1 N ow in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

And it cometh to pass, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, come up hath Sennacherib king of Asshur against all the fenced cities of Judah, and seizeth them.

2 A nd the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a great army. And he stood by the canal of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.

And the king of Asshur sendeth Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, unto the king Hezekiah, with a heavy force, and he standeth by the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field,

3 T hen came out to meet him Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recording historian.

and go forth unto him doth Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer.

4 A nd the Rabshakeh said to them, Say to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What reason for confidence is this in which you trust?

And Rabshakeh saith unto them, `Say ye, I pray you, unto Hezekiah, `Thus said the great king, the king of Asshur, What this confidence in which thou hast confided?

5 D o you suppose that mere words of the lips can pass for warlike counsel and strength? Now in whom do you trust and on whom do you rely, that you rebel against me?

I have said: Only, a word of the lips! counsel and might for battle: now, on whom hast thou trusted, that thou hast rebelled against me?

6 B ehold, you trust in the staff of this bruised and broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust and rely on him.

`Lo, thou hast trusted on the staff of this broken reed -- on Egypt -- which a man leaneth on, and it hath gone into his hand, and pierced it -- so Pharaoh king of Egypt to all those trusting on him.

7 B ut if you say to me, We trust in and rely on the Lord our God—is it not He Whose high places and Whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar?

`And dost thou say unto me, Unto Jehovah our God we have trusted? is it not He, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath turned aside, and saith to Judah and to Jerusalem, Before this altar ye do bow yourselves?

8 N ow therefore, I pray you, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria and give him pledges, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

`And now, negotiate, I pray thee, with my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to put for thee riders on them.

9 H ow then can you repulse the attack of a single captain of the least of my master’s servants, when you put your reliance on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

And how dost thou turn back the face of one captain of the least of the servants of my lord, and dost trust for thee on Egypt, for chariot and for horsemen?

10 M oreover, is it without the Lord that I have now come up against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

And now, without Jehovah have I come up against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said unto me, Go up unto this land, and thou hast destroyed it.'

11 T hen Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, We pray you, speak to your servants in the Aramaic or Syrian language, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in the language of the Jews in the hearing of the people on the wall.

And Eliakim saith -- and Shebna and Joah -- unto Rabshakeh, `Speak, we pray thee, unto thy servants Aramaean, for we are understanding; and do not speak unto us Jewish, in the ears of the people who on the wall.'

12 B ut the Rabshakeh said, Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you? Has he not sent me to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?

And Rabshakeh saith, `Unto thy lord, and unto thee, hath my lord sent me to speak these words? is it not for the men -- those sitting on the wall to eat their own dung and to drink their own water with you?'

13 T hen the Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the language of the Jews: Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

And Rabshakeh standeth and calleth with a great voice Jewish, and saith, `Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Asshur:

14 T hus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you.

Thus said the king, Let not Hezekiah lift you up, for he is not able to deliver you;

15 N or let Hezekiah make you trust in and rely on the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

and let not Hezekiah make you trust unto Jehovah, saying, Jehovah doth certainly deliver us, this city is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.

16 D o 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 from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree and drink every one the water of his own cistern,

`Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus said the king of Asshur, Make ye with me a blessing, and come out unto me, and eat ye each of his vine, and each of his fig-tree, and drink ye each the waters of his own well,

17 U ntil I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

till my coming in, and I have taken you unto a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards;

18 B eware lest Hezekiah persuade and mislead you by saying, The Lord will deliver us. Has any one of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

lest Hezekiah doth persuade you, saying, Jehovah doth deliver us. `Have the gods of the nations delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Asshur?

19 W here are the gods of Hamath and Arpad ? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? And have delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Where the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where the gods of Sepharvaim, that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand?

20 W ho among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land out of my hand, that the Lord can deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

Who among all the gods of these lands they who have delivered their land out of my hand, that Jehovah doth deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'

21 B ut they kept still and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, Do not answer him.

And they keep silent, and have not answered him a word, for a command of the king is, saying, `Do not answer him.'

22 T hen Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the recording historian came to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who over the house, cometh in, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the remembrancer, unto Hezekiah with rent garments, and they declare to him the words of Rabshakeh.