2 Kings 18:13-37

131Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria marched against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. 14Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent messengers to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “2I have done wrong. 3Withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will endure.” So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah the payment of three hundred 4talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 155Hezekiah then gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

17Then the king of Assyria sent 6Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the 7conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the 8fuller’s field. 18Then they called to the king, and 9Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, 10Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.

19And Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: “11What is this confidence that you 12have? 20You say--but they are only 13empty words-I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, 14that you have revolted against me? 21Now behold, you have 1516relied on the 17support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his 18hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. 22However, if you say to me, ‘We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and 19whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23Now then, 20come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 24How then can you drive back even 21one 22official of the least of my master’s servants, and 23rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25Have I now come up without 24the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

26Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we 25understand it; and do not speak with us in 2627Judean 28so that the people who are on the wall hear you.” 27But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

28Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, 29saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29This is what the king says: ‘30Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from 31my hand. 30And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make 32your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, 33each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern, 32until I come and take you 34to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying, “The Lord will save us.” 3335Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 3436Where are the gods of Hamath and 37Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and 3839Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand? 35Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, 40that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

36But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s 41command: “Do not answer him.” 37Then 42Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah 43with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.