Dual PanelJerusalem delivered
1IN the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified towns of Judah.
2From Lachish he sent his chief officer with a strong force to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The officer halted by the conduit of the Upper Pool on the causeway leading to the Fuller's Field.
3There Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the comptroller of the household, came out to him, with Shebna the adjutant-general and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary of state.
4The chief officer said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is the message of the Great King, the king of Assyria: ‘What ground have you for this confidence of yours?
5Do you think words can take the place of skill and military strength? On whom then do you rely for support in your rebellion against me?
6On Egypt? Egypt is a splintered cane that will run into a man's hand and pierce it if he leans on it. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt proves to all who rely on him.
7And if you tell me that you are relying on the LORD your God, is he not the god whose shrines and altars Hezekiah has suppressed, telling Judah and Jerusalem they must worship at this altar?’
8“Now, make a deal with my master the king of Assyria: I shall give you two thousand horses if you can find riders for them.
9How then can you reject the authority of even the least of my master's servants and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
10Do you think that I have come to attack this land and destroy it without the consent of the LORD? No; the LORD himself said to me, ‘Go up and destroy this land.’”
11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief officer, “Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it; do not speak Hebrew to us within earshot of the people on the city wall.”
12The chief officer answered, “Is it to your master and to you that my master has sent me to say this? Is it not to the people sitting on the wall who, like you, will have to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?”
13Then he stood and shouted in Hebrew, “Hear the message of the Great King, the king of Assyria!
14These are the king's words: ‘Do not be taken in by Hezekiah. He is powerless to save you.
15Do not let him persuade you to rely on the LORD, and tell you that the LORD will surely save you and that this city will never be surrendered to the king of Assyria.’
16Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make your peace with me, and surrender. Then every one of you will eat the fruit of his own vine and of his own fig tree, and drink the water of his own cistern,
17until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, of bread and vineyards.
18Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by telling you that the LORD will save you. Did any god of the nations save his land from the king of Assyria's power?
19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of Samaria? Did they save Samaria from me?
20Among all the gods of these nations is there one who saved his land from me? So how is the LORD to save Jerusalem?’”
21The people remained silent and said not a word in reply, for the king had given orders that no one was to answer him.
22Eliakim son of Hilkiah, comptroller of the household, Shebna the adjutant-general, and Joah son of Asaph, secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported the words of the chief officer.