Isaiah 36:2-22

2And the 1king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the 2conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the 3fuller’s field. 3Then 4Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and 5Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

4Then 6Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you 7have? 5I say, ‘Your counsel and strength for the war are only 8empty words.’ Now on whom do you rely, that 9you have rebelled against me? 6Behold, you rely on the 10staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his 11hand and pierce it. 12So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. 7But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He 13whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’? 8Now therefore, 14come 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 15repulse one 16official of the least of my master’s servants and 1718rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10Have I now come up 19without the Lord’s approval against this land to destroy it? 20The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

11Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in 21Aramaic, for we 22understand it; and do not speak with us in 2324Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 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 Rabshakeh stood and 25cried with a loud voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah 26deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15nor let Hezekiah make you 27trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘28Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his 29vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the 30waters 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. 18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, “31The 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 32Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of 33Sepharvaim? And when have they 34delivered Samaria from my hand? 20Who among all the 35gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the 36Lord would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

21But they were silent and 37answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 22Then 38Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and 39Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.