Dual Panel1In the fourteenth <06240> <0702> year <08141> of King <04428> Hezekiah’s <02396> reign, King <04428> Sennacherib <05576> of Assyria <0804> marched up <05927> against <05921> all <03605> the fortified <01219> cities <05892> of Judah <03063> and captured <08610> them.
2The king <04428> of Assyria <0804> sent <07971> his chief adviser <07262> from Lachish <03923> to <0413> King <04428> Hezekiah <02396> in Jerusalem <03389>, along with a large <03515> army <02426>. The chief adviser stood <05975> at the conduit <08585> of the upper <05945> pool <01295> which is located on the road <04546> to the field <07704> where they wash <03526> and dry cloth.
3Eliakim <0471> son <01121> of Hilkiah <02518>, the palace <01004> supervisor <05921>, accompanied by Shebna <07644> the scribe <05608> and Joah <03098> son <01121> of Asaph <0623>, the secretary <02142>, went out <03318> to <0413> meet him.
4The chief adviser <07262> said <0559> to <0413> them, “Tell <0559> Hezekiah <02396>: ‘This is what <03541> the great <01419> king <04428>, the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>, says <0559>: “What <04100> is your source of confidence <0986>?
5Your claim <0559> to have a strategy <06098> and <0389> military <04421> strength <01369> is just empty talk <08193> <01697>. In <05921> whom <04310> are you trusting <0982>, that <03588> you would dare to rebel <04775> against me?
6Look <02009>, you must be trusting <0982> in <05921> Egypt <04714>, that splintered <07533> reed <07070> staff <04938>. If someone <0376> leans <05564> on <05921> it for support, it punctures <0935> his hand <03709> and wounds <05344> him. That is what <03651> Pharaoh <06547> king <04428> of Egypt <04714> does to all <03605> who trust <0982> in him!
7Perhaps <03588> you will tell <0559> me, ‘We are trusting <0982> in the Lord <03069> our God <0430>.’ But Hezekiah <02396> is the one <01931> who <0834> eliminated <05493> his high places <01116> and altars <04196> and then told <0559> the people of Judah <03063> and Jerusalem <03389>, ‘You must worship <07812> at <06440> this <02088> altar <04196>.’
8Now <06258> make a deal <06148> with <0854> my master <0113> the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>, and I will give <05414> you two thousand <0505> horses <05483>, provided <0518> you can <03201> find <05414> enough riders <07392> for <05921> them.
9Certainly <0349> you will not refuse <06440> <07725> one <0259> of my master’s <0113> minor <06996> officials <05650> and trust <0982> in <05921> Egypt <04714> for chariots <07393> and horsemen <06571>.
10Furthermore <06258> it was by the command of the Lord <03068> that I marched up <05927> against <05921> this <02063> land <0776> to destroy <07843> it. The Lord <03068> told <0559> me, ‘March up <05927> against <0413> this <02063> land <0776> and destroy <07843> it!’”’”
11Eliakim <0471>, Shebna <07644>, and Joah <03098> said <0559> to <0413> the chief adviser <07262>, “Speak <01696> to <0413> your servants <05650> in Aramaic <0762>, for <03588> we <0587> understand <08085> it. Don’t <0408> speak <01696> with us in <0413> the Judahite dialect <03066> in the hearing <0241> of the people <05971> who <0834> are on <05921> the wall <02346>.”
12But the chief adviser <07262> said <0559>, “My master <0113> did not <03808> send <07971> me to <0413> speak <01696> these <0428> words <01697> only to your master <0113> and to you. His message is also for the men <0376> who sit <03427> on <05921> the wall <02346>, for they will eat <0398> their own excrement <02716> and drink <08354> their own urine <07890> along with <05973> you!”
13The chief adviser <07262> then stood <05975> there and called out <07121> loudly <01419> <06963> in the Judahite dialect <03066>, “Listen <08085> to the message <01697> of the great <01419> king <04428>, the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>.
14This is what <03541> the king <04428> says <0559>: ‘Don’t <0408> let Hezekiah <02396> mislead <05377> you, for <03588> he is not <03808> able <03201> to rescue <05337> you!
15Don’t <0408> let Hezekiah <02396> talk you into <0413> trusting <0982> in the Lord <03068> by saying <0559>, “The Lord <03068> will certainly rescue <05337> <05337> us; this <02063> city <05892> will not <03808> be handed over <03027> <05414> to the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>.”
16Don’t <0408> listen <08085> to <0413> Hezekiah <02396>!’ For <03588> this is what <03541> the king <04428> of Assyria <0804> says <0559>, ‘Send <06213> me a token of your submission <01293> and surrender <03318> to <0413> me. Then each <0376> of you may eat <0398> from his own <0376> vine <01612> and fig tree <08384> and drink <08354> water <04325> from his own <0376> cistern <0953>,
17until <05704> I come <0935> and take <03947> you to <0413> a land <0776> just like your own– a land <0776> <0776> of grain <01715> and new wine <08492>, a land <0776> of bread <03899> and vineyards <03754>.
18Hezekiah <02396> is misleading <05496> you when he says <0559>, “The Lord <03068> will rescue <05337> us.” Has any of the gods <0430> of the nations <01471> rescued <05337> his land <0776> from the power <03027> of the king <04428> of Assyria <0804>?
19Where <0346> are the gods <0430> of Hamath <02574> and Arpad <0774>? Where <0346> are the gods <0430> of Sepharvaim <05617>? Indeed <03588>, did any gods rescue <05337> Samaria <08111> from my power <03027>?
20Who <04310> among all <03605> the gods <0430> of these <0428> lands <0776> have rescued <05337> their lands <0776> from my power <03027>? So <03588> how can the Lord <03068> rescue <05337> Jerusalem <03389> from my power <03027>?’”
21They were silent <02790> and did not <03808> respond <06030>, for <03588> the king <04428> had ordered <04687>, “Don’t <03808> respond <06030> to him <01931>.”
22Eliakim <0471> son <01121> of Hilkiah <02518>, the palace supervisor <01004>, accompanied <0935> by Shebna <07644> the scribe <05608> and Joah <03098> son <01121> of Asaph <0623>, the secretary <02142>, went to <0413> Hezekiah <02396> with their clothes <0899> torn <07167> in grief and reported <05046> to him what <01697> the chief adviser <07262> had said.