1. And it happened that, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he seized them.
2. And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish into Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a great force, and he stood near the aqueduct of the upper pool, at the road to the fuller's field.
3. And those who went to him were Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the historian.
4. And Rabshakeh said to them: "Tell Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this faith in which you believe?
5. And by what counsel or strength would you prepare to rebel? In whom do you have faith, so much so that you would withdraw from me?
6. Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, in that broken staff of a reed. But if a man were to lean against it, it would enter his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him.
7. But if you answer me by saying: 'We trust in the Lord our God.' Is it not his high places and altars that Hezekiah has taken away? And he has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar.'
8. And now, hand yourselves over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to find riders for them on your own.