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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!“ But perhaps you will say to me,‘ We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?“ I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers?What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us,‘ Attack this land and destroy it!’”Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff,“ Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.”But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied,“ Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall,“ Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you from my power.Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying,‘ The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’“ Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me— open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one— a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards, olive groves and honey. Choose life instead of death!“ Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he tries to mislead you by saying,‘ The Lord will rescue us!’Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them,“ Do not answer him.”Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.

As he looked out across the city, he said,‘ Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’

Day and night I have only tears for food, while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,“ Where is this God of yours?”

The people gave him a great ovation, shouting,“ It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.

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

You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different?Have the gods of other nations rescued them— such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel assar? My predecessors destroyed them all!What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread it out before the Lord.And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord:

Their taunts break my bones. They scoff,“ Where is this God of yours?”

He will say,‘ Each of my princes will soon be a king.We destroyed Calno just as we did Carchemish. Hamath fell before us as Arpad did. And we destroyed Samaria just as we did Damascus.Yes, we have finished off many a kingdom whose gods were greater than those in Jerusalem and Samaria.So we will defeat Jerusalem and her gods, just as we destroyed Samaria with hers.’”After the Lord has used the king of Assyria to accomplish his purposes on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, he will turn against the king of Assyria and punish him— for he is proud and arrogant.He boasts,“ By my own powerful arm I have done this. With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it. I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures. I have knocked down their kings like a bull.I have robbed their nests of riches and gathered up kingdoms as a farmer gathers eggs. No one can even flap a wing against me or utter a peep of protest.”

These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.

“ This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don’t let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria.

You are like mighty Assyria, which was once like a cedar of Lebanon, with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade and with its top high among the clouds.Deep springs watered it and helped it to grow tall and luxuriant. The water flowed around it like a river, streaming to all the trees nearby.This great tree towered high, higher than all the other trees around it. It prospered and grew long thick branches because of all the water at its roots.The birds nested in its branches, and in its shade all the wild animals gave birth. All the great nations of the world lived in its shadow.It was strong and beautiful, with wide spreading branches, for its roots went deep into abundant water.No other cedar in the garden of God could rival it. No cypress had branches to equal it; no plane tree had boughs to compare. No tree in the garden of God came close to it in beauty.Because I made this tree so beautiful, and gave it such magnificent foliage, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden, the garden of God.“ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds,I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it.A foreign army— the terror of the nations— has cut it down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches are scattered across the mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its shadow have gone away and left it lying there.“ The birds roost on its fallen trunk, and the wild animals lie among its branches.Let the tree of no other nation proudly exult in its own prosperity, though it be higher than the clouds and it be watered from the depths. For all are doomed to die, to go down to the depths of the earth. They will land in the pit along with everyone else on earth.“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When Assyria went down to the grave, I made the deep springs mourn. I stopped its rivers and dried up its abundant water. I clothed Lebanon in black and caused the trees of the field to wilt.I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth.Its allies, too, were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave— all those nations that had lived in its shade.“ O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Which of their gods was able to rescue its people from the destructive power of my predecessors? What makes you think your God can rescue you from me?Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you! Don’t let him fool you like this! I say it again— no god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!”And Sennacherib’s officers further mocked the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah, heaping insult upon insult.

“ Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” Hezekiah’s words greatly encouraged the people.While King Sennacherib of Assyria was still besieging the town of Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah and all the people in the city:“ This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?

For my enemies are whispering against me. They are plotting together to kill me.They say,“ God has abandoned him. Let’s go and get him, for no one will help him now.”