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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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 Threatens Jerusalem
1And this happened: In the fourteenth year#Literally “four ten year” of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he captured them. 2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh#Rabshekah is the title of a high Assyrian official from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a large army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the field of the washer. 3And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace,#Literally “was over the house” came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder.
4And Rabshakeh said to them, “Now say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What is this confidence in which you trust? 5I said, ‘Only a word of lips! War has power and a plan!’#The Hebrew here is awkward; literally “Plan and power for war” Now, in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6Look, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which if a man leans on it, goes into his hand and bores through it! Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all those who trust in him. 7And if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ was it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed? And he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall bow down in the presence#Literally “face” of this altar.’ ” 8And now please make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, that is, if you are able put#Literally “give” riders for yourself on them! 9But how can you drive back one governor among the least of my master’s servants,#Literally “the face of the governor of the one of the insignificant servants of my master” when#Or “and” you trust in Egypt for chariots#Hebrew “chariot” and horsemen? 10And now was it without Yahweh that I have come up against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it!” ’ ”
11And Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we can understand#Or “hear” it, and you must not speak to us in Judean in the hearing#Literally “ear” of the people who are on the wall.”
12But#Or “And” Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your masters and you? Was it not for the people who sit on the wall, to eat their dung and drink their urine#So Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib); the reading tradition (Qere) has “feet-water” with you?”
13Then#Or “And” Rabshakeh stood and called in a great voice in Judean 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 will not be able to deliver you! 15And do not let Hezekiah make you rely on Yahweh, saying, “Surely Yahweh will deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!” 16You must not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make a blessing#That is, a gesture of surrender with me, and come out to me, and each one will eat from his vine and from his fig tree and drink water from#Or “of” his cistern, 17until I come#Literally “my coming” and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, 18lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, ‘Yahweh will save us!’ Did the gods of the nations each save his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20Who are there among all the gods of these countries who have saved their land from my hand, that Yahweh should save Jerusalem from my hand?” ’ ”
21But#Or “And” they were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, “You must not answer him.” 22Then#Or “And” Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the palace,#Literally “house” Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder, came to Hezekiah with torn garments and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
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