2 Kings 18:17-25

New International Version

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(A)^(B)

¹⁷The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,^(C) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,^(D) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. ¹⁸They called for the king; and Eliakim^(E) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna^(F) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

¹⁹The 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^(G) of yours? ²⁰You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? ²¹Look, I know you are depending on Egypt,^(H) that splintered reed of a staff,^(I) which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. ²²But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?

²³“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! ²⁴How can you repulse one officer^(J) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen^[a]? ²⁵Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?^(K) The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

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Footnotes

2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers

2 Kings 19:9-13

New International Version

⁹Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,^[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend^(A) on deceive^(B) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ ¹¹Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹²Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver^(C) them—the gods of Gozan,^(D) Harran,^(E) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”^(F)

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Footnotes

2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region

2 Kings 19:23

New International Version

²³By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,^(A)
    “With my many chariots^(B)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down^(C) its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.