²⁴ And with an army as small as yours,^[a] you are no threat to even the least lieutenant in charge of the smallest contingent in my master’s army. Even if Egypt supplies you with horses and chariots, it will do no good. ²⁵ And do you think we have come here on our own? No! The Lord sent us and told us, ‘Go and destroy this nation!’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah said to them, “Please speak in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t use Hebrew, for the people standing on the walls will hear you.”