2 Chronicles 32 9-2 Chronicles 32 23
After this Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying,“ This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says:‘ On what are you trusting that you are staying in Jerusalem under siege?Is Hezekiah not misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying,“ The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria”?Is it not the same Hezekiah who removed His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and Jerusalem,“ You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn incense”?Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to save their land from my hand?Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could save his people from my hand, that your God would be able to save you from my hand?Now then, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to save his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God save you from my hand?’ ”His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah.He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying,“ As the gods of the nations of the lands have not saved their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not save His people from my hand.”They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city.They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they did against the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands.But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and called out to heaven for help.And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with the sword.So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and guided them on every side.And many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so thereafter he rose in the sight of all nations.
2 Kings 18 17-2 Kings 18 37
Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab saris, and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the road of the fuller’s field.Then they called to the king, and Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary, went out to them.And Rabshakeh said to them,“ Say now to Hezekiah,‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says:“ What is this confidence that you have?You say— but they are only empty words—‘ I have a plan and strength for the war.’ Now on whom have you relied, that you have revolted against me?Now behold, you have relied on the support of this broken reed, on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. That is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.However, if you say to me,‘ We have trusted in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem,‘ You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?Now then, come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them!How then can you drive back even one official of the least of my master’s servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?Have I now come up without the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me,‘ Go up against this land and destroy it.’ ” ’ ”Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh,“ Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, because we understand it; and do not speak with us in Judean so that the people who are on the wall hear you.”But Rabshakeh said to them,“ Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”Then Rabshakeh stood up and shouted with a loud voice in Judean, saying,“ Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!This is what the king says:‘ Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you from my hand.And do not let Hezekiah lead you to trust in the Lord by saying,“ The Lord will certainly save us, and this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says:“ Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat, each one, from his vine and each from his fig tree, and drink, each one, the waters of his own cistern,until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees producing oil, and of honey, so that you will live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah, because he misleads you by saying,“ The Lord will save us.”Has any of the gods of the nations actually saved his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they saved Samaria from my hand?Who among all the gods of the lands are there who have saved their land from my hand, that the Lord would save Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”But the people were silent and did not answer him with even a word, because it was the king’s command:“ Do not answer him.”Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.