Isaiah 36
36
Isaiah 36
1¶ Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah and took them.
2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he camped by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the washer’s field.
3Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the writer of chronicles.
4And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which thou dost trust?
5I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust that thou dost rebel against me?
6Behold, thou dost trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt upon which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it, so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
7But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God; is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
8Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou art able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9How, therefore, wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s slaves even if thou art trusting in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10And peradventure am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said unto me, Go up against this land and destroy it.
11¶ Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy slaves in the Syrian language, for we understand it, and do not speak to us in the Jewish language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
12But Rabshakeh said, Has my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you?
13Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.
14Thus saith the king, Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15Neither 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.
16Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make peace with me and come out to me and eat each one of his vine and each one of his fig tree and drink each one the waters of his own cistern
17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the Gentiles delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19Where is the god of Hamath and Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20What god is there 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?
21But they held their peace and did not answer him a word, for the king had commanded thus, saying, Answer him not.
22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah, the son of Asaph, the writer of chronicles, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
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Isaiah 36: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Isaiah 36
36
The Assyrians Surround Jerusalem
(2 Kings 18.13-27; 2 Chronicles 32.1-19)
1Hezekiah had been king of Judah for 14 years when King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded the country and captured every walled city 2except Jerusalem. The Assyrian king ordered his army commander to leave the city of Lachish and to take a large army to Jerusalem.
The commander went there and stood on the road near the cloth makers' shops along the canal from the upper pool. 3Three of the king's highest officials came out of Jerusalem to meet him. One of them was Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the prime minister. The other two were Shebna, assistant to the prime minister, and Joah son of Asaph, keeper of the government records.
4The Assyrian commander told them:
I have a message for Hezekiah from the great king of Assyria. Ask Hezekiah why he feels so sure of himself. 5Does he think he can plan and win a war with nothing but words? Who is going to help him, now that he has turned against the king of Assyria? 6#Ez 29.6,7. Is he depending on Egypt and its king? That's the same as leaning on a broken stick, and it will go right through his hand.
7Is Hezekiah now depending on the Lord, your God? Didn't Hezekiah tear down all except one of the Lord's altars and places of worship?#36.7 worship: Hezekiah actually had torn down the places where idols were worshiped, and he had told the people to worship the Lord at the one place of worship in Jerusalem. But the Assyrian leader was confused and thought these were also places where the Lord was supposed to be worshiped. Didn't he tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship at that one place?
8The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people! He will give you 2,000 horses, if you have enough troops to ride them. 9How could you even defeat our lowest ranking officer, when you have to depend on Egypt for chariots and cavalry? 10Don't forget that it was the Lord who sent me here with orders to destroy your nation!
11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said, “Sir, we don't want the people listening from the city wall to understand what you are saying. So please speak to us in Aramaic instead of Hebrew.”
12The Assyrian army commander answered, “My king sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you leaders. These people will soon have to eat their own body waste and drink their own urine! And so will the three of you!”
13Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he shouted out in Hebrew:
Listen to what the great king of Assyria says! 14Don't be fooled by Hezekiah. He can't save you. 15Don't trust him when he tells you that the Lord will protect you from the king of Assyria. 16Stop listening to Hezekiah. Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns 17for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards and raise your own grain.
18Hezekiah claims the Lord will save you. But don't be fooled by him. Were any other gods able to defend their land against the king of Assyria? 19What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim? Were the gods of Samaria able to protect their land against the Assyrian forces? 20None of those gods kept their people safe from the king of Assyria. Do you think the Lord, your God, can do any better?
21-22Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah had been warned by King Hezekiah not to answer the Assyrian commander. So they tore their clothes in sorrow and reported to Hezekiah everything the commander had said.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.