| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. | 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. |
| 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, | 2Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, 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 Fuller's Field. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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? | 4The Rabshakeh said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on? |
| 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? | 5I say that your strategy and military preparedness are mere words. What are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me? |
| 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! | 6Look, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will enter and pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him. |
| 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'? | 7Suppose you say to me, 'We trust in 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? |
| 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! | 8Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you 2,000 horses if you're able to supply riders for them! |
| 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? | 9How then can you drive back a single officer among the weakest of my master's officers and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? |
| 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.'" | 10Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the LORD's approval? The LORD said to me, 'Attack this land and destroy it.'" |
| 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." | 11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "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." |
| 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?" | 12But the Rabshakeh 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?" |
| 13Then the commander stood up and shouted out loud in Hebrew: "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! | 13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! |
| 14This is what the king of Assyria says: 'Don't let Hezekiah deceive you—for he cannot save you! | 14This is what the king says: "Don't let Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot deliver you. |
| 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!" | 15Don't let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD, saying, 'The LORD will certainly deliver us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'" |
| 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, | 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 |
| 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.' | 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. |
| 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? | 18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the power of the king of Assyria? |
| 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sephar-vaim? Have they saved Samaria from me? | 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my power? |
| 20Who among all the gods of these countries has delivered their land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from me?'" | 20Who among all the gods of these lands ever delivered his land from my power? So will the LORD deliver Jerusalem." |
| 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." | 21But they kept silent; they didn't say anything, for the king's command was, "Don't answer him." |
| 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. | 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 Rabshakeh. |
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