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36 Et factum est in quartodecimo anno regis Ezechiae, ascendit Sennacherib, rex Assyriorum, super omnes civitates Juda munitas, et cepit eas.

Et misit rex Assyriorum Rabsacen de Lachis in Jerusalem, ad regem Ezechiam in manu gravi: et stetit in aquaeductu piscinae superioris in via Agri fullonis.

Et egressus est ad eum Eliacim, filius Helciae, qui erat super domum, et Sobna scriba, et Joahe filius Asaph, a commentariis.

Et dixit ad eos Rabsaces: Dicite Ezechiae: Haec dicit rex magnus, rex Assyriorum: Quae est ista fiducia qua confidis?

aut quo consilio vel fortitudine rebellare disponis? super quem habes fiduciam, quia recessisti a me?

Ecce confidis super baculum arundineum confractum istum, super AEgyptum; cui si innixus fuerit homo, intrabit in manum ejus, et perforabit eam: sic Pharao, rex AEgypti, omnibus qui confidunt in eo.

Quod si responderis mihi: In Domino Deo nostro confidimus; nonne ipse est cujus abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria, et dixit Judae et Jerusalem: Coram altari isto adorabitis?

Et nunc trade te domino meo, regi Assyriorum, et dabo tibi duo millia equorum, nec poteris ex te praebere ascensores eorum:

et quomodo sustinebis faciem judicis unius loci ex servis domini mei minoribus? Quod si confidis in AEgypto, in quadrigis et in equitibus,

10 et nunc numquid sine Domino ascendi ad terram istam, ut disperderem eam? Dominus dixit ad me: Ascende super terram istam, et disperde eam.

11 Et dixit Eliacim, et Sobna, et Joahe, ad Rabsacen: Loquere ad servos tuos syra lingua; intelligimus enim; ne loquaris ad nos judaice in auribus populi qui est super murum.

12 Et dixit ad eos Rabsaces: Numquid ad dominum tuum et ad te misit me dominus meus, ut loquerer omnia verba ista? et non potius ad viros qui sedent in muro, ut comedant stercora sua, et bibant urinam pedum suorum vobiscum?

13 Et stetit Rabsaces, et clamavit voce magna judaice, et dixit: Audite verba regis magni, regis Assyriorum!

14 Haec dicit rex: Non seducat vos Ezechias, quia non poterit eruere vos.

15 Et non vobis tribuat fiduciam Ezechias super Domino, dicens: Eruens liberabit nos Dominus: non dabitur civitas ista in manu regis Assyriorum.

16 Nolite audire Ezechiam; haec enim dicit rex Assyriorum: Facite mecum benedictionem, et egredimini ad me, et comedite unusquisque vineam suam, et unusquisque ficum suam, et bibite unusquisque aquam cisternae suae,

17 donec veniam, et tollam vos ad terram quae est ut terra vestra, terram frumenti et vini, terram panum et vinearum.

18 Nec conturbet vos Ezechias, dicens: Dominus liberabit nos. Numquid liberaverunt dii gentium unusquisque terram suam de manu regis Assyriorum?

19 Ubi est deus Emath et Arphad? ubi est deus Sepharvaim? numquid liberaverunt Samariam de manu mea?

20 Quis est ex omnibus diis terrarum istarum qui eruerit terram suam de manu mea, ut eruat Dominus Jerusalem de manu mea?

21 Et siluerunt, et non responderunt ei verbum. Mandaverat enim rex, dicens: Ne respondeatis ei.

22 Et ingressus est Eliacim, filius Helciae, qui erat super domum, et Sobna scriba, et Joahe filius Asaph, a commentariis, ad Ezechiam, scissis vestibus, et nuntiaverunt ei verba Rabsacis.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(A)

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s(B) reign, Sennacherib(C) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(D) Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish(E) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,(F) Eliakim(G) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,(H) Shebna(I) the secretary,(J) and Joah(K) son of Asaph the recorder(L) went out to him.

The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(M) against me? Look, I know you are depending(N) on Egypt,(O) that splintered reed(P) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. But if you say to me, “We are depending(Q) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(R) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(S)

“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses(T)—if you can put riders on them! How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(U) for chariots(V) and horsemen[a]?(W) 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told(X) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah(Y) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(Z) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?(AA)

13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,(AB) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!(AC) 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(AD) you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(AE) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(AF)

16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(AG) and drink water from your own cistern,(AH) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(AI)—a land of grain and new wine,(AJ) a land of bread and vineyards.

18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(AK) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(AL) Have they rescued Samaria(AM) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(AN) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(AO)

21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”(AP)

22 Then Eliakim(AQ) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder(AR) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(AS) and told him what the field commander had said.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers