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Isaiah 36
New English Translation

Sennacherib Invades Judah

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign,[a] King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser[b] from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. The chief adviser[c] stood at the conduit of the upper pool that is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.[d] 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.

4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence?[e] 5 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk.[f] In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? 6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! 7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’ 8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you 2,000 horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen.[g] 10 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’”[h]

11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic,[i] for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect[j] in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you.[k] His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!”[l]

13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect,[m] “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you! 15 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me.[n] Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Have any of the gods of the nations rescued their lands from the power of the king of Assyria?[o] 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?[p] Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria from my power?[q] 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’”[r] 21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn[s] and reported to him what the chief adviser had said.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:1 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
  2. Isaiah 36:2 sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
  3. Isaiah 36:2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Isaiah 36:2 tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
  5. Isaiah 36:4 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
  6. Isaiah 36:5 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
  7. Isaiah 36:9 tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms, and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
  8. Isaiah 36:10 sn In v. 10 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 7. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
  9. Isaiah 36:11 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.
  10. Isaiah 36:11 tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”
  11. Isaiah 36:12 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
  12. Isaiah 36:12 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”sn The chief adviser alludes to the horrible reality of siege warfare, when the starving people in the besieged city would resort to eating and drinking anything to stay alive.
  13. Isaiah 36:13 tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”
  14. Isaiah 36:16 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
  15. Isaiah 36:18 tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
  16. Isaiah 36:19 tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “Nowhere. They seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
  17. Isaiah 36:19 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).
  18. Isaiah 36:20 tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?
  19. Isaiah 36:22 sn As a sign of grief and mourning.
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Isaiah 36
New King James Version

Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord(A)

36 Now (B)it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the [a]Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 3 And (C)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, (D)Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

4 (E)Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 5 I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are [b]mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 6 Look! You are trusting in the (F)staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who (G)trust in him.

7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?” ’ 8 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 9 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Have I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in [c]Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”

12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”

13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; (H)and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the (I)gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered (J)Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

21 But they [d]held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:2 A title, probably Chief of Staff or Governor
  2. Isaiah 36:5 Lit. a word of the lips
  3. Isaiah 36:11 Lit. Judean
  4. Isaiah 36:21 were silent
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Исаия 36
Священное Писание (Восточный Перевод)

Синаххериб угрожает Иерусалиму(A)

36 На четырнадцатом году правления царя Езекии (в 701 г. до н. э.) Синаххериб[a], царь Ассирии, напал на все укреплённые города Иудеи и захватил их. 2 Затем царь Ассирии послал из Лахиша к царю Езекии в Иерусалим главного виночерпия[b] с огромным войском. Когда он остановился у водопровода Верхнего пруда на дороге к Сукновальному полю, 3 к нему вышли распорядитель дворца Элиаким, сын Хилкии, писарь Шевна и летописец Иоах, сын Асафа.

4 Главный виночерпий сказал им:

– Скажите Езекии: Так говорит великий царь, царь Ассирии: «Откуда у тебя эта уверенность? 5 Ты думаешь, что пустые слова – то же самое, что военное искусство и сила? На кого же ты надеешься, что восстал против меня? 6 Вот, ты надеешься на Египет, эту надломленную трость, которая пронзит ладонь всякому, кто на неё обопрётся. Фараон, царь Египта, поступает так со всеми, кто на него надеется. 7 А если ты скажешь мне: „Мы надеемся на Вечного, нашего Бога“, – то не Его ли святилища на возвышенностях и жертвенники убрал Езекия, сказав Иудее и Иерусалиму: „Поклоняйтесь только перед этим жертвенником“?[c]

8 Итак, заключи сделку с моим господином, царём Ассирии: я дам тебе две тысячи коней, только найдёшь ли ты для них всадников? 9 Как ты сможешь отразить хотя бы наименьшего военачальника у моего господина, даже надеясь на египетские колесницы и всадников? 10 Да и разве не по воле Вечного я двинулся на эту страну, чтобы уничтожить её? Вечный Сам сказал мне пойти на эту страну и уничтожить её».

11 Тогда Элиаким, Шевна и Иоах сказали главному виночерпию:

– Пожалуйста, говори с твоими рабами по-арамейски, ведь мы понимаем этот язык. Не говори с нами по-еврейски при народе, что стоит на стене.

12 Но главный виночерпий ответил:

– Разве мой господин послал меня сказать это только вашему господину и вам, а не людям, находящимся на стене, которые, как и вы сами, будут есть свой кал и пить свою мочу?

13 Главный виночерпий встал и громко закричал по-еврейски:

– Слушайте слово великого царя, царя Ассирии! 14 Так говорит царь: «Не давайте Езекии обманывать вас. Он не может избавить вас. 15 Не давайте Езекии убедить вас положиться на Вечного, когда он говорит: „Вечный непременно спасёт нас; этот город не будет отдан в руки царя Ассирии“. 16 Не слушайте Езекию».

Так говорит царь Ассирии: «Заключите со мной мир и выходите ко мне. Тогда все вы будете есть плоды со своей лозы и инжира и пить воду из своего колодца, 17 пока я не приду и не возьму вас в страну, такую же, как ваша, в страну зерна и вина, страну хлеба и виноградников. 18 Не давайте Езекии сбить себя с толку, когда он говорит вам: „Вечный спасёт нас“. Разве какой-либо бог другого народа избавил свою страну от руки царя Ассирии? 19 Где боги Хамата и Арпада? Где боги Сепарваима? Разве кто-нибудь избавил от моей руки Самарию? 20 Кто из богов всех этих земель смог избавить от меня свою страну? Как же Вечный сможет избавить от моей руки Иерусалим?»

21 Но народ молчал и ничего не говорил в ответ, потому что царь приказал не отвечать ему. 22 И распорядитель дворца Элиаким, сын Хилкии, писарь Шевна и летописец Иоах, сын Асафа, пришли к Езекии в разорванных одеждах[d] и передали ему то, что сказал главный виночерпий.

Footnotes

  1. 36:1 Синаххериб был сыном и преемником Саргона II. Он правил с 705 по 681 гг. до н. э.
  2. 36:2 Главный виночерпий был одним из самых важных лиц при дворе, которому царь доверял свою жизнь.
  3. 36:7 Виночерпий ложно предполагал, что Езекия оскорбил Вечного, разрушив святилища и тем самым лишив Его всех жертвенников, кроме одного, который находился в Иерусалиме (см. 4 Цар. 18:4; 2 Лет. 31:1).
  4. 36:22 Такой внешний вид был знаком глубокой скорби.
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Isaiah 36
New International Version

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(A)

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s(B) reign, Sennacherib(C) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(D) 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish(E) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,(F) 3 Eliakim(G) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,(H) Shebna(I) the secretary,(J) and Joah(K) son of Asaph the recorder(L) went out to him.

4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(M) against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending(N) on Egypt,(O) that splintered reed(P) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending(Q) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(R) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(S)

8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses(T)—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(U) for chariots(V) and horsemen[a]?(W) 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told(X) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah(Y) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(Z) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?(AA)”

13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,(AB) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!(AC) 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(AD) you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(AE) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(AF)

16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(AG) and drink water from your own cistern,(AH) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(AI)—a land of grain and new wine,(AJ) a land of bread and vineyards.

18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(AK) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(AL) Have they rescued Samaria(AM) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(AN) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(AO)

21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”(AP)

22 Then Eliakim(AQ) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder(AR) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(AS) and told him what the field commander had said.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers
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