| Berean Study Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. | 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. |
| 2And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, 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. | 2Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander, along with a very large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the field commander stopped at the aqueduct at the Upper Pool on the road to Laundryman's Field, |
| 3Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder, went out to him. | 3Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph's son Joah, 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? | 4The field commander told them: "Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah, 'This is what the mighty king, the king of Assyria, has to say: What is this "guarantee" that makes you yourself rely on it? |
| 5You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me? | 5Do you really think that guarantees alone can withstand strategy and military strength? On whom are you now depending, that you're rebelling 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. | 6Take note: you're relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the palm of anyone who leans on it. This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to everybody who depends on 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’? | 7But if you all say to me, "We are depending on the LORD our God"—isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, while he kept on telling Judah and Jerusalem, 'You are to worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem'? |
| 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! | 8Come now, all of you, make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you can furnish riders for 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? | 9How, then, can you repulse even one officer from the least of my master's officials, when you are depending for yourselves 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.’ ” | 10One other thing: have I really marched against this country to destroy it apart from the LORD's direction? The LORD himself ordered me, 'March against this country to 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 in the hearing of the people on the wall.” | 11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to him, "Please speak with your servants—with us —in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew where the people sitting on the wall can hear." |
| 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?” | 12But the field commander asked, "Was it only to all of you and to your master that my master sent me to speak these things? Wasn't it also to the men sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement 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! | 13Then the commander stood up and shouted out loud 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. | 14This is what the king of Assyria says: 'Don't let Hezekiah deceive you—for he cannot save 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.’ | 15Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD when he says, "The LORD will really deliver us!" and "This city will never be handed over to the king of Assyria!" |
| 16Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace 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, | 16Don't listen to Hezekiah, because this is what the king of Assyria says: 'Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then everyone will eat from his own vine and from his own fig tree, and everyone will 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. | 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—to 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? | 18Be careful not to let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, "The LORD will save us." Has any god of any nation ever delivered his country from 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? | 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim? Have they saved Samaria from me? |
| 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?” | 20Who among all the gods of these countries has delivered their land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from me?'" |
| 21But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.” | 21But the people remained silent and didn't respond to him with so much as a single word, because the king had commanded, "Don't 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. | 22Then Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and Asaph's son Joah, the recorder, approached Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and let him know what the field commander had said. |
| The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
|
