2 Chronicles 32 9-2 Chronicles 32 23
Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:“ This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?When Hezekiah says,‘ The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst.Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem,‘ You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?“ Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand?Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand?Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah.The king also wrote letters ridiculing the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him:“ Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city.They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world— the work of human hands.King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side.Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.
2 Kings 18 17-2 Kings 18 37
The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, 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, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.The 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?You 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?Look, 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.But 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”?“‘ 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!How can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord? The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and 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.”But 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?”Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,“ Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand.Do 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.’“ 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,until I come and take you to a land like your own— a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!“ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says,‘ The Lord will deliver us.’Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded,“ Do not answer him.”Then 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.
