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.
9. So how will you withstand the face of the ruler of even one place, of even the least of my lord's subordinates? But if you trust in Egypt, in four-horse chariots and in horsemen:
10. do I intend to go up against this land to destroy it without the Lord? But the Lord said to me, 'Go up against this land, and destroy it.' "