Isaiah 36
36
1In the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah.#36:1. Much of the next three chapters parallel 2 Kings 18 to 2 Kings 20. 2The king of Assyria sent his army general,#36:2. Literally, “the Rabshakeh.” However, this is an Assyrian title, not a personal name. along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field. 3Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with him.
4The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence? 5You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me? 6Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him. 7If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’? 8Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them! 9How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10More than that—would I have come to attack this place without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”
11Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”
12But the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
13Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria! 14This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you! 15Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 16Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well! 17I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18But don't let Hezekiah trick you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria? 19Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim? Were they able to save Samaria from me? 20Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”
21But the people remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”
22Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.
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Isaiah 36: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 36
36
Sennacherib Invades Judah
1 # For ver. 1-22, see 2 Kgs. 18:13, 17-37 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, #[2 Chr. 32:1]Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2#2 Chr. 32:9 And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh#36:2 Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer from #Josh. 15:20, 39 Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood #ch. 7:3by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. 3And there came out to him #ch. 22:15, 20, 21Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and #ch. 22:15, 20, 21Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the #[ch. 10:8]great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 5Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6#Ezek. 29:6, 7Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 7But if you say to me, “We trust in the Lord our God,” is it not he #2 Kgs. 18:4; See Deut. 12:2-5whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”? 8Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 9How then can you repulse #[ch. 10:8] a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when #[ch. 20:5; 30:3, 7; 31:1]you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 10Moreover, is it without the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? #ch. 10:5, 6The Lord said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”’”
11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants #Ezra 4:7; Dan. 2:4in Aramaic, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14Thus says the king: #[ch. 37:10; 2 Chr. 32:6-8]‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. 15Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 16Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me#36:16 Hebrew Make a blessing with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, 17until #2 Kgs. 18:11I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19#ch. 37:13 Where are the gods of #Jer. 49:23 Hamath and #Jer. 49:23 Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? #[2 Kgs. 17:6]Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20#[2 Chr. 32:19]Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”
21But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “Do not answer him.” 22#ver. 3; [ch. 33:7]Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, 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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