1And it was done in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of Assyrians, ascended on all the strong cities of Judah, and took them. 2And the king of Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with great power; and he stood at the water conduit of the higher cistern, in the way of the field of a fuller, or (a) tucker (and he stopped by the water conduit of the Upper Pool, on the way to the Fuller’s Field). 3And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was on the house (who was over the king’s household), went out to him, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the chancellor.

4And Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye to Hezekiah, The great king, the king of Assyrians, saith these things, What is the trust, in which thou trustest? 5either by what counsel either strength disposest thou for to rebel? on whom hast thou trust, for thou hast gone away from me? 6Lo! thou trustest on this broken staff of (a) reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leaneth, either resteth, it shall enter into his hand, and shall pierce it; so doeth Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all men that trust in him. 7That if thou answerest to me, We trust in our Lord God; whether it is not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah did away, and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? (But if thou answerest to me, We trust in the Lord our God; was it not he, whose hill shrines and altars Hezekiah did away, and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar alone?) 8And now betake thee to my lord, the king of Assyrians, and I shall give to thee two thousand horses, and thou mayest not give of thee riders of those horses (if thou can find enough riders for those horses). 9And how shalt thou abide the face of the judge of one place of the less servants of my lord? That if thou trustest in Egypt, and in carts, and in knights; (And so how shalt thou stand before even the least of the servants of my lord? wilt thou still trust in the help of Egypt, and in their chariots, and in their horsemen?) 10and now whether I ascended to this land without the Lord, that I should destroy it? The Lord said to me, Ascend thou on this land, and destroy thou it. (and now have I come against this land without the Lord’s consent, to destroy it? Nay! The Lord himself said to me, Go thou out against this land, and destroy thou it.)

11And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the language of Syria, for we understand; speak thou not to us by the language of Jews, in the ears of the people, which is on the wall. (And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the Syrian language, or in Aramaic, for we shall understand; speak thou not to us by the language of the Jews, or in Hebrew, in the hearing of all the people who be on the wall.) 12And Rabshakeh said to them, Whether my lord sent me to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to the men that sit on the wall, that they eat their turds, and drink the piss off their feet, with you? (And Rabshakeh said to them, Hath my lord sent me only to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to all those who sit on the wall, who shall have to eat their own turds, and drink their own piss from off their own feet, yea, like you will?)

13And Rabshakeh stood, and cried with [a] great voice in the language of Jews, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyrians (the king of Assyria). 14The king saith these things, Hezekiah deceive not you, for he may not deliver you; (The king saith these things, Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he cannot save you;) 15and Hezekiah give not to you trust on the Lord, and say, The Lord delivering shall deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyrians. (and let not Hezekiah make you to trust in the Lord, and say, The Lord rescuing shall save us; and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.) 16Do not ye hear Hezekiah. For why the king of Assyrians saith these things, Make ye blessing with me, and go ye out to me; and eat ye each man his vinery, and each man his fig tree, and drink ye each man the water of his cistern, (Do not ye listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria saith these things, Make ye peace with me, and come ye out to me; and then each person shall eat the fruit of his own vine, and the figs from his own fig tree, and drink the water from his own cistern,) 17till I come, and take away you to a land which is as your land; to a land of wheat and of wine, to a land of loaves and of vineries. (until I come, and take you away to a land which is like your land; to a land full of corn, or of grain, and wine, a land full of loaves and of vineyards.) 18Hezekiah trouble not you, and say, The Lord shall deliver us. Whether the gods of folks delivered (to) each his land from the hand of the king of Assyrians? (Let not Hezekiah trouble you, and say, The Lord shall save us. Did any of the gods of these other nations rescue their lands from the hands, or the power, of the king of Assyria?) 19Where is the god of Hamath, and of Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Whether they delivered Samaria from mine hand? 20Who is of all [the] gods of these lands, that delivered his land from mine hand, (and so give thou reason to believe) that the Lord (shall) deliver Jerusalem from mine hand?

21And they were still, and answered not to him a word (and did not answer a word to him). For why the king commanded to them, and said, Answer ye not to him. 22And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was on the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, chancellor, entered with rent clothes to Hezekiah, and told to him the words of Rabshakeh. (And then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the king’s household, and Shebna, the writer, or the royal secretary, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the chancellor, entered to Hezekiah with torn clothes, and told him what Rabshakeh had said.)