2
And the king of Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with great power; and he stood at the water conduit of the higher cistern, in the way of the field of a fuller, or (a) tucker (and he stopped by the water conduit of the Upper Pool, on the way to the Fuller's Field).
3
And Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was on the house (who was over the king's household), went out to him, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the chancellor.
4
And Rabshakeh said to them, Say ye to Hezekiah, The great king, the king of Assyrians, saith these things, What is the trust, in which thou trustest?
5
either by what counsel either strength disposest thou for to rebel? on whom hast thou trust, for thou hast gone away from me?
6
Lo! thou trustest on this broken staff of (a) reed, on Egypt, on which if a man leaneth, either resteth, it shall enter into his hand, and shall pierce it; so doeth Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all men that trust in him.
7
That if thou answerest to me, We trust in our Lord God; whether it is not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah did away, and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? (But if thou answerest to me, We trust in the Lord our God; was it not he, whose hill shrines and altars Hezekiah did away, and he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar alone?)
8
And now betake thee to my lord, the king of Assyrians, and I shall give to thee two thousand horses, and thou mayest not give of thee riders of those horses (if thou can find enough riders for those horses).
9
And how shalt thou abide the face of the judge of one place of the less servants of my lord? That if thou trustest in Egypt, and in carts, and in knights; (And so how shalt thou stand before even the least of the servants of my lord? wilt thou still trust in the help of Egypt, and in their chariots, and in their horsemen?)
10
and now whether I ascended to this land without the Lord, that I should destroy it? The Lord said to me, Ascend thou on this land, and destroy thou it. (and now have I come against this land without the Lord's consent, to destroy it? Nay! The Lord himself said to me, Go thou out against this land, and destroy thou it.)
11
And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the language of Syria, for we understand; speak thou not to us by the language of Jews, in the ears of the people, which is on the wall. (And Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, Speak thou to thy servants by the Syrian language, or in Aramaic, for we shall understand; speak thou not to us by the language of the Jews, or in Hebrew, in the hearing of all the people who be on the wall.)
12
And Rabshakeh said to them, Whether my lord sent me to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to the men that sit on the wall, that they eat their turds, and drink the piss off their feet, with you? (And Rabshakeh said to them, Hath my lord sent me only to thy lord, and to thee, that I should speak all these words, and not rather to all those who sit on the wall, who shall have to eat their own turds, and drink their own piss from off their own feet, yea, like you will?)