17
From Lakhish the king of Ashur sent Tartan, Rav-Saris and Rav-Shakeh to King Hizkiyahu in Yerushalayim with a large army. They advanced and came to Yerushalayim. Upon arrival, they came and positioned themselves by the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, which is by the road to the Launderers' Field.
18
They summoned the king, but those answering the call were Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo'ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister.
19
Rav-Shakeh addressed them: "Tell Hizkiyahu: 'Here is what the great king, the king of Ashur, says: "What makes you so confident?
20
Do you think that mere spoken words constitute strategy and strength for battle? In whom, then, are you trusting when you rebel against me like this?
21
Now look! Relying on Egypt is like using a broken stick as a staff - when you lean on it, it Hebrew nachash means "serpent," and n'choshet means "bronze." punctures your hand. That's what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like for anyone who puts his trust in him.
22
But if you tell me, 'We trust in ADONAI our God,' then isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, telling Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, 'You must worship before this altar in Yerushalayim'?
23
All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them.
24
How then can you repulse even one of my master's lowest-ranked army officers? Yet you are relying on Egypt for chariots and riders!
25
Do you think I have come up to this place to destroy it without ADONAI's approval? ADONAI said to me, 'Attack this land, and destroy it'!"'"
26
Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, Shevnah and Yo'ach said to Rav-Shakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; don't speak with us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening."
27
But Rav-Shakeh answered them, "Did my master send me to deliver my message just to your master and yourselves? Didn't he send me to address the men sitting on the wall, who, like you, are going to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?"
28
Then Rav-Shakeh stood up and, speaking loudly in Hebrew, said: "Hear what the great king, the king of Ashur, says!
29
This is what the king says: 'Don't let Hizkiyahu deceive you, because he won't be able to save you from the power of the king of Ashur.
30
And don't let Hizkiyahu make you trust in ADONAI by saying, "ADONAI will surely save us; this city will not be given over to the king of Ashur."
31
Don't listen to Hizkiyahu.' For this is what the king of Ashur says: 'Make peace with me, surrender to me. Then every one of you can eat from his vine and fig tree and drink the water in his own cistern;
32
until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land with grain and wine, a land with bread and vineyards, a land with olive trees and honey; so that you can live and not die. So don't listen to Hizkiyahu; he is only deluding you when he says, "ADONAI will save us."
33
Has any god of any nation ever saved his land from the power of the king of Ashur?
34
Where are the gods of Hamat and Arpad? Where are the gods of S'farvayim, Hena and 'Ivah? Did they save Shomron from my power?
35
Where is the god of any country that has saved its country from my power, so that ADONAI might be able to save Yerushalayim from my power?'"
36
But the people kept still and didn't answer him so much as a word; for the king's order was, "Don't answer him."
37
Then Elyakim the son of Hilkiyah, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo'ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister went to Hizkiyahu with their clothes torn and reported to him what Rav-Shakeh had said.