1And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib the king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and seized on them.
2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a strong army. And he halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool on the highway of the washer's field.
3Then came forth unto him Elyakim, the son of Chilkiyahu, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph, the recorder.
4And Rabshakeh said unto them,—Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus hath said the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted?
5I have said, but it was only a word uttered with the lips, [I have] counsel and strength for the war. Now, on whom didst thou trust, that thou rebelledst against me?
6Behold, thou trustedst on yon cracked reed-staff, on Egypt; which, if a man lean on it, will enter into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all that trust on him.
7But if thou shouldst say to me, In the Lord our God have we trusted: is he not the one whose high-places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed, when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves?
8And now I pray thee, enter into a contest with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9How then wilt thou turn back the face of a single chieftain of the least of my masters' servants, while thou hast put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10And now am I come up without the Lord ['s will] against this land to destroy it? The Lord hath said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11Then said Elyakim and Shebna and Yoach unto Rabshakeh, Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jewish language, before the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master then sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? is it not rather to the men who sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own excrements, and drink their own urine with you?
13Then stood Rabshakeh up, and called out in a loud voice in the Jewish language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14Thus hath said the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you;
15Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus hath said the king of Assyria, Make a treaty of peace with me, 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 cistern;
17Until 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.
18So that Hezekiah may not mislead you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19Where are the gods of Chamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvayim? and have they then delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20Who are they among all the gods of these countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21But they remained silent, and answered him not a word; for it was the king's command, saying, Ye shall not answer him.
22Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu, that was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Yoach the son of Assaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent; and they told him the words of Rabshakeh.