Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
(2 Kings 18:13–37; 2 Chronicles 32:1–8)

1In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s (YHWH is my strength) reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria (a step) attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah (praised). 2And the king of Assyria (a step) sent the Rabshakeh {Rabshakeh},a with a great army, from Lachish (invincible) to King Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) at Jerusalem (city of peace). And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

3Then Eliakim (GGod sets up) son of Hilkiah (my portion is YHWH) the palace administrator, Shebna (vigor) the scribe, and Joah (YHWH is brother) son of Asaph (gatherer) the recorder, went out to him.

4The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria (a step), says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? 5You claim to have \You speak/b a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?

6Look now, you are trusting in Egypt (land of bondage), that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh (great house) king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God {YHWH Elohenu},’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) has removed, saying to Judah (praised) and Jerusalem (city of peace), ‘You⁺ must worship before this altar’?

8Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria (a step). I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt (land of bondage) for chariots and horsemen? 10So now, was it apart from the LORD {YHWH} that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

11Then Eliakim (GGod sets up), Shebna (vigor), and Joah (YHWH is brother) said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic (language), since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew (in the dialect of Judah)c in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

12But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you⁺ to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”

13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria (a step)! 14This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) deceive you⁺, for he cannot deliver you⁺. 15Do not let Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) persuade you⁺ to trust in the LORD {YHWH} when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria (a step).’

16Do not listen to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength), for this is what the king of Assyria (a step) says: Make peace with me (Make a blessing with me)d and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern, 17until I come and take you⁺ away to a land like your⁺ own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18Do not let Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) mislead you⁺ when he says, ‘The LORD {YHWH} will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria (a step)? 19Where are the gods of Hamath (fortress) and Arpad (I shall be supported)? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim (the two Sipparas)? Have they delivered Samaria (watch mountain) from my hand? 20Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD {YHWH} deliver Jerusalem (city of peace) from my hand?”

21But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

22Then Hilkiah’s (my portion is YHWH) son Eliakim (GGod sets up) the palace administrator, Shebna (vigor) the scribe, and Asaph’s (gatherer) son Joah (YHWH is brother) the recorder came to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.