The field commander said to them,“ Give Hezekiah this message. Tell him,“‘ Sennacherib is the great king of Assyria. He says,“ Why are you putting your faith in what your king says?

拉伯沙基对他们说：“你们去告诉希西家说，亚述大王如此说：‘你所倚靠的有什么可仗赖的呢？

将军对他们说：“你们去告诉希西家，大王亚述王如此说：‘你倚赖什么，让你如此自信满满？

将军对他们说：“你们去告诉希西家，大王亚述王如此说：‘你倚赖什么，让你如此自信满满？

亚述的将军对他们说：“你们去告诉希西迦，伟大的亚述王说，‘你凭什么这样自信呢？

拉伯沙基对他们说：“你们去对希西家说：‘亚述大王这样说：你所倚靠的算得是什么倚靠呢？

将军对他们说：“请你们告诉希西加：亚述大王如此说‘你所依靠的算什么依靠？

拉伯沙基對他們說：「你們去告訴希西家說，亞述大王如此說：『你所倚靠的有甚麼可仗賴的呢？

將軍對他們說：「你們去告訴希西家，大王亞述王如此說：『你倚賴甚麼，讓你如此自信滿滿？

將軍對他們說：「你們去告訴希西家，大王亞述王如此說：『你倚賴甚麼，讓你如此自信滿滿？

亞述的將軍對他們說：「你們去告訴希西迦，偉大的亞述王說，『你憑什麼這樣自信呢？

拉伯沙基對他們說：“你們去對希西家說：‘亞述大王這樣說：你所倚靠的算得是甚麼倚靠呢？

參謀長對他們說：『你們去對希西家說：「大王亞述王這麼說：你所倚靠的這種倚靠心算得了甚麼？

將軍對他們說：「請你們告訴希西加：亞述大王如此說『你所依靠的算什麼依靠？

拉伯沙基謂之曰、其告希西家、大王亞述王云、爾所恃者何耶、

臘沙基曰、爾當告希西家亞述大王云、爾誰恃、

拉伯沙基謂之曰、爾曹告希西家曰、亞述大王如是云、爾何所恃耶、

The field commander said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah:“‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours?

And the Rabshakeh said to them,“ Say to Hezekiah,‘ Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?

Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:“ This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?

The royal spokesman said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah: The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on?

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?

Then the Rabshakeh said to them,“ Say now to Hezekiah,‘ Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria:“ What confidence is this in which you trust?

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?

The Rabshakeh said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah: The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on?

And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence[ is] this wherein thou trustest?

The chief adviser said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah:‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says:“ What is your source of confidence?

Rabshakeh said to them,“ Now tell Hezekiah,‘ The great king, the king of Assyria, says,“ What confidence is this in which you trust?

The field commander said to them,“ Give Hezekiah this message. Tell him,“‘ Sennacherib is the great king of Assyria. He says,“ Why are you putting your faith in what your king says?You say you have a military plan. You say you have a strong army. But your words don’t mean anything. Who are you depending on? Why don’t you want to stay under my control?Look, I know you are depending on Egypt. Why are you doing that? Egypt is nothing but a broken papyrus stem. Try leaning on it. It will only cut your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is just like that to everyone who depends on him.But suppose you say to me,‘ We are depending on the Lord our God.’ Didn’t Hezekiah remove your god’s high places and altars? Didn’t Hezekiah say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem,‘ You must worship at the altar in Jerusalem’?“‘ “Go ahead and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses. But only if you can put riders on them!You are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen. You can’t drive away even the least important officer among my master’s officials.Besides, do you think I’ve come without receiving a message from the Lord? Have I come to attack and destroy this place without a message from him? The Lord himself told me to march out against your country. He told me to destroy it.” ’ ”Then Shebna, Joah and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, spoke to the field commander. They said,“ Please speak to us in the Aramaic language. We understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew. If you do, the people sitting on the city wall will be able to understand you.”But the commander replied,“ My master sent me to say these things. Are these words only for your master and you to hear? Aren’t they also for the people sitting on the wall? They are going to suffer just like you. They’ll have to eat their own waste. They’ll have to drink their own urine.”Then the commander stood up and spoke in the Hebrew language. He called out,“ Pay attention to what the great king of Assyria is telling you.He says,‘ Don’t let Hezekiah trick you. He can’t save you from my power.Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord. Don’t believe him when he says,“ You can be sure that the Lord will save us. This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ’“ Don’t listen to Hezekiah. The king of Assyria says,‘ Make a peace treaty with me. Come over to my side. Then each one of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree. Each one of you will drink water from your own well.You will do that until I come back. Then I’ll take you to a land just like yours. It’s a land that has a lot of grain and fresh wine. It has plenty of bread and vineyards. It has olive trees and honey. So choose life! Don’t choose death!’“ Don’t pay any attention to Hezekiah. He’s telling you a lie when he says,‘ The Lord will save us.’Has the god of any nation ever saved his land from the power 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 power?Which one of all the gods of those countries has been able to save his land from me? So how can the Lord save Jerusalem from my power?”But the people remained silent. They didn’t say anything. That’s because King Hezekiah had commanded,“ Don’t answer him.”Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, went to Hezekiah. Eliakim was in charge of the palace. Shebna the secretary went with him. So did Joah, the son of Asaph. Joah kept the records. All of them went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn. They told him what the field commander had said.

He said,“ Isn’t this the great Babylon I have built as a place for my royal palace? I used my mighty power to build it. It shows how glorious my majesty is.”

My tears have been my food day and night. All day long people say to me,“ Where is your God?”

Then they shouted,“ This is the voice of a god. It’s not the voice of a man.”Right away an angel of the Lord struck Herod down. Herod had not given praise to God. So he was eaten by worms and died.

If you are proud, you will be destroyed. If you are proud, you will fall.

Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like Hezekiah among all the kings of Judah. There was no king like him either before him or after him.

I’m sure you have heard about what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries. They have destroyed them completely. So do you think you will be saved?The kings who ruled before me destroyed many nations. Did the gods of those nations save them? Did the gods of Gozan, Harran or Rezeph save them? What about the gods of the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?Where is the king of Hamath? Where is the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?’ ”When Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, he read it. Then he went up to the Lord’ s temple. There he spread the letter out in front of the Lord.Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. He said,

My body suffers deadly pain as my enemies make fun of me. All day long they say to me,“ Where is your God?”

‘ Aren’t all my commanders kings?’ he says.‘ I took over Kalno just as I took Carchemish. I took over Hamath just as I did Arpad. I took Samaria just as I did Damascus.My powerful hand grabbed hold of kingdoms whose people worship statues of gods. They had more gods than Jerusalem and Samaria did.I took over Samaria and its statues of gods. In the same way, I will take Jerusalem and its gods.’ ”The Lord will finish everything he has planned to do against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. Then he’ll say,“ Now I will punish the king of Assyria. I will punish him because his heart and his eyes are so proud.The king of Assyria says,“‘ By my power I have taken over all these nations. I am very wise. I have great understanding. I have wiped out the borders between nations. I’ve taken their treasures. Like a great hero I’ve brought their kings under my control.I’ve taken the wealth of the nations. It was as easy as reaching into a bird’s nest. I’ve gathered the riches of all these countries. It was as easy as gathering eggs that have been left in a nest. Not a single baby bird flapped its wings. Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.’ ”

These people complain and find fault with others. They follow their own evil desires. They brag about themselves. They praise others to get what they want.

“ Tell Hezekiah, the king of Judah,‘ Don’t let the god you depend on trick you. He says,“ Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” But don’t believe him.

Think about what happened to Assyria. Once it was like a cedar tree in Lebanon. It had beautiful branches that provided shade for the forest. It grew very high. Its top was above all the leaves.The waters fed it. Deep springs made it grow tall. Their streams flowed all around its base. They made their way to all the trees in the fields.So it grew higher than any other tree in the fields. It grew more limbs. Its branches grew long. They spread because they had plenty of water.All the birds in the sky made their nests in its limbs. All the wild animals had their babies under its branches. All the great nations lived in its shade.Its spreading branches made it majestic and beautiful. Its roots went down deep to where there was plenty of water.The cedar trees in my garden were no match for it. The juniper trees could not equal its limbs. The plane trees could not compare with its branches. No tree in my garden could match its beauty.I gave it many branches. They made it beautiful. All the trees in my Garden of Eden were jealous of it.’ ”So the Lord and King says,“ The great cedar tree grew very high. Its top was above all the leaves. It was proud of how tall it was.So I handed it over to the Babylonian ruler of the nations. I wanted him to punish it because it was so evil. I decided to get rid of it.The Babylonians cut it down and left it there. They did not show it any pity at all. Some of its branches fell on the mountains. Others fell in all the valleys. The branches lay broken in all the stream beds in the land. All the nations on earth came out from under its shade. And they went on their way.All the birds settled on the fallen tree. All the wild animals lived among its branches.So trees that receive plenty of water must never grow so high that it makes them proud. Their tops must never be above the rest of the leaves. No other trees that receive a lot of water must ever grow that high. They are appointed to die and go down into the earth below. They will join human beings, who go down to the place of the dead.”The Lord and King says,“ Assyria was like a cedar tree. But I brought it down to the place of the dead. On that day I dried up the deep springs of water and covered them. I held its streams back. I shut off its rich supply of water. Because of that, Lebanon was dressed in gloom as if it were clothes. All the trees in the fields dried up.I brought the cedar tree down to the place of the dead. It joined the other nations that go down there. I made the nations on earth shake because of the sound of its fall. Then all the trees of Eden were comforted in the earth below. That included the finest and best trees in Lebanon. And it included all the trees that received plenty of water.Others also went down along with the cedar tree into the place of the dead. They included those who had been killed by swords. They also included the armed men among the nations who lived in its shade.“ Which one of the trees of Eden can be compared with you? What tree is as glorious and majestic as you are? But you too will be brought down to the earth below. There you will join the trees of Eden. You will lie down with those who have not been circumcised. You will be among those who were killed by swords.“ That is what will happen to Pharaoh and his huge armies,” announces the Lord and King.

The kings who ruled before me destroyed many nations. Which one of the gods of those nations has been able to save his people from me? So how can your god save you from my power?Don’t let Hezekiah trick you. He’s telling you lies. Don’t believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from my power. No god has been able to save his people from the power of the kings who ruled before me. So your god won’t save you from my power either!’ ”Sennacherib’s officers spoke even more things against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah.

“ Be strong. Be brave. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose hope. The king of Assyria has a huge army with him. But there’s a greater power with us than there is with him.The only thing he has is human strength. But the Lord our God is with us. He will help us. He’ll fight our battles.” The people had great faith in what Hezekiah, the king of Judah, said.Later Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and all his forces surrounded Lachish. They prepared to attack it. At that time, Sennacherib sent his officers to Jerusalem. They went there with a message for Hezekiah, the king of Judah. The message was also for all the people of Judah who were there. The message said,“ Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, says,‘ Why are you putting your faith in what your king says? Why do you remain in Jerusalem when you are surrounded?

My enemies speak against me. Those who want to kill me get together and make evil plans.They say,“ God has deserted him. Go after him and grab him. No one will save him.”