Ἠσαΐας 36
1 καὶ ἐγένετο τοῦ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτου ἔτους βασιλεύοντος Εζεκιου ἀνέβη Σενναχηριμ βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις τῆς Ιουδαίας τὰς ὀχυρὰς καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτάς
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 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων Ραψακην ἐκ Λαχις εἰς Ιερουσαλημ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Εζεκιαν μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ ἔστη ἐν τῷ ὑδραγωγῷ τῆς κολυμβήθρας τῆς ἄνω ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ ἀγροῦ τοῦ γναφέως
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 καὶ ἐξῆλθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Ελιακιμ ὁ τοῦ Χελκιου ὁ οἰκονόμος καὶ Σομνας ὁ γραμματεὺς καὶ Ιωαχ ὁ τοῦ Ασαφ ὁ ὑπομνηματογράφος
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 καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Ραψακης εἴπατε Εζεκια τάδε λέγει ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων τί πεποιθὼς εἶ
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 μὴ ἐν βουλῇ ἢ λόγοις χειλέων παράταξις γίνεται καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ τίνι πέποιθας ὅτι ἀπειθεῖς μοι
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 ἰδοὺ πεποιθὼς εἶ ἐπὶ τὴν ῥάβδον τὴν καλαμίνην τὴν τεθλασμένην ταύτην ἐπ’ Αἴγυπτον ὃς ἂν ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ἐπιστηρισθῇ εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ οὕτως ἐστὶν Φαραω βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ’ αὐτῷ
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 εἰ δὲ λέγετε ἐπὶ κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν πεποίθαμεν
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 νῦν μείχθητε τῷ κυρίῳ μου τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἀσσυρίων καὶ δώσω ὑμῖν δισχιλίαν ἵππον εἰ δυνήσεσθε δοῦναι ἀναβάτας ἐπ’ αὐτούς
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 καὶ πῶς δύνασθε ἀποστρέψαι εἰς πρόσωπον τοπάρχου ἑνός οἰκέται εἰσὶν οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ’ Αἰγυπτίοις εἰς ἵππον καὶ ἀναβάτην
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 καὶ νῦν μὴ ἄνευ κυρίου ἀνέβημεν ἐπὶ τὴν χώραν ταύτην πολεμῆσαι αὐτήν
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 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Ελιακιμ καὶ Σομνας καὶ Ιωαχ λάλησον πρὸς τοὺς παῖδάς σου Συριστί ἀκούομεν γὰρ ἡμεῖς καὶ μὴ λάλει πρὸς ἡμᾶς Ιουδαϊστί καὶ ἵνα τί λαλεῖς εἰς τὰ ὦτα τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἐπὶ τῷ τείχει
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 καὶ εἶπεν Ραψακης πρὸς αὐτούς μὴ πρὸς τὸν κύριον ὑμῶν ἢ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀπέσταλκέν με ὁ κύριός μου λαλῆσαι τοὺς λόγους τούτους οὐχὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ τῷ τείχει ἵνα φάγωσιν κόπρον καὶ πίωσιν οὖρον μεθ’ ὑμῶν ἅμα
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 καὶ ἔστη Ραψακης καὶ ἐβόησεν φωνῇ μεγάλῃ Ιουδαϊστὶ καὶ εἶπεν ἀκούσατε τοὺς λόγους τοῦ βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων
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 τάδε λέγει ὁ βασιλεύς μὴ ἀπατάτω ὑμᾶς Εζεκιας λόγοις οἳ οὐ δυνήσονται ῥύσασθαι ὑμᾶς
He says, ‘Do not allow Hezekiah to deceive you! He will not be able to rescue you!
15 καὶ μὴ λεγέτω ὑμῖν Εζεκιας ὅτι ῥύσεται ὑμᾶς ὁ θεός καὶ οὐ μὴ παραδοθῇ ἡ πόλις αὕτη ἐν χειρὶ βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων
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 μὴ ἀκούετε Εζεκιου τάδε λέγει ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀσσυρίων εἰ βούλεσθε εὐλογηθῆναι ἐκπορεύεσθε πρός με καὶ φάγεσθε ἕκαστος τὴν ἄμπελον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς συκᾶς καὶ πίεσθε ὕδωρ τοῦ λάκκου ὑμῶν
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 ἕως ἂν ἔλθω καὶ λάβω ὑμᾶς εἰς γῆν ὡς ἡ γῆ ὑμῶν γῆ σίτου καὶ οἴνου καὶ ἄρτων καὶ ἀμπελώνων
[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 μὴ ὑμᾶς ἀπατάτω Εζεκιας λέγων ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν ῥύσεται ὑμᾶς μὴ ἐρρύσαντο οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ χώραν ἐκ χειρὸς βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων
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 ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς Αιμαθ καὶ Αρφαθ καὶ ποῦ ὁ θεὸς τῆς πόλεως Σεπφαριμ μὴ ἐδύναντο ῥύσασθαι Σαμάρειαν ἐκ χειρός μου
Why were the gods of Hamath and Arpad [cities], and the gods of Sepharvaim unable to rescue Samaria from my power [MTY]?
20 τίς τῶν θεῶν πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν τούτων ἐρρύσατο τὴν γῆν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς χειρός μου ὅτι ῥύσεται ὁ θεὸς Ιερουσαλημ ἐκ χειρός μου
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 καὶ ἐσιώπησαν καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ λόγον διὰ τὸ προστάξαι τὸν βασιλέα μηδένα ἀποκριθῆναι
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 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Ελιακιμ ὁ τοῦ Χελκιου ὁ οἰκονόμος καὶ Σομνας ὁ γραμματεὺς τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ Ιωαχ ὁ τοῦ Ασαφ ὁ ὑπομνηματογράφος πρὸς Εζεκιαν ἐσχισμένοι τοὺς χιτῶνας καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν αὐτῷ τοὺς λόγους Ραψακου
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.
