2 Kings 18:17

2 Kings 18:13–19:37

^18:13In year fourteen of King Hezekiah Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ^18:14Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have sinned; withdraw from me; whatever you put on me I will bear.” The king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. ^18:15Hezekiah gave all the silver that was found in the house of YHWH and in the treasuries of the house of the king. ^18:16At that time Hezekiah cut off the doors of the temple of YHWH and the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria. ^18:17The king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large force to Jerusalem. They went up and came to Jerusalem; they went up and came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the Launderer’s Field. ^18:18They called to the king, and there came out to them Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder. ^18:19The Rabshakeh said to them, “Say, please, to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What is this confidence in which you have trusted? ^18:20You have said —only a word of lips— “There is counsel and might for war.” Now, on whom have you trusted, that you have rebelled against me? ^18:21Now, look, you have trusted in the staff of this broken reed, in Egypt, on which a man leans, and it goes into his palm and pierces it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ^18:22And if you say to me, “In YHWH our Elohim we trust,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, “Before this altar you shall bow down in Jerusalem”? ^18:23Now, make a deal, please, with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put riders of your own on them. ^18:24How then can you turn back the face of one governor, of the least of the servants of my master, while you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ^18:25Now, is it without YHWH that I have come up against this place to destroy it? YHWH said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’” ^18:26Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak, please, to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak with us in the language of Judah in the ears of the people who are on the wall.” ^18:27The Rabshakeh said to them, “Is it to your master and to you that my master has sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their excrement and to drink their urine with you?” ^18:28The Rabshakeh stood and cried out with a loud voice in the language of Judah, and spoke and said, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! ^18:29Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from his hand. ^18:30And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in YHWH, saying, “YHWH will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ^18:31Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make peace with me and come out to me, and eat, each from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each the water of his cistern, ^18:32until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees of oil and honey, so that you may live and not die.” And do not listen to Hezekiah, for he incites you, saying, “YHWH will deliver us.” ^18:33Have the gods of the nations really delivered, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^18:34Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ^18:35Who among all the gods of the lands are those that have delivered their land from my hand, that YHWH should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” ^18:36But the people were silent and did not answer him a word, for it was the commandment of the king, saying, “Do not answer him.”

Isaiah 36:1–37:38

^36:1And it happened in year fourteen of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ^36:2The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah with a large force; and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway of the Launderer’s Field. ^36:3And there came out to him Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder. ^36:4The Rabshakeh said to them, “Say, please, to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What is this confidence in which you have trusted? ^36:5I say —only a word of lips—: “There is counsel and might for war.” Now, on whom have you trusted, that you have rebelled against me? ^36:6Look, you have trusted in the staff of this broken reed, in Egypt, on which a man leans, and it goes into his palm and pierces it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ^36:7And if you say to me, “In YHWH our Elohim we trust,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, “Before this altar you shall bow down”? ^36:8Now, make a deal, please, with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put riders of your own on them. ^36:9How then can you turn back the face of one governor, of the least of the servants of my master, while you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ^36:10Now, is it without YHWH that I have come up against this land to destroy it? YHWH said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’” ^36:11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak, please, to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in the language of Judah in the ears of the people who are on the wall.” ^36:12The Rabshakeh said, “Is it to your master and to you that my master has sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their excrement and to drink their urine with you?” ^36:13The Rabshakeh stood and cried out with a loud voice in the language of Judah, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! ^36:14Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. ^36:15And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in YHWH, saying, “YHWH will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ^36:16Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make peace with me and come out to me, and eat, each from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each the water of his cistern, ^36:17until I come and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.” ^36:18Beware lest Hezekiah incite you, saying, “YHWH will deliver us.” Have the gods of the nations delivered, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^36:19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ^36:20Who among all the gods of these lands are those that have delivered their land from my hand, that YHWH should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’” ^36:21But they were silent and did not answer him a word, for it was the commandment of the king, saying, “Do not answer him.” ^36:22Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him the words of the Rabshakeh. ^37:1And it happened, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of YHWH. ^37:2He sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet.

2 Chronicles 32:1-23

¹After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah and encamped against the fortified cities and intended to break into them for himself. ²Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that his face was set for war against Jerusalem, ³and he took counsel with his officials and his mighty men to stop up the waters of the springs that were outside the city; and they helped him. ⁴Many people were gathered, and they stopped up all the fountains and the brook that flowed through the middle of the land, saying, “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?” ⁵He strengthened himself and built all the wall that was broken down, and raised on it the towers, and outside another wall; and he repaired the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons in abundance and shields. ⁶He set commanders of war over the people, and gathered them to himself in the square of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying, ⁷“Be strong and firm; do not fear or be dismayed before the king of Assyria or before all the multitude that is with him, for with us there are more than with him. ⁸With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is YHWH our Elohim to help us and to fight our wars.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. ⁹After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem —he was against Lachish, and all his dominion with him— to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah that was in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰“Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria: On what are you trusting, that you remain in the siege in Jerusalem? ¹¹Is not Hezekiah inciting you to give you over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, ‘YHWH our Elohim will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria’? ¹²Is it not he, Hezekiah, who removed his high places and his altars, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Before one altar you shall bow down, and on it you shall burn incense’? ¹³Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands at all able to deliver their land from my hand? ¹⁴Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was the one who was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your Elohim should be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you or incite you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers; how much less will your Elohim deliver you from my hand!” ¹⁶And his servants spoke still more against YHWH Elohim and against Hezekiah his servant. ¹⁷He also wrote letters to taunt YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands that have not delivered their people from my hand, so the Elohim of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” ¹⁸They called out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and to terrify them, so that they might capture the city. ¹⁹They spoke of the Elohim of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands. ²⁰Hezekiah the king and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed about this and cried out to the heavens. ²¹YHWH sent an angel, who wiped out every mighty man of valor and leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria; and he returned with shame of face to his land. He went into the house of his god, and some of those who came out of his own body made him fall there by the sword. ²²So YHWH saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all, and he led them on every side. ²³Many were bringing an offering to YHWH to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah; and he was exalted in the eyes of all the nations after this.