17 Then the king of Assyria sent aTartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the bconduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the 1fuller’s field.

18 When they called to the king, aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and bShebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

19 Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “aWhat is this confidence that you 1have?

20 “You say (but they are 1only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, athat you have rebelled against me?

21 “Now behold, you 1arely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his 2hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

22 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and awhose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

23 “Now therefore, 1come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

24 “How then can you 1repulse one 2official of the least of my master’s servants, and 3rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

25 “Have I now come up 1without the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’ ” ’ ”

26 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we 1understand it; and do not speak with us in 2aJudean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

27 But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

28 Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, 1saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.

29 “Thus says the king, ‘aDo not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from 1my hand;

30 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

31 ‘Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “1Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat aeach of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern,

32 until I come and take you away ato a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.”

33 ‘aHas any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

34 ‘aWhere are the gods of Hamath and bArpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and 1cIvvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

35 ‘Who among all the gods of the lands 1have delivered their land from my hand, athat the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

36 But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then aEliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah bwith their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Chapter 19

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

1 aAnd when King Hezekiah heard it, he btore his clothes, ccovered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord.

2 Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, acovered with sackcloth, to bIsaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.

4 ‘aPerhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent bto reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for cthe remnant that is left.’ ”

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the aservants of the king of Assyria bhave blasphemed Me.

7 “Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ahe will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And bI will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”

Sennacherib Defies God

8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against aLibnah, for he had heard that 1the king had left bLachish.