Isaiah

Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

1In the fourteenth year that Hezekiah was king, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked all the walled cities of Judah and captured them.

2And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field.

2The king of Assyria sent his chief officer, the Rabshakeh, with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The officer stopped by the water channel of the upper pool, on the road to the cloth-washers' field.

Note"Rabshakeh" is an Assyrian job title, not a man's name. He was a high officer who spoke for the king. The "fuller's field" was an open area where workers washed and whitened cloth.

3Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah’s son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph’s son, the recorder.

3Three men went out to meet him: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who ran the palace; Shebna the scribe; and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder.

4And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

4The Rabshakeh said to them, "Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What makes you so sure of yourself?

5I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

5You say you have a war plan and the strength to fight, but those are only empty words. Who are you trusting, that you dare rebel against me?

6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

6Look, you are trusting Egypt. Egypt is a cracked walking stick. Lean on it and it splinters and stabs your hand. That is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is to everyone who trusts him.

7But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

7Maybe you will tell me, 'We trust the LORD our God.' But isn't he the one whose hill shrines and altars Hezekiah tore down? Hezekiah told Judah and Jerusalem to worship at only this one altar.

8Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

8So make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses, if you can even find enough men to ride them.

9How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

9You could not drive off even one officer, the lowest of my master's servants. Yet you count on Egypt for chariots and horsemen.

10And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

10And do you think I came to destroy this land without the LORD? The LORD himself told me, 'Go up against that land and destroy it.'"

11Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

11Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please speak to us in Aramaic. We understand it. Do not speak Hebrew where the people on the wall can hear."

NoteThe KJV says "the Syrian language" and "the Jews' language." These are Aramaic, the language used between nations for official business, and Hebrew, the everyday speech of the people of Jerusalem.

12But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

12But the Rabshakeh said, "Did my master send me to say this only to you and your master? He sent me to the men sitting on the wall. They will end up eating their own dung and drinking their own urine, just like you."

13Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

13Then the Rabshakeh stood and shouted in Hebrew, "Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

14Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

14The king says: Do not let Hezekiah fool you. He cannot save you.

15Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, The LORD will surely deliver us: this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

15Do not let Hezekiah talk you into trusting the LORD. He says, 'The LORD will surely save us. This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.'

16Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern;

16Do not listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat from your own grapevine and your own fig tree, and drink from your own water tank.

17Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

17You will live that way until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

18Watch out. Do not let Hezekiah talk you into believing, 'The LORD will save us.' Has any nation's god ever saved his land from the king of Assyria?

19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Did they save Samaria from my hand?

20Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

20Which god of all these lands ever saved his land from me? So how could the LORD save Jerusalem from me?"

21But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

21But the people stayed quiet and did not answer him a word. King Hezekiah had ordered them, "Do not answer him."

22Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who ran the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph, the recorder, tore their clothes. They went to Hezekiah and told him what the Rabshakeh had said.

NoteTearing your own clothes was a public way of showing shock and grief.