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Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah and took them
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And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the uller’s field
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Then came forth unto him Eliakim lkiah’s son which was over the house and Shebna the scribe and Joah Asaph’s son the recorder
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And Rabshakeh said unto them Say ye now to Hezekiah Thus saith the great king the king of Assyria What confidence is this wherein thou trustest
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I say sayest thou but they are but vain words I have counsel and strength for war now on whom dost thou trust that thou rebellest against me
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Lo thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed on Egypt whereon if a man lean it will go into his hand and pierce it so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him
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But if thou say to me We trust in the LORD our God is it not he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away and said to Judah and to Jerusalem Ye shall worship before this altar
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Now therefore give pledges I pray thee to my master the king of Assyria and I will give thee two thousand horses if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them
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How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my aster’s servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen
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And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it the LORD said unto me Go up against this land and destroy it
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Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh Speak I pray thee unto thy servants in the Syrian language for we understand it and speak not to us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall
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But Rabshakeh said Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you
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Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language and said Hear ye the words of the great king the king of Assyria
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Thus saith the king Let not Hezekiah deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you
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Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD saying The LORD will surely deliver us this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria
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Hearken not to Hezekiah for thus saith the king of Assyria Make an agreement with me by a present and come out to me and eat ye every one of his vine and every one of his fig tree and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern
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Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land a land of corn and wine a land of bread and vineyards
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Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you saying The LORD will deliver us Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria
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Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad where are the gods of Sepharvaim and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand
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Who are they among all the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand
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But they held their peace and answered him not a word for the king’s commandment was saying Answer him not
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Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah that was over the household and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder to Hezekiah with their clothes rent and told him the words of Rabshakeh