2Kings:18:17-37
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And the king of Assyria sent Tartan ,
and the chief of the eunuchs ,
and the chief of the cupbearers from Lachish ,
to king Hezekiah with a heavy force ,
to Jerusalem .
And they went up and came to Jerusalem ,
and they went up and came in and stood by the conduit of the upper pool that was in the highway of the Fuller '
s Field .
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And they called to the king ,
and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ,
who was over the house ,
and Shebna the scribe ,
and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder went out to them .
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And the chief of the cupbearers said to them ,
Now say to Hezekiah ,
So says the great king ,
the king of Assyria ,
What is this hope in which you have trusted ?
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Do you say that a mere word of the lips is counsel and strength for battle ;
now ,
on whom have you trusted that you have rebelled against me ?
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Now ,
behold ,
you have trusted for yourself on the staff of this broken reed ,
on Egypt ,
which if a man lean on it ,
it will go into his hand and pierce it !
So is Pharaoh the king of Egypt to all those who trust in him .
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And when you say to me ,
We have trusted to Jehovah our God ,
is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed ,
and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem ,
Before this altar you shall bow yourselves in Jerusalem ?
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And ,
now ,
I ask you ,
exchange pledges for yourself to my lord the king of Assyria ,
and I will give to you two thousand horses if you are able to give for yourself riders on them .
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And how will you turn back the face of one prefect of the least of the servants of my lord ,
that you trust for yourself upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen ?
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Now ,
have I come up against this place to destroy it without Jehovah ?
Jehovah said to me ,
Go up against this land ,
and you shall destroy it .
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And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ,
and Shebna ,
and Joah said to the chief of the cupbearers ,
Please speak Aramaic to your servants ,
for we understand ;
and do not speak with us in Jewish ,
in the ears of the people on the wall .
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And the chief of the cupbearers said to them ,
Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master ,
and to you ,
and not to the men that sit on the wall ,
to eat their own dung ,
and to drink the water of their own feet with you ?
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And the chief of the cupbearers stood and called with a great voice in Jewish ,
and spoke and said ,
Hear the word of the great king ,
the king of Assyria ;
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So says the king ,
Do not let Hezekiah delude you ,
for he is not able to deliver you out of his hand ;
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and do not let Hezekiah make you trust to Jehovah ,
saying ,
Jehovah shall surely deliver us ;
and ,
This city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria .
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Do not listen to Hezekiah ,
for so says the king of Assyria ,
Make with me a blessing and come out to me ;
and you each shall eat of his vine ,
and each of his fig tree ,
and you each shall drink of the waters of his own well ,
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until I come ;
and I will take you to a land like your own land ,
a land of grain and new wine ,
a land of bread and vineyards ,
a land of olive oil ,
and honey ;
and live ,
and do not die ;
and do not listen to Hezekiah ,
when he persuades you ,
saying ,
Jehovah shall deliver us .
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Have the gods of the nations at all delivered each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ?
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Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad ?
Where are the gods of Sepharvaim ,
Hena ,
and Ivah ,
that they have delivered Samaria out of my hand ?
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Who among all the gods of the lands have delivered their land out of my hand ,
that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ?
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But the people kept silent and did not answer him a word ,
for the command of the king was ,
saying ,
Do not answer him .
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And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah ,
who was over the house ,
and Shebna the scribe ,
and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder ,
came in to Hezekiah ,
having torn their garments ;
and they told him the words of the chief of the cupbearers .