Isaiah 36
36
Sennacherib Invades Judah
2Ki 18:13–37; 2Ch 32:9–19
1#2Ch 32:1; 2Ki 18:13Now 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. 2#Isa 7:3; 2Ki 18:17–37The king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh#Possibly Commanding General. from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field. 3Then Eliakim came to him, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4The Rabshakeh said to them:
“Say now to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this that you have? 5#2Ki 18:7I say, Your counsel and strength for war are only empty words. Now on whom do you rely that you rebel against me? 6#Eze 29:6–7You rely on the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. 7#2Ki 18:4–5But if you 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, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?
8“Now therefore, come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9#Isa 10:8How then will you turn away one captain of the least of my master’s servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10#1Ki 13:18Have I now come up without the approval of the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.”
11#Ezr 4:7; Da 2:4Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. And do not speak to us in Hebrew in the ears of the people who are on the wall.”
12But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”
13#2Ch 32:18Then the Rabshakeh stood and cried out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you; 15nor 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.’
16#1Ki 4:25; Zec 3:10“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat every one of his vine and every one of his fig tree, and drink every one the waters of his own cistern, 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18#Isa 36:15“ ‘Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19#Jer 49:23; Isa 10:9–11Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And when have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20#2Ch 32:19Who 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?’ ”
21#Pr 26:4But they held their peace, and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.”
22#Isa 36:3; 33:7Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
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Isaiah 36: MEV
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Military Bible Association
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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