Isaiah 36
36
The Assyrians Invade Judah
1During Hezekiah’s 14th year as king, Sennacherib king of Assyria went to fight against all the strong cities of Judah. Sennacherib defeated those cities. 2He sent his commander with a large army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The commander and his army left Lachish and went to Jerusalem. They stopped near the aqueduct#36:2 aqueduct A ditch or pipe that carries water from one place to another. Here, this is the Shiloah, a channel that carried water from Gihon Spring to the Old Pool and the Pool of Siloam. by the Upper Pool,#36:2 Upper Pool The Pool of Siloam at the southern tip of the City of David (Jerusalem), just above the older pool now called Birket al Hamrah. on the street that leads up to Laundryman’s Field.
3Three men from Jerusalem went out to talk with the commander. These men were Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Joah son of Asaph, and Shebna. Eliakim was the palace manager, Joah was the record keeper, and Shebna was the royal secretary.
4The commander told them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria says:
“‘What are you trusting in to help you? 5I tell you, if you are trusting in power and great battle plans, that is useless. Those are nothing but empty words. Now I ask you, who do you trust so much that you are willing to rebel against me? 6Are you depending on Egypt to help you? Egypt is like a broken walking stick. If you lean on it for support, it will only stab you and hurt you. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, cannot be trusted by anyone who depends on him for help.
7“‘So maybe you will say, “We trust the Lord our God to help us.” But Hezekiah destroyed the altars and high places where people worshiped your God, right? Hezekiah told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar here in Jerusalem.”
8“‘If you still want to fight, my master, the king of Assyria, will make this agreement with you. I promise that I will give you 2000 horses if you can find enough men to ride them into battle. 9But even then, you couldn’t beat even one of my master’s lowest ranking officers. So why do you still depend on Egypt’s chariots and horse soldiers?
10“‘Now, do you think I came to this country to destroy it without the Lord’s help. No, it was the Lord who said to me, “Go up against this country and destroy it!”’”
11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the commander, “Please, speak to us in Hebrew.#36:11 Hebrew Literally, “Judean,” the language of Judah and Israel. We understand that language. Don’t speak to us in the language of Judah. If you use our language, the people on the city walls will understand you.”
12But the commander said, “My master sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you and your master. I must also speak to those people sitting there on the wall. When we surround your city, they will suffer too. Like you, they will become so hungry they will eat their own waste and drink their own urine!”
13Then the commander, shouting loudly in Hebrew,#36:13 Hebrew Literally, “Judean,” the language of Judah and Israel. gave this warning to them all:
Hear this message from the great king, the king of Assyria! 14This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah fool you! He cannot save you from my power. 15Don’t listen to him when he tells you to trust in the Lord. Don’t believe him when he says, “The Lord will save us. He will not let the king of Assyria defeat the city.”
16Don’t listen to Hezekiah! This is what the king of Assyria says: Come out here and show me that you want peace. Then you will all be free to have grapes from your own vines, figs from your own trees, and water from your own well. 17After some time, I will come and take you to a land like your own. In that new land, you will have plenty of grain for making bread and vineyards for producing wine.
18Don’t believe Hezekiah when he tells you, “The Lord will save us.” He is wrong. Did any of the gods of other nations save their land from the king of Assyria? 19When I destroyed the cities of Hamath and Arpad, where were their gods? What about the gods of Sepharvaim? Were any gods able to save Samaria from my power? 20None of the gods of these other places were able to save their land from me! So why do you think the Lord can save Jerusalem from me?
21But the people were silent. They did not say a word to the commander, because King Hezekiah had commanded them, “Don’t say anything to him.”
22Then the palace manager (Eliakim son of Hilkiah), the royal secretary (Shebna), and the record keeper (Joah son of Asaph) went to Hezekiah. Their clothes were torn to show they were upset. They told Hezekiah everything the Assyrian commander had said.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Isaiah 36
36
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
(2 Kings 18:13–37; 2 Chronicles 32:1–8)
1In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. 2And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh,#36:2 Hebrew Rabshakeh is the title of a high-ranking Assyrian military officer; here and throughout chapters 36 and 37, as well as 2 Kings 18 and 19 with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.
3Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him.
4The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours? 5You claim to have #36:5 Literally You speak; see DSS and 2 Kings 18:20; MT I speak. a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?
6Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone 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 He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?
8Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 9For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10So now, was it apart from the Lord that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord Himself 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 in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak to us in Hebrew #36:11 Or in the dialect of Judah; also in verse 13 in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
12But the Rabshakeh replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to you and your master, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot deliver you. 15Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘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 this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me #36:16 Or Make a blessing with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree, and drink water from his own cistern, 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
21But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
22Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
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