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The Prophecy
of Isaias 36
And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias,
that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against
all the fenced cities of Juda, and took them.
And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis
to Jerusalem, to king Ezechias with a great army, and
he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the way
of the fuller's held.
And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias,
who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe
the son of Asaph the recorder.
And Rabsaces said to them: Tell Ezechias: Thus saith
the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this
confidence wherein thou trustest?
Or with what counsel or strength dost thou prepare for
war? on whom dost thou trust, that thou art revolted
from me?
Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon
Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his
hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king or Egypt to all
that trust in him.
But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our
God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias
hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and Jerusalem:
You shall worship before this altar?
And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the
Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses,
and thou wilt not be able on thy part to find riders
for them.
And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge
of one place, of the least of my master's servants?
But if thou trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen:
And am I now come up without the Lord against this land
to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this
land, and destroy it.
And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces:
Speak to thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand
it: speak not to us in the Jews' language in the hearing
of the people, that are upon the wall.
And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to
thy master and to thee, to speak all these words; and
not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they
may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?
Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice
in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the words of the
great king, the king of the Assyrians.
Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for
he shall not be able to deliver you.
And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying:
The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall
not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of
the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage,
and come out to me, and eat ye every one of his vine,
and every one of his dg tree, and drink ye every one
the water of his cistern,
Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your
own, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and
vineyards.
Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: The Lord will
deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered
their land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
Where is the god of Emath and of Arphad? where is the
god of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria out of
my hand?
Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that
hath delivered his country out of my hand, that the
Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
And they held their peace, and answered him not a word.
For the king had commanded, saying: answer him not.
And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house,
and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the
recorder, went in to Ezechias with their garments rent,
and told him the words of Rabsaces. |
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