Isaiah 36 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Sennacherib Invades Judah

(2Ki 18:13–37; 2Ch 32:1–19 )

Isa 36:1In the fourteenth year of King Hezeki'ah, Sennach'erib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

Isa 36:2

Isa 36:2And the king of Assyria sent the Rab'shakeh from Lachish to King Hezeki'ah at Jerusalem, with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field.

Isa 36:3

Isa 36:3And there came out to him Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Jo'ah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

Isa 36:4

Isa 36:4And the Rab'shakeh said to them, "Say to Hezeki'ah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this confidence of yours?

Isa 36:5

Isa 36:5Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me?

Isa 36:6

Isa 36:6Behold, you are relying on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

Isa 36:7

Isa 36:7But if you say to me, "We rely on the LORD our God," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezeki'ah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar"?

Isa 36:8

Isa 36:8Come now, 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 set riders upon them.

Isa 36:9

Isa 36:9How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Isa 36:10

Isa 36:10Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.'"

Isa 36:11

Isa 36:11Then Eli'akim, Shebna, and Jo'ah said to the Rab'shakeh, "Pray, speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

Isa 36:12

Isa 36:12But the Rab'shakeh said, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and drink their own urine?"

Isa 36:13

Isa 36:13Then the Rab'shakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

Isa 36:14

Isa 36:14Thus says the king: 'Do not let Hezeki'ah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you.

Isa 36:15

Isa 36:15Do not let Hezeki'ah make you rely on the LORD by saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

Isa 36:16

Isa 36:16Do not listen to Hezeki'ah; for thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will eat of his own vine, and every one of his own fig tree, and every one of you will drink the water of his own cistern;

Isa 36:17

Isa 36:17until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Isa 36:18

Isa 36:18Beware lest Hezeki'ah mislead you by saying, "The LORD will deliver us." Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Isa 36:19

Isa 36:19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharva'im? Have they delivered Sama'ria out of my hand?

Isa 36:20

Isa 36:20Who among all the gods of these countries have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

Isa 36:21

Isa 36:21But they were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do not answer him."

Isa 36:22

Isa 36:22Then Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Jo'ah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezeki'ah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of the Rab'shakeh.

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Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52. — 2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English

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Isaiah 36 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Sennacherib Invades Judah

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