Isaiah 36:4-10

4The Assyrian army officer said to them, ‘Tell Hezekiah that the great king, the king of Assyria, says this to him: “Why are you so sure that someone will rescue you from our power?

5You say that you have good plans. You say that your army is strong. But those are only useless words! You have turned against me, so who are you trusting to save you?

6Yes, you think that Egypt is strong enough to help you. But you should not trust Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. He is like a weak stick. If you use it to walk with, it will break! A broken piece of stick will make a hole through your hand and give you much pain! That is the trouble that the king of Egypt brings to everyone who trusts him to help them.

7Maybe you will say to me, ‘We are trusting the Lord our God to help us.’ But it was your king, Hezekiah, who removed the altars and the special places where you worship your God. He told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship God only at the altar here in Jerusalem.’ ”

8So you should make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses, if you have enough riders to put on them.

9You cannot refuse what I offer to you! And I am only an unimportant officer who serves my master. You are hoping that Egypt will give you chariots and men to ride on horses. But you will never be strong enough to win a battle against us.

10You should also understand this: It was the Lord himself who commanded me to bring my army here and attack Jerusalem. He said to me, “Attack this country and destroy it!” ’