| Christian Standard Bible | King James Bible |
| 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. | 1Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. |
| 2Then the king of Assyria sent his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer's Field. | 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 highway of the fuller's field. |
| 3Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to him. | 3Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. |
| 4The royal spokesman said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on? | 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? |
| 5You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me? | 5I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? |
| 6Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. | 6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. |
| 7Suppose you say to me, 'We rely on the LORD our God.' Isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You are to worship at this altar'? | 7But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? |
| 8"Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you two thousand horses if you're able to supply riders for them! | 8Now 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 can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master's servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? | 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 for horsemen? |
| 10Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the LORD's approval? The LORD said to me, 'Attack this land and destroy it.'" | 10And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. |
| 11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew within earshot of the people who are on the wall." | 11Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. |
| 12But the royal spokesman replied, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?" | 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 dung, and drink their own piss with you? |
| 13Then the royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! | 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. |
| 14This is what the king says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot rescue you. | 14Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. |
| 15Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the LORD, saying, 'The LORD will certainly rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'" | 15Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. |
| 16Don't listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: "Make peace with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern | 16Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; |
| 17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land--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, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. |
| 18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will rescue us.' Has any one of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? | 18Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? |
| 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my power? | 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? |
| 20Who among all the gods of these lands ever rescued his land from my power? So will the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?" | 20Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? |
| 21But they kept silent; they didn't say anything, for the king's command was, "Don't answer him." | 21But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king's commandment was, saying, Answer him not. |
| 22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman. | 22Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that 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. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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