Isaiah:36

---

Seeker Overlay ON

* In the fourteenth year of King Hezeki 'ah , Sennach 'erib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them . * And the king of Assyria sent the Rab 'shakeh from Lachish to King Hezeki 'ah at Jerusalem , with a great army . And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller 's Field . * And there came out to him Eli 'akim the son of Hilki 'ah , who was over the household , and Shebna the secretary , and Jo 'ah the son of Asaph , the recorder . * And the Rab 'shakeh said to them , "Say to Hezeki 'ah , `Thus says the great king , the king of Assyria : On what do you rest this confidence of yours ? * Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war ? On whom do you now rely , that you have rebelled against me ? * Behold , you are relying on Egypt , that broken reed of a staff , which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it . Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him . * But if you say to me , "We rely on the LORD our God ," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezeki 'ah has removed , saying to Judah and to Jerusalem , "You shall worship before this altar "? * Come now , make a wager with my master the king of Assyria : I will give you two thousand horses , if you are able on your part to set riders upon them . * How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master 's servants , when you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ? * Moreover , is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it ? The LORD said to me , Go up against this land , and destroy it .'" * Then Eli 'akim , Shebna , and Jo 'ah said to the Rab 'shakeh , "Pray , speak to your servants in Aramaic , for we understand it ; do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall ." * But the Rab 'shakeh said , "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you , and not to the men sitting on the wall , who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine ?" * Then the Rab 'shakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah : "Hear the words of the great king , the king of Assyria ! * Thus says the king : `Do not let Hezeki 'ah deceive you , for he will not be able to deliver you . * Do not let Hezeki 'ah make you rely on the LORD by saying , "The LORD will surely deliver us ; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria ." * Do not listen to Hezeki 'ah ; for thus says the king of Assyria : Make your peace with me and come out to me ; then every one of you will eat of his own vine , and every one of his own fig tree , and every one of you will drink the water of his own cistern ; * until I come and take you away to a land like your own land , a land of grain and wine , a land of bread and vineyards . * Beware lest Hezeki 'ah mislead you by saying , "The LORD will deliver us ." Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ? * Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad ? Where are the gods of Sepharva 'im ? Have they delivered Sama 'ria out of my hand ? * Who among all the gods of these countries have delivered their countries out of my hand , that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ?'" * But they were silent and answered him not a word , for the king 's command was , "Do not answer him ." * Then Eli 'akim the son of Hilki 'ah , who was over the household , and Shebna the secretary , and Jo 'ah the son of Asaph , the recorder , came to Hezeki 'ah with their clothes rent , and told him the words of the Rab 'shakeh .

---