The Invasion of Sennacherib

361 And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rab-shakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a strong force. And he stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field. 3 Then came forth to him Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler. 4 And Rab-shakeh said to them, Say now to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this in which thou trustest? 5 Thou sayest, but it is a word of the lips, [There is] counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou rely, that thou hast revolted against me? 6 Behold, thou reliest upon the staff of that broken reed, upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it goes into his hand, and pierces it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that rely upon him. 7 And if thou say to me, We rely upon Jehovah our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? 8 And now engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. 9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants? And thou reliest upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen! 10 And now am I come up without Jehovah against this land to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.

11 And Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rab-shakeh, Speak, we pray thee, to thy servants in Syriac, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jewish [language] in the ears of the people that are upon the wall. 12 And Rab-shakeh said, Is it to thy master and to thee that my master sent me to speak these words? Is it not to the men that sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you? 13 And Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish [language], and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you. 15 Neither let Hezekiah make you rely upon Jehovah, saying, Jehovah will certainly deliver us; this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 16 Hearken not to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me and come out to me; and eat every one of his vine, and every one of his fig-tree, and drink every one the waters of his own cistern; 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Let not Hezekiah persuade you, saying, Jehovah will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 20 Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 21 And they were silent, and answered him not a word; for the king's command was, saying, Answer him not. 22 And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler, came to Hezekiah, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.

The LORD's Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

31 For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the clever among artificers, and the one versed in enchantments. 4 And I will appoint youths as their princes, and children shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed one by the other, and each by his neighbour; the child will be insolent against the elder, and the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother, in his father's house, [and shall say:] Thou hast clothing; be our chief, and let this ruin be under thy hand; 7 he will lift up [his hand] in that day, saying, I cannot be a healer, and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; ye shall not make me a chief of the people. 8 For Jerusalem stumbleth and Judah falleth, because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

9 The look of their face doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom: they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have brought evil upon themselves. 10 Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well [with him], for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill [with him], because the desert of his hands shall be rendered unto him. 12 [As for] my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people! they that guide thee mislead [thee], and destroy the way of thy paths. 13 Jehovah setteth himself to plead, and standeth to judge the peoples. 14 Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and their princes, [saying:] It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard: the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15 What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the faces of the afflicted? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Judgment on the Daughters of Zion

16 And Jehovah said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-out neck and wanton eyes, and go along mincing, and making a tinkling with their feet; 17 therefore the Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the ornament of anklets, and the little suns and crescents, 19 the pearl-drops, and the bracelets, and the veils, 20 the head-dresses, and the stepping chains, and the girdles, and the scent-boxes, and the amulets; 21 the finger-rings, and the nose-rings; 22 the festival-robes, and the tunics, and the mantles, and the wallets; 23 the mirrors, and the fine linen bodices, and the turbans, and the flowing veils. 24 And it shall come to pass, instead of perfume there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a robe of display, a girding of sackcloth; brand instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the fight; 26 and her gates shall lament and mourn; and, stripped, she shall sit upon the ground.