2 Kings 18:17-37

The Voice

Rabshakeh: ¹⁹ Go back and tell Hezekiah that this is the message of Assyria’s mighty king: “What is the basis of your confidence? ²⁰ You are a big talker, saying, ‘I have everything I need for war—guidance and might.’ But to whom do you turn now that you have turned against me? ²¹ You turn to a broken reed, Egypt. If a man leans on a broken reed, it stabs his palm. It is the same with Egypt’s Pharaoh and all who lean on him. ²² But you profess to me, ‘We put our faith in the Eternal One our God.’ Is it not His high places and altars that Hezekiah has torn down? Did not Hezekiah tell Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Worship at this place in Jerusalem’?”

²³ Make a deal with my master, Assyria’s king, and you will receive 2,000 horses from me. I hope you have enough riders for them. ²⁴ How can you turn away a governor—even the least of my master’s governors—and lean on Egypt instead for horsemen and chariots? ²⁵ Do you think I have come here to destroy this land without the Eternal’s permission? He is the One who told me, “Go destroy it! I’ll support you.”

Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah (to Rabshakeh): ²⁶ This needs to be a private conversation. Please speak to your servants in a different tongue—Aramaic—for we understand it and do not need you to speak to us in Judean. That way everyone on the walls won’t be able to understand you.

Rabshakeh: ²⁷ How arrogant and foolish of you! Do you think I have been sent here by my king to talk to only you and your king? I am to speak to everyone. Soon you and these men on the walls will surely be doomed to fill your bellies with your own dung and quench your thirst with your own urine.

²⁸ (loudly in Judean) Listen to what Assyria’s mighty king has to say! ²⁹ He says, “Do not trust in Hezekiah. He cannot save you from me! ³⁰ Do not allow Hezekiah to deceive you into trusting the Eternal when he says, ‘The Eternal One will save us, and our city will not be handed over to Assyria’s king.’” ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah. Assyria’s king says, “Let there be peace between us. Join me now, and fill your bellies with food from your own vineyards and orchards and drink from your own pools. ³² Then I will come and lead you to a land similar to your own—a land of plentiful grain, new wine, bread, vineyards, olive orchards, and honey. This is a place where you will live in peace and not worry about a premature death. Do not listen to Hezekiah when he lies to you, saying, ‘The Eternal will save us.’ ³³ Have any of the gods of other nations ever saved their lands from Assyria’s king? Is there a single nation that has survived him? ³⁴ Where are Hamath’s gods and Arpad’s gods? Where are Sepharvaim’s gods, Hena’s gods, and Ivvah’s gods? Did they save Samaria from me? ³⁵ Are there any gods in any land that have saved their lands from me? No, there is not a single one. So do you really think that the Eternal will be any different? Do you really think He can save you, Jerusalem, from me?”