| Christian Standard Bible | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. | 1Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. |
| 2Then the king of Assyria sent his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer's Field. | 2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller's field. |
| 3Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to him. | 3Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. |
| 4The royal spokesman said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on? | 4Then Rabshakeh said to them, "Say now to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, "What is this confidence that you have? |
| 5You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me? | 5"I say, 'Your counsel and strength for the war are only empty words.' Now on whom do you rely, that you have rebelled against me? |
| 6Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. | 6"Behold, you rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. |
| 7Suppose you say to me, 'We rely on the LORD our God.' Isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You are to worship at this altar'? | 7"But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar '? |
| 8"Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you two thousand horses if you're able to supply riders for them! | 8"Now therefore, come 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. |
| 9How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master's servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? | 9"How then can you repulse one official of the least of my master's servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? |
| 10Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the LORD's approval? The LORD said to me, 'Attack this land and destroy it.'" | 10"Have I now come up without the LORD'S approval against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it.'"'" |
| 11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew within earshot of the people who are on the wall." | 11Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, "Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall." |
| 12But the royal spokesman replied, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?" | 12But Rabshakeh said, "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?" |
| 13Then the royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! | 13Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean and said, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. |
| 14This is what the king says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot rescue you. | 14"Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; |
| 15Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD, saying, 'The LORD will certainly rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'" | 15nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." |
| 16Don't listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make peace with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern | 16'Do not listen to Hezekiah,' for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, |
| 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land--a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. | 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. |
| 18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us.' Has any one of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? | 18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us." Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? |
| 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my power? | 19'Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they delivered Samaria from my hand? |
| 20Who among all the gods of these lands ever rescued his land from my power? So will the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?" | 20'Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the LORD would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?'" |
| 21But they kept silent; they didn't say anything, for the king's command was, "Don't answer him." | 21But they were silent and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, "Do not answer him." |
| 22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman. | 22Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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