| English Standard Version | International Standard Version |
| 1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. | 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 from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’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, |
| 3And there came out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. | 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. |
| 4And the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust 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? |
| 5Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, 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? |
| 6Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man 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 it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall 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'? |
| 8Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set 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! |
| 9How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master’s servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for 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? |
| 10Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD 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, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are 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 said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed 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 in a loud voice in the language of Judah: “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! |
| 14Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to 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 make you trust in the LORD by 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 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 thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of 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 land, a land of grain and 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.' |
| 18Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of 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 out of 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 have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of 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 they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s command was, “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 Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told 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. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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