Parallel Bible results for "isaiah 36"

Isaiah 36

The Complete Jewish Bible CJB

1 It was in the fourteenth year of King Hizkiyahu that Sancheriv king of Ashur advanced against all the fortified cities of Y'hudah and captured them.

2 From Lakhish the king of Ashur sent Rav-Shakeh to Hizkiyahu in Yerushalayim with a large army. He positioned himself by the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, which is by the road to the Launderers' Field.

3 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 went out to meet him.

4 Rav-Shakeh addressed them: "Tell Hizkiyahu: 'Here is what the great king, the king of Ashur, says: "What makes you so confident?

5 I say: do mere words constitute strategy and strength for battle? In whom, then, are you trusting when you rebel against me like this?

6 Look! Relying on Egypt is like using a broken stick as a staff - when you lean on it, it punctures your hand. That's what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like for anyone who puts his trust in him.

7 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'?

8 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.

9 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!

10 Do you think I have come up to this land to destroy it without ADONAI's approval? ADONAI said to me, 'Go up against this land and destroy it!'"'"

11 Elyakim, Shevnah and Yo'ach said to Rav-Shakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening."

12 But Rav-Shakeh answered, "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?"

13 Then Rav-Shakeh stood up and, speaking loudly in Hebrew, said: "Hear what the great king, the king of Ashur, says!

14 This is what the king says: 'Don't let Hizkiyahu deceive you, because he won't be able to save you.

15 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."

16 Don't listen to Hizkiyahu.' For this is what the king 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,

17 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.

18 Beware of Hizkiyahu; he is only deluding you when he says, "ADONAI will save us." Has any god of any nation ever saved his land from the power of the king of Ashur?

19 Where are the gods of Hamat and Arpad? Where are the gods of S'farvayim? Did they save Shomron from my power?

20 Where is the god of any of these countries that has saved its country from my power, so that ADONAI might be able to save Yerushalayim from my power?'"

21 But they kept still and didn't answer him so much as a word, for the king's order was, "Don't answer him."

22 Then 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 went to Hizkiyahu with their clothes torn and reported to him what Rav-Shakeh had said.

The Message Bible MSG

1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria made war on all the fortress cities of Judah and took them.

2 Then the king of Assyria sent his general, the "Rabshekah," accompanied by a huge army, from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah. The general stopped at the aqueduct where it empties into the upper pool on the road to the public laundry.

3 Three men went out to meet him: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, in charge of the palace; Shebna the secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the official historian.

4 The Rabshekah said to them, "Tell Hezekiah that the Great King, the king of Assyria, says this: 'What kind of backing do you think you have against me?

5 You're bluffing and I'm calling your bluff. Your words are no match for my weapons. What kind of backup do you have now that you've rebelled against me?

6 Egypt? Don't make me laugh. Egypt is a rubber crutch. Lean on Egypt and you'll end up flat on your face. That's all Pharaoh king of Egypt is to anyone who leans on him.

7 And if you try to tell me, "We're leaning on our God," isn't it a bit late? Hasn't Hezekiah just gotten rid of all the places of worship, telling you, "You've got to worship at this altar"?

8 "'Be reasonable. Face the facts: My master the king of Assyria will give you two thousand horses if you can put riders on them.

9 You can't do it, can you? So how do you think, depending on flimsy Egypt's chariots and riders, you can stand up against even the lowest-ranking captain in my master's army?

10 "'And besides, do you think I came all this way to destroy this land without first getting God's blessing? It was your God who told me, Make war on this land. Destroy it.'"

11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah answered the Rabshekah, "Please talk to us in Aramaic. We understand Aramaic. Don't talk to us in Hebrew within earshot of all the people gathered around."

12 But the Rabshekah replied, "Do you think my master has sent me to give this message to your master and you but not also to the people clustered here? It's their fate that's at stake. They're the ones who are going to end up eating their own excrement and drinking their own urine."

13 Then the Rabshekah stood up and called out loudly in Hebrew, the common language, "Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria!

14 Don't listen to Hezekiah's lies. He can't save you.

15 And don't pay any attention to Hezekiah's pious sermons telling you to lean on God, telling you 'God will save us, depend on it. God won't let this city fall to the king of Assyria.'

16 "Don't listen to Hezekiah. Listen to the king of Assyria's offer: 'Make peace with me. Come and join me. Everyone will end up with a good life, with plenty of land and water,

17 and eventually something far better. I'll turn you loose in wide open spaces, with more than enough fertile and productive land for everyone.'

18 Don't let Hezekiah mislead you with his lies, 'God will save us.' Has that ever happened? Has any god in history ever gotten the best of the king of Assyria?

19 Look around you. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? The gods of Sepharvaim? Did the gods do anything for Samaria?

20 Name one god that has ever saved its countries from me. So what makes you think that God could save Jerusalem from me?'"

21 The three men were silent. They said nothing, for the king had already commanded, "Don't answer him."

22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, tearing their clothes in defeat and despair, went back and reported what the Rabshekah had said to Hezekiah.