Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
1In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field, 3Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.
4The 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? 5You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 6Look, I know you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7But 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”?
8“ ‘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! 9How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen36:9 Or charioteers? 10Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’ ”
11Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
12But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
13Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you! 15Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
16“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 17until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18“Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 20Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
21But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
22Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
亚述王入侵犹大
1希西迦王执政第十四年，亚述王西拿基立起兵攻取了犹大所有的坚城。 2然后，亚述王从拉吉差遣将军率领大军到耶路撒冷的希西迦王那里。将军站在上池的水沟旁、通往漂布场的路上。 3希勒迦的儿子宫廷总管以利亚敬、书记舍伯那和亚萨的儿子史官约亚出来见亚述的将军。
4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？ 5你所谓的战略和军力不过是空话。你究竟倚靠谁，竟敢背叛我？ 6看啊，你所倚靠的埃及不过是一根破裂的芦苇杖，倚靠它的必被刺破手。倚靠埃及王法老的下场都是这样。’ 7也许你会说，‘我们倚靠我们的上帝耶和华。’希西迦不是拆除了祂的丘坛和祭坛，又吩咐犹大和耶路撒冷的人必须在这座祭坛前敬拜吗？ 8来，跟我主人亚述王打个赌，你若能找到两千骑士，我就给你两千匹马！ 9你们即使依靠埃及的战车和骑兵，又怎能打败我主人的一个最小的将领呢？ 10更何况我来攻打、毁灭这地方不正是耶和华的意思吗？耶和华吩咐我攻打、毁灭这地方。”
11以利亚敬、舍伯那和约亚对亚述的将军说：“求你用亚兰语跟仆人们说话，我们都听得懂。求你不要用犹大话跟我们说，免得城墙上的人听见。” 12亚述的将军却说：“难道我主人派我来只对你们和你们的主人说这些话吗？不也是对坐在城墙上的人说吗？他们和你们一样都要吃自己的粪，喝自己的尿。”
13于是，他站着用犹大话大喊：“你们要听伟大的亚述王的话， 14王说，‘你们不要被希西迦欺骗，他不能救你们。 15不要听希西迦的话去倚靠耶和华，说什么耶和华必拯救你们，这城必不会落在亚述王手中。’ 16不要听希西迦的话。亚述王说，‘你们要跟我讲和，出来归顺我。这样，你们就可以吃自己葡萄树和无花果树的果子，喝自己井里的水。 17以后我会来领你们到一个地方，那里和这里一样有五谷和新酒、饼和葡萄园。 18希西迦说耶和华必拯救你们，不要被他哄骗。列国有哪个神明曾从亚述王手中救它的国家呢？ 19哈马和亚珥拔的神明在哪里呢？西法瓦音的神明在哪里呢？它们从我手中救撒玛利亚了吗？ 20这些国家有哪个神明从我手中救了它的国家呢？难道耶和华能从我手中救耶路撒冷吗？’” 21民众默不作声，一言不发，因为希西迦王曾吩咐他们不要答话。 22这时，宫廷总管希勒家的儿子以利亚敬、书记舍伯那和亚萨的儿子史官约亚都撕裂衣服去见希西迦，把亚述将军的话回禀他。
