Assyria Attacks Judah^(A)

¹³ During Hezekiah’s fourteenth year as king, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities of Judah and captured them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. He said, “I have done wrong. ·Leave me alone [Withdraw from me], and I will ·pay [bear] anything you ·ask [impose].” So the king of Assyria made Hezekiah pay ·about twenty-two thousand pounds [^Lthree hundred talents] of silver and ·two thousand pounds [^Lthirty talents] of gold. ¹⁵ Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was in the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord and in the ·palace [^Lking’s house] treasuries. ¹⁶ Hezekiah stripped all the gold that covered the doors and doorposts of the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. Hezekiah had ·put [overlaid] gold on these doors himself, but he gave it all to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent out his supreme commander, his chief officer, and his field commander. They went with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. When they came near the ·waterway [aqueduct; conduit] from the upper pool on the road ·where people do their laundry [to the Fuller’s Field], they stopped. ¹⁸ They called for the king, so the king sent Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah out to meet them. Eliakim son of Hilkiah was the ·palace [^Lking’s house] manager, Shebna was the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph was the ·recorder [royal historian].

¹⁹ The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this:

“‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says: ·What can you trust in now [On what do you base your confidence; Where does this confidence come from]? ²⁰ You say you have ·battle plans [strategy; counsel] and ·power [strength] for war, but your words ·mean nothing [are empty]. Whom are you ·trusting [relying/counting on] for help so that you ·turn [rebel] against me? ²¹ Look, you are depending on Egypt to help you, but Egypt is like a ·splintered [broken] ·walking stick [reed]. If you lean on it for help, it will stab your hand and ·hurt [pierce] you. So it will be with the king of Egypt for all those who depend on him. ²² You might say, “We are depending on the Lord our God,” but ·Hezekiah [^Ldid not Hezekiah…?] destroyed the Lord’s altars and ·the places of worship [^Lhigh places; 12:3]. Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar in Jerusalem.”

²³ “‘Now make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with my ·master [lord], the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough men to ride them [^Ca taunt that Judah’s army was small]. ²⁴ You cannot ·defeat [repel] one of my ·master’s [lord’s] least important officers, so why do you depend on Egypt to give you chariots and ·horsemen [charioteers]? ²⁵ ·I have not [^LDo you think I have…?] come to attack and destroy this place without ·an order from the Lord [^Lthe Lord]. The Lord himself told me to come ·to [against] this country and destroy it.’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand it. Don’t speak to us in ·Hebrew [Judean], because the people on the city wall can hear you.”

²⁷ “No,” the commander said, “my ·master [lord] did not send me to tell these ·things [words] only to your ·master [lord] and you. He sent me to speak also to those people sitting on the wall who, like you, will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”

²⁸ Then the commander stood and shouted loudly in ·the Hebrew language [Judean], “·Listen to what [^LHear the word of] the great king, the king of Assyria, says! ²⁹ The king says you should not let Hezekiah ·fool [deceive; delude] you, because he can’t ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] you from my ·power [^Lhand]. ³⁰ Don’t let Hezekiah ·talk [persuade] you into trusting the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] us. This city won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria.’

³¹ “Don’t listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me, and come out of the city to me. Then everyone will be free to eat the fruit from his own grapevine and fig tree and to drink water from his own well. ³² After that I will come and take you to a land like your own—a land with grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olives, and honey. Choose to live and not to die [^Ca promise that if they gave up, their resettlement would be pleasant]!’

“Don’t listen to Hezekiah. He is ·fooling [misleading] you when he says, ‘The Lord will ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] us.’ ³³ Has a god of any other nation ·saved [rescued; ^Tdelivered] his people from the ·power [^Lhand] of the king of Assyria? ³⁴ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? They did not ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] Samaria from my power. ³⁵ Not one of all the gods of these countries has ·saved [rescued; ^Tdelivered] his people from me. Neither can the Lord ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] Jerusalem from my ·power [^Lhand].”

³⁶ The people were silent. They didn’t answer the commander at all, because King Hezekiah had ordered, “Don’t answer him.”

³⁷ Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah tore their clothes [^Ca sign of mourning or distress]. (Eliakim son of Hilkiah was the ·palace [king’s house] manager, Shebna was the royal secretary, and Joah son of Asaph was the ·recorder [royal historian].) The three men went to Hezekiah and told him what the field commander had said.

Assyria Attacks Judah^(A)

32 After Hezekiah ·did all these things to serve the Lord [accomplished these faithful acts], Sennacherib king of Assyria ·came and attacked [invaded] Judah. He and his army ·surrounded and attacked [besieged] the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities, ·hoping [intending] to take them for himself. ² Hezekiah ·knew [realized] that Sennacherib had come to Jerusalem to attack it. ³ So Hezekiah and his ·officers [officials] and army ·commanders [officers] decided to ·cut off [stop the flow of] the water from the springs outside the city. So they helped Hezekiah. ⁴ Many people ·came [gathered] and ·cut off [stopped up] all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. They said, “Why should the king of Assyria come and find ·plenty of [abundant] water?” ⁵ Then Hezekiah ·made Jerusalem stronger. He […took courage/or worked hard/^Lstrengthened himself and] rebuilt all the broken parts of the wall and ·put [erected; raised] towers on it. He also built another wall outside the first one and strengthened the ·area that was filled in on the east side [^LMillo; ^Cpossibly fortified terraces] of the City of David [^CJerusalem]. He also made many weapons and shields.

⁶ Hezekiah ·put [appointed] army ·commanders [officers] over the ·people [or army] and met with them ·at the open place near [in the square at] the city gate. Hezekiah encouraged them, saying, ⁷ “Be strong and ·brave [courageous]. Don’t be afraid or ·worried [panic] because of the king of Assyria or ·his large army [all his horde]. There is a greater ·power [one] with us than with him. ⁸ He only has ·men [human strength; ^Lan arm of flesh], but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” The people were encouraged by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

⁹ After this King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his army ·surrounded and attacked [besieged] Lachish. Then he sent his ·officers [officials; servants] to Jerusalem with this message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah in Jerusalem:

¹⁶ Sennacherib’s ·officers [officials] ·said worse things against [further insulted/mocked] the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ King Sennacherib also wrote letters ·insulting [mocking] the Lord, the God of Israel. They spoke against him, saying, “The gods of the other nations could not ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] their people from me. In the same way Hezekiah’s ·god [God] won’t be able to ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] his people from me.” ¹⁸ Then the king’s ·officers [officials] shouted in ·Hebrew [^Lthe language of Judah], calling out to the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall. The ·officers [officials] wanted to ·scare [frighten and terrify] the people so they could capture Jerusalem. ¹⁹ They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as though he were like the gods the people of the ·world [earth] worshiped, which are made by human hands.

The Assyrians Invade Judah^(A)

36 During Hezekiah’s fourteenth year as king [^C701 bc], Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities of Judah and captured them. ² The king of Assyria sent out ·his field commander [or chief advisor; or the Rabshakeh] with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem [2 Chr. 32:9]. When the commander came near the ·waterway [aqueduct; conduit] from the upper pool on the road ·where people do their laundry [or to the Launderer’s/^TFuller’s Field], he stopped. ³ Eliakim son of Hilkiah [22:20], ·the palace manager [^Lwho was over the house], Shebna [22:15], the ·royal secretary [scribe], and Joah son of Asaph, the ·recorder [royal historian] went out to meet him.

⁴ The ·field commander [chief advisor; or Rabshakeh] said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this:

“‘The great king, the king of Assyria, says: ·What can you trust in now [On what do you base your confidence; Where does this confidence come from]? ⁵ You say you have ·battle plans [strategy; counsel] and ·power [strength] for war, but your words ·mean nothing [are empty]. Whom are you ·trusting [relying/counting on] for help so that you ·turn [rebel] against me? ⁶ Look, you are depending on Egypt to help you, but Egypt is like a ·splintered [broken] ·walking stick [reed]. If you lean on it for help, it will stab your hand and ·hurt [pierce] you. So it will be with the king of Egypt for all those who depend on him. ⁷ You might say, “We are depending on the Lord our God,” but ·Hezekiah destroyed [^Ldid not Hezekiah destroy…?] the Lord’s altars and ·the places of worship [^Lhigh places; 2 Kin. 18:4; 2 Chr. 30:14; 31:1]. Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar [^Cat the temple in Jerusalem; the Assyrian official wrongly assumes that the other altars and high places were dedicated to the Lord and that restricting worship to Jerusalem would offend him; Deut. 12].”

⁸ “‘Now make an ·agreement [pledge; deal] with my ·master [lord], the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough men to ride them [^Ca taunt that Judah’s army is too small even if Assyria were to supply it]. ⁹ You cannot ·defeat [repel] one of my ·master’s [lord’s] least important officers, so why do you depend on Egypt to give you chariots and ·horsemen [charioteers]? ¹⁰ ·I have not [^LDo you think I have…?] come to attack and destroy this country without ·an order from the Lord [^Lthe Lord]. The Lord himself told me to come ·to [against] this country and destroy it [^Cechoing Isaiah’s prophecy that this is judgment from the Lord].’”

¹¹ Then Eliakim [22:20], Shebna [22:15], and Joah said to the ·field commander [chief advisor; or Rabshakeh], “Please speak to ·us [^Lyour servants] in the Aramaic language [^Cthe language of trade and diplomacy]. We understand it. Don’t speak to us in ·Hebrew [^LJudean], because the people on the city wall can hear you.”

¹² But the commander said, “My master did not send me to tell these ·things [words] only to you and your ·king [^Lmaster; lord]. He sent me to speak also to those people sitting on the wall who will have to eat their own ·dung [excrement] and drink their own urine like you [^Cbecause of shortages caused by the upcoming siege].”

¹³ Then the commander stood and shouted loudly in ·the Hebrew language [^LJudean], “·Listen to what [^LHear the word of] the great king, the king of Assyria, says. ¹⁴ The king says you should not let Hezekiah ·fool [deceive; delude] you, because he can’t ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] you. ¹⁵ Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting the Lord by saying, ‘The Lord will surely ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] us. This city won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria.’

¹⁶ “Don’t listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me, and come out of the city to me. Then everyone will be free to eat the fruit from his own grapevine and fig tree and to drink water from his own ·well [cistern; ^Csymbols of freedom and prosperity]. ¹⁷ ·After that [^L…until] I will come and take you to a land like your own—a land with grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.’

¹⁸ “Don’t let Hezekiah ·fool [mislead] you, saying, ‘The Lord will save us.’ Has a god of any other nation saved his people from the ·power [^Lhand] of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad [^Ccities conquered by Assyria; 10:9]? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim [^Ccity in northern Syria conquered by Assyria]? They did not save Samaria from my ·power [^Lhand]. ²⁰ ·Not one [^LWhich…?] of all the gods of these countries has ·saved [rescued; ^Tdelivered] his people from me. Neither can the Lord ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] Jerusalem from my ·power [^Lhand].”

²¹ ·The people [^LThey] were silent. They didn’t answer the commander at all, because King Hezekiah had ordered, “Don’t answer him.”

²² Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah [22:20], ·the palace manager [^Lwho was over the house], Shebna [22:15], the ·royal secretary [scribe], and Joah son of Asaph, the ·recorder [royal historian], went to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes [^Ca sign of grief, anguish or despair] and went in and told him what the field commander had said.