith — and Shebna and Joah — unto Rabshakeh, 'Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants [in] Aramaean, for we are understanding; and do not speak unto us [in] Jewish, in the ears of the people who [are] on the wall.'
Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”
12 And Rabshakeh saith, 'Unto thy lord, and unto thee, hath 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 the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
13 And Rabshakeh standeth and calleth with a great voice [in] Jewish, and saith, 'Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Asshur:
Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria!
14 Thus said the king, Let not Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you;
This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you!
15 and let not Hezekiah make you trust unto Jehovah, saying, Jehovah doth certainly deliver us, this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’
16 'Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur, Make ye with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye each of his vine, and each of his fig-tree, and drink ye each the waters of his own well,
Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well!
17 till my coming in, and I have taken you unto a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards;
I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 lest Hezekiah doth persuade you, saying, Jehovah doth deliver us. 'Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur?
But don't let Hezekiah trick you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria?
19 Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where the gods of Sepharvaim, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand?
Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim? Were they able to save Samaria from me?
20 Who among all the gods of these lands [are] they who have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah doth deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'
Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”
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 remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”
22 And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who [is] over the house, cometh in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer, unto Hezekiah with rent garments, and they declare to him the words of Rabshakeh.
Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.
