HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1003
ISAIAH 37
page 633
sent his chief of staff* from Lachish with a huge
army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem.
The Assyrians took up a position beside the
aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool,
near the road leading to the field where cloth
is washed.*
3 These are the officials who went out to meet
with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace
administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and
Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
4 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? 5 Do you think* that mere words
can substitute for military skill and strength?
Who are you counting on, that you have
rebelled against me? 6 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!
7 “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?
8 “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! 9 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? 10 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!’”
11 Then Eliakim, 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.”
12 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.”
13 Then the chief of staff stood and shouted
in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen
36:2a Or the rabshakeh; also in 36:4, 11, 12, 22. 36:2b Or
bleached. 36:5 As in Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kgs 18:20);
Masoretic Text reads Do I think. 36:11 Hebrew in the dialect
of Judah; also in 36:13. 37:4 Or the rabshakeh; also in 37:8.
37:7 Hebrew I will put a spirit in him.
to this message from the great king of Assyria!
14 This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah
deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.
15 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!’
16 “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. 17 Then I will arrange to take you to
another land like this one—a land of grain and
new wine, bread and vineyards.
18 “Don’t let Hezekiah 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? 19 What happened to the gods of
Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of
Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from
my power? 20 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?”
21 But the people were silent and did not utter
a word because Hezekiah had commanded
them, “Do not answer him.”
22 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.
Hezekiah Seeks the LORD’s Help
When King Hezekiah heard their report,
he tore his clothes and put on burlap
and went into the Temple of the Lord. 2 And he
sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna
the court secretary, and the leading priests, all
dressed in burlap, to the prophet Isaiah son of
Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults,
and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to
be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby. 4 But perhaps the Lord your God
has heard the Assyrian chief of staff,* sent by
the king to defy the living God, and will punish
him for his words. Oh, pray for those of us who
are left!”
5 After King Hezekiah’s officials delivered
the king’s message to Isaiah, 6 the prophet replied, “Say to your master, ‘This is what the
Lord says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian
king’s messengers. 7 Listen! I myself will move
against him,* and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return
to his land, where I will have him killed with a
sword.’”
37