Isaiah 36
36
XXXVI
1Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fenced 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 stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the high-way of the fuller’s field. 3Then came forth unto him Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
4And Rabshakeh said unto them: Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? 5I say, sayest thou, (but they are vain words) there is counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? 6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will pierce his hand, and go through it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 7But if thou say to me, We trust in Jehovah our God: is it not He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 8Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to 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 away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10And am I now come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah hath said unto me, Go up against this land and destroy it.
11Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh: Speak, we beseech thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and speak not unto us in the Jewish language, in the hearing of the people who are on the wall. 12But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? Hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own filth, and drink their own urine with you?
13Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14Thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you. 15And let not Hezekiah make you trust in Jehovah; saying, Jehovah will certainly deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make peace with me and come out unto me. And eat ye every one of his own vine, and every one of his own fig-tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; 17until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and of vineyards. 18Let not Hezekiah seduce you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations delivered, each his own land, from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their own lands out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 21But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's command was, saying, Answer him not.
22Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
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Isaiah 36: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 36
36
Sennacherib’s message
1Assyria’s King Sennacherib marched against all of Judah’s fortified cities and captured them in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah. 2Assyria’s king sent his field commander from Lachish, together with a large army, to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stood at the water channel of the Upper Pool, which is on the road to the field where clothes are washed. 3Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who was the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder went out to them.
4Then the field commander said to them, “Say to Hezekiah: Assyria’s Great King says this: Why do you feel so confident? 5Do you think that empty words are the same as good strategy and the strength to fight? Who are you trusting that you now rebel against me? 6It appears that you are trusting in a staff—Egypt—that’s nothing but a broken reed! It will stab the hand of anyone who leans on it! That’s all that Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, is to anyone who trusts in him. 7Now suppose you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God.’ Isn’t he the one whose shrines and altars Hezekiah removed, telling Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship only at this altar’?
8“So now, make a wager with my master, Assyria’s king. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you can supply the riders! 9How will you drive back even the least important official among my master’s servants when you are relying on Egypt for chariots and riders? 10What’s more, do you think I’ve marched against this place to destroy it without the LORD’s support? It was the LORD who told me, ‘March against this land and destroy it!’”
11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it. Don’t speak with us in Hebrew,#36.11 MT Judean, so also 36:13 because the people on the wall will hear it.”
12The field commander said to them, “Did my master send me to speak these words just to you and your master and not also to the men on the wall? They are the ones who will have to eat their dung and drink their urine along with you.” 13Then the field commander stood up and shouted in Hebrew at the top of his voice: “Listen to the message of the great king, Assyria’s king. 14The king says this: Don’t let Hezekiah lie to you. He won’t be able to rescue you. 15Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to trust the LORD by saying, ‘The LORD will certainly rescue us. This city won’t be handed over to Assyria’s king.’
16“Don’t listen to Hezekiah, because this is what Assyria’s king says: Surrender to me and come out. Then each of you will eat from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own well 17until I come to take you to a land just like your land. It will be a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18Don’t let Hezekiah fool you by saying, ‘The LORD will rescue us.’ Did any of the other gods of the nations save their lands from the power of Assyria’s king? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did they rescue Samaria from my power? 20Which one of the gods from those countries has rescued their land from my power? Will the LORD save Jerusalem from my power?”
21But they kept quiet and didn’t answer him with a single word, because King Hezekiah’s command was, “Don’t answer him!” 22Hilkiah’s son Eliakim, who was the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with ripped clothes. They told him what the field commander had said.
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