2Kings:18:17-35
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And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan ,
the Rab '
saris ,
and the Rab '
shakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezeki '
ah at Jerusalem .
And they went up and came to Jerusalem .
When they arrived ,
they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool ,
which is on the highway to the Fuller '
s Field .
*
And when they called for the king ,
there came out to them Eli '
akim the son of Hilki '
ah ,
who was over the household ,
and Shebnah 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 ?
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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 now 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 in Jerusalem "?
*
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 ?
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Moreover ,
is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it ?
The LORD said to me ,
Go up against this land ,
and destroy it .'"
*
Then Eli '
akim the son of Hilki '
ah ,
and Shebnah ,
and Jo '
ah ,
said to the Rab '
shakeh , "
Pray ,
speak to your servants in the Aramaic language ,
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 to them , "
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 to drink their own urine ?"
*
Then the Rab '
shakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah : "
Hear the word 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 out of my hand .
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Do not let Hezeki '
ah make you to rely on the LORD by saying ,
The LORD will surely deliver us ,
and 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 ,
a land of olive trees and honey ,
that you may live ,
and not die .
And do not listen to Hezeki '
ah when he misleads you by saying ,
The LORD will deliver us .
*
Has any of the gods of the nations ever 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 ,
Hena ,
and Ivvah ?
Have they delivered Sama '
ria out of my hand ?
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Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of my hand ,
that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ?'"
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