^18:17The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser²⁶ from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem,²⁷ along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went²⁸ and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.²⁹^18:18They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.

^18:19The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?³⁰^18:20Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.³¹ In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me? ^18:21Now look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If a man leans for support on it, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him. ^18:22Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’

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Footnotes

26 For a discussion of these titles see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (), .
27 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
28 Heb “and they went up and came.”
29 Heb “the field of the washer.”
30 Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
31 Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.