|
Chapter 36 |
| 1 | Now it came to
pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria
came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. |
| 2 |
And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king
Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in
the highway of the fuller's field. |
| 3 | Then came forth unto him
Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and
Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. |
| 4 | And Rabshakeh said unto them,
Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What
confidence is this wherein thou trustest? |
|
5 | I say, sayest thou, (but
they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost
thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? |
|
6 | Lo, thou trustest in the
staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his
hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in
him. |
| 7 |
But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not
he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to
Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? |
| 8 | Now
therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I
will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders
upon them. |
| 9
| How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of
the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and
for horsemen? |
|
10 | And am I now come up without the LORD against this
land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy
it. |
| 11 |
Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I
pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and
speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on
the wall. |
| 12
| But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master
and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon
the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with
you? |
| 13 |
Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews'
language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of
Assyria. |
| 14
| Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he
shall not be able to deliver you. |
| 15 | Neither let Hezekiah make you
trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not
be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. |
| 16 | Hearken not
to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a
present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of
his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; |
| 17 |
Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and
wine, a land of bread and vineyards. |
| 18 | Beware lest Hezekiah persuade
you, saying, the LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations
delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? |
| 19 | Where
are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have
they delivered Samaria out of my hand? |
| 20 | Who are they among all the
gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the
LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? |
| 21 | But they
held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was,
saying, Answer him not. |
| 22 | Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that
was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the
recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of
Rabshakeh. |
