2 Kings 18:21-23

New International Reader's Version

²¹ Look, I know you are depending on Egypt. Why are you doing that? Egypt is nothing but a broken papyrus stem. Try leaning on it. It will only cut your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is just like that to everyone who depends on him. ²² But suppose you say to me, ‘We are depending on the Lord our God.’ Didn’t Hezekiah remove your god’s high places and altars? Didn’t Hezekiah say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at the altar in Jerusalem’?

²³ “ ‘ “Go ahead and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses. But only if you can put riders on them!