2 Chronicles 32:9-19

International Children’s Bible

⁹King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his army surrounded and attacked Lachish. Then he sent his officers to Jerusalem with a message. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah in Jerusalem. This was the message:

¹⁰Sennacherib king of Assyria says this: “You have nothing to trust in to help you. It is no use for you to stay in Jerusalem under attack. ¹¹Hezekiah says to you, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the king of Assyria.’ But he is fooling you. If you stay in Jerusalem, you will die from hunger and thirst. ¹²Hezekiah himself removed your Lord’s places of worship and altars. He told you people of Judah and Jerusalem that you must worship and burn incense on only one altar.

¹³“You know what my ancestors and I have done to all the people in other nations. The gods of those nations could not save their people from my power. ¹⁴My ancestors destroyed those nations. None of their gods could save them from me. So your god cannot save you from my power. ¹⁵Do not let Hezekiah fool you or trick you. Do not believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from me or my ancestors. Your god is even less able to save you from me.”

¹⁶Sennacherib’s officers said worse things against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷King Sennacherib also wrote letters insulting the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what his letters said: “The gods of the other nations could not save their people from me. In the same way Hezekiah’s god won’t be able to save his people from me.” ¹⁸Then the king’s officers shouted out in Hebrew. They called out to the people of Jerusalem who were on the city wall. The officers wanted to scare the people away so they could capture Jerusalem. ¹⁹They said evil things about the gods the people of the world worshiped. They are only things people have made with their hands. In the same way the officers said evil things about the God of Jerusalem.

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