25
"Do you think I've come up here to destroy this country without the express approval of God? The fact is that God expressly ordered me, 'Attack and destroy this country!'"
23
"So be reasonable. Make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you two thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them.
24
You can't do it? Well, then, how do you think you're going to turn back even one raw buck private from my master's troops? How long are you going to hold on to that figment of your imagination, these hoped-for Egyptian chariots and horses?
25
"Do you think I've come up here to destroy this country without the express approval of God? The fact is that God expressly ordered me, 'Attack and destroy this country!'"
26
Eliakim son of Hilkiah and Shebna and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, "Please, speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand Aramaic. Don't speak in Hebrew - everyone crowded on the city wall can hear you."
27
But the Rabshakeh said, "We weren't sent with a private message to your master and you; this is public - a message to everyone within earshot. After all, they're involved in this as well as you; if you don't come to terms, they'll be eating their own turds and drinking their own pee right along with you."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.