2 Kings 18:13–14, 17; 19-37; 2 Chronicles 32-21

2 Kings 18:13–14, 17; 19-37

13In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched against all the fortified towns of Judah and seized them. 14King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish- “I have done wrong; withdraw from me; and I shall bear whatever you impose on me.” So the king of Assyria imposed upon King Hezekiah of Judah a payment of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

17But the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish with a large force to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. They marched up to Jerusalem; and when they arrived, they took up a position near the conduit of the Upper Pool, by the road of the Fuller’s Field.

19The Rabshakeh said to them, “You tell Hezekiah- Thus said the Great King, the King of Assyria- What makes you so confident? 20You must think that mere talk is counsel and valor for war! Look, on whom are you relying, that you have rebelled against me? 21You rely, of all things, on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which enters and punctures the palm of anyone who leans on it! That’s what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to all who rely on him. 22And if you tell me that you are relying on the Lord your God, He is the very one whose shrines and altars Hezekiah did away with, telling Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship only at this altar in Jerusalem.’ 23Come now, make this wager with my master, the king of Assyria- I’ll give you two thousand horses if you can produce riders to mount them. 24So how could you refuse anything even to the deputy of one of my master’s lesser servants, relying on Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 25And do you think I have marched against this land to destroy it without the Lord? The Lord Himself told me- Go up against that land and destroy it.”

26Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah replied to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; do not speak to us in Judean in the hearing of the people on the wall.” 27But the Rabshakeh answered them, “Was it to your master and to you that my master sent me to speak those words? It was precisely to the men who are sitting on the wall—who will have to eat their dung and drink their urine with you.” 28And the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in Judean- “Hear the words of the Great King, the King of Assyria. 29Thus said the king- Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from my hands. 30Don’t let Hezekiah make you rely on the Lord, saying- The Lord will surely save us- this city will not fall into the hands of the king of Assyria. 31Don’t listen to Hezekiah. For thus said the king of Assyria- Make your peace with me and come out to me, so that you may all eat from your vines and your fig trees and drink water from your cisterns, 32until I come and take you away to a land like your own, a land of grain [fields] and vineyards, of bread and wine, of olive oil and honey, so that you may live and not die. Don’t listen to Hezekiah, who misleads you by saying, ‘The Lord will save us.’ 33Did any of the gods of other nations save his land from the king of Assyria? 34Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? [And] did they save Samaria from me? 35Which among all the gods of [those] countries saved their countries from me, that the Lord should save Jerusalem from me?” 36But the people were silent and did not say a word in reply; for the king’s order was- “Do not answer him.” 37And so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and they reported to him what the Rabshakeh had said.

2 Chronicles 32-21

21The Lord sent an angel who annihilated every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the army of the king of Assyria, and he returned in disgrace to his land. He entered the house of his god, and there some of his own offspring struck him down by the sword.

Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures, (Philadelphia, Jerusalem- Jewish Publication Society) 1985.