2 Chronicles 32:9-19

New International Version

⁹Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish,^(A) he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:

¹⁰“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence,^(B) that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹When Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading^(C) you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. ¹²Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar^(D) and burn sacrifices on it’?

¹³“Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand?^(E) ¹⁴Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵Now do not let Hezekiah deceive^(F) you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver^(G) his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors.^(H) How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”

¹⁶Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷The king also wrote letters^(I) ridiculing^(J) the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him: “Just as the gods^(K) of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.” ¹⁸Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. ¹⁹They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.^(L)

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2 Chronicles 32:9-19

International Standard Version

Sennacherib Blasphemes God^(A)

⁹After this, King Sennacherib of Assyria sent his messengers to Jerusalem while he was in the middle of a vigorous attack on Lachish. They delivered this message to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all the people of Judah who had gathered in Jerusalem:

¹⁰“This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: ‘What are you leaning on that makes you stay behind while Jerusalem comes under siege? ¹¹Isn’t Hezekiah lying to you so he can hand you over to die by famine and thirst? After all, he’s telling you “The Lord our God will deliver us from the king of Assyria’s control.”^[a] ¹²Isn’t this the very same Hezekiah who removed this god’s high places and altars? Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who^[b] issued this order to Judah and Jerusalem: “You are to worship in front of only one altar and burn your sacrifices only on it.”? ¹³Don’t you know what my predecessors^[c] have done to all the other people in other lands? Were the gods of the people who lived in those lands able to deliver their countries out of my control?^[d] ¹⁴What god, out of all the gods of those nations that my predecessors^[e] utterly destroyed, has been able to deliver his people from my control^[f] or from the control^[g] of my predecessors?^[h] ¹⁵Now therefore, don’t let Hezekiah lie to you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, because no god of any nation has been able to deliver his people from my control^[i] or from the control^[j] of my predecessors. So how much less will your God deliver you from me?’”^[k]

¹⁶King Sennacherib’s^[l] spokesmen said even worse things against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah.

¹⁷Sennacherib^[m] also wrote letters like this that insulted and slandered the Lord God of Israel: “Just as the gods of the nations in other^[n] lands haven’t delivered their people from my control,^[o] so also the god of Hezekiah won’t deliver his people from me!”^[p] ¹⁸His spokesmen^[q] shouted these things out with loud voices in the language of Judah to frighten and terrify the people of Jerusalem who were stationed on the city walls, to make it easier to conquer the city. ¹⁹In doing so,^[r] they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as if he were like the gods of the nations of the earth that are made by the hands of human beings.