36In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.H702H6240H8141H4428H2396H5576H4428H804H5927H1219H5892H3063H86102Then the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.H4428H804H7971H7262H3923H3389H4428H2396H3515H2426H5975H8585H5945H1295H4546H3526H77043These are the officials who went out to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.H3318H471H2518H1121H1004H7644H5608H3098H623H1121H2142
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
4Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah. “This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?H7262H559H559H2396H559H1419H4428H4428H804H986H9825Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?H559H8193H1697H6098H1369H4421H982H47756On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!H982H4938H7533H7070H4714H376H5564H935H3709H5344H6547H4428H4714H9827“But perhaps you will say to me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?H559H982H3068H430H1116H4196H2396H5493H559H3063H3389H7812H6440H41968“I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!H6148H113H4428H804H5414H505H5483H3201H5414H73929With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers?H7725H6440H259H6346H6996H113H5650H982H4714H7393H657110What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us, ‘Attack this land and destroy it!’”H5927H1107H3068H776H7843H3068H559H5927H776H784311Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.”H559H471H7644H3098H7262H1696H5650H762H8085H1696H3066H241H5971H234612But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied, “Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”H7262H559H113H7971H113H1696H1697H582H3427H2346H398H2716H6675H8354H4325H7272H789013Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!H7262H5975H7121H1419H6963H3066H559H8085H1697H1419H4428H4428H80414This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.H559H4428H2396H5377H3201H533715Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’H2396H982H3068H559H3068H5337H5337H5892H5414H3027H4428H80416“Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me—open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.H8085H2396H559H4428H804H6213H1293H3318H398H376H1612H376H8384H8354H376H4325H95317Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one—a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.H935H3947H776H776H776H1715H8492H776H3899H375418“Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?H2396H5496H559H3068H5337H376H430H1471H5337H776H3027H4428H80419What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?H430H2574H774H430H5617H5337H8111H302720What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”H430H776H5337H776H3027H3068H5337H3389H302721But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them, “Do not answer him.”H2790H6030H1697H4428H4687H559H603022Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.H935H471H1121H2518H1004H7644H5608H3098H1121H623H2142H2396H899H7167H5046H1697H7262
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, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.H702
