sf_leeser_rev1 2Kings:18:17-37 SEEK
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And the king of Assyria sent Tharthan and Rub
sariss and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a strong army against Jerusalem .
And they went up and came to Jerusalem ;
and when they were come up ,
they came and halted by the aqueduct of the upper pool ,
which is on the highway of the washer
s field .
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And they called for the king ,
when there came out to them Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu ,
who was superintendent over the house ,
and Shebnah the scribe ,
and Yoach the son of Assaph the recorder .
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And Rabshakeh said unto them ,
Say ye now to Hezekiah ,
Thus hath said the great king ,
the king of Assyria ,
What confidence is this wherewith thou hast trusted ?
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Thou saidst ,
but it was only a word uttered with the lips ,
counsel and strength for the war .
Now on whom didst thou trust ,
that thou rebelledst against me ?
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Now ,
behold ,
thou trustedst thee upon yon cracked reed
staff ,
upon Egypt ,
which ,
if a man lean on it ,
will enter into his hand ,
and pierce it :
so is Pharaoh the king of Egypt unto all that trust on him .
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But if ye should say unto me ,
In the Lord our God have we trusted :
is he not the one whose high
places and whose altars Hezekiah hath removed ,
when he said to Judah and to Jerusalem ,
Before this altar shall ye prostrate yourselves in Jerusalem ?
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And now ,
I pray thee ,
enter into a contest with my master the king of Assyria ,
and I will give thee two thousand horses ,
if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them .
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How then wilt thou turn back the face of a single chieftain among the least of my master
s servants ,
while thou hast put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen !
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Now am I come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it ?
The Lord hath said to me ,
Go up against this land ,
and destroy it .
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Then said Elyakim the son of Chilkiyahu ,
and Shebnah ,
and Yoach ,
unto Rabshakeh ,
Speak ,
we pray thee ,
to thy servants in the Syrian language ;
for we understand it :
and speak not with us in the Jewish language before the ears of the people that are on the wall .
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But Rabshakeh said unto them ,
Hath my master then sent me to thy master ,
and to thee ,
to speak these words ?
is it not rather to the men who sit on the wall ,
that they may eat their own excrement ,
and drink their own urine with you ?
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Then stood Rabshakeh up and called out with a loud voice in the Jewish language ,
and spoke ,
and said ,
Hear ye the word of the great king ,
the king of Assyria :
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Thus hath said the king .
Let not Hezekiah deceive you ;
for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand ;
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Neither let Hezekiah induce you to trust in the Lord ,
saying ,
The Lord will surely deliver us ,
and this city will not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria :
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Hearken not to Hezekiah ;
for thus hath said the king of Assyria ,
Make a treaty of peace with me ,
and come out to me ,
and eat ye every man of his own vine ,
and every man of his fig
tree ,
and drink ye every man the waters of his cistern ;
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Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land ,
a land of corn and wine ,
a land of bread and vineyards ,
a land of oil
olive trees ,
and of honey ,
that ye may live ,
and not die ;
and hearken not unto Hezekiah ;
for he will mislead you ,
saying ,
The Lord will deliver us .
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Have the gods of the nations delivered in anywise each his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ?
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Where are the gods of Chamath ,
and of Arpad ?
where are the gods of Sepharvayim ,
Hena ,
and
Ivvah ?
have they then delivered Samaria out of my hand ?
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Who are they among all the gods of the countries ,
that have delivered their country out of my hand ,
that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand ?
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But the people remained silent ,
and answered him not a word ;
for it was the king
s command ,
saying ,
Ye shall not answer him .
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Then came Elyakim the son of Chilkiyah ,
who was superintendent over the house ,
and Shebnah the scribe ,
and Yoach the son of Assaph the recorder ,
to Hezekiah with their clothes rent ;
and they told unto him the words of Rabshakeh .