36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king
Hezekiah, [that] Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against
all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them.
36:2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to
Jerusalem against king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood
by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's
field.
36:3 Then came forth to him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, who was over
the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the
recorder.
36:4 And Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus
saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence [is]
this in which thou trustest?
36:5 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?
36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on
Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will enter his hand, and
pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in
him.
36:7 But if thou shalt 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?
36:8 Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the
king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if
thou canst on thy part set riders upon them.
36:9 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?
36:10 And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to
destroy it? the LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and
destroy it.
36:11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah to Rabshakeh, Speak,
I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we
understand [it]: and speak not to us in the Jew's language, in
the ears of the people that [are] on the wall.
36:12 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 devour their
vilest excretions with you?
36:13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the
Jew's language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king,
the king of Assyria.
36:14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he
will not be able to deliver you.
36:15 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.
36:16 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;
36:17 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.
36:18 [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?
36:19 Where [are] the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where [are] the
gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my
hand?
36:20 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?
36:21 But they held their peace, and answered him not a word:
for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
36:22 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.
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