| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. | 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. |
| 2Then the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. | 2The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. The chief adviser stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. |
| 3And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. | 3Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him. |
| 4Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? | 4The chief adviser said to them, "Tell Hezekiah: 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: "What is your source of confidence? |
| 5I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? | 5Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? |
| 6Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. | 6Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! |
| 7“But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?” ’ | 7Perhaps you will tell me, 'We are trusting in the LORD our God.' But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship at this altar.' |
| 8Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! | 8Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. |
| 9How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? | 9Certainly you will not refuse one of my master's minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. |
| 10Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ” | 10Furthermore it was by the command of the LORD that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The LORD told me, 'March up against this land and destroy it!'"'" |
| 11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” | 11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, "Speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak with us in the Judahite dialect in the hearing of the people who are on the wall." |
| 12But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?” | 12But the chief adviser said, "My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!" |
| 13Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! | 13The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, "Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. |
| 14Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; | 14This is what the king says: 'Don't let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you! |
| 15nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ | 15Don't let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the LORD by saying, "The LORD will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria." |
| 16Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; | 16Don't listen to Hezekiah!' For this is what the king of Assyria says, 'Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from 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 to a land just like your own--a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. |
| 18Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? | 18Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, "The LORD will rescue us." Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? |
| 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? | 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power? |
| 20Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ” | 20Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the LORD rescue Jerusalem from my power?'" |
| 21But they held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” | 21They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, "Don't respond to him." |
| 22Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. | 22Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief and reported to him what the chief adviser had said. |
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