9. After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
10. Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide the siege in Jerusalem?
11. Doth not Hezekiah persuade you, to give you over to die by famine and by thirst, saying, The LORD our God shall deliver us out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
12. Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and upon it shall ye burn incense?
13. Know ye not what I and my fathers have done unto all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands any ways able to deliver their land out of mine hand?
14. Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of mine hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of mine hand?
15. Now therefore let not Hezekiah deceive you, nor persuade you on this manner, neither believe ye him: for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand?
16. And his servants spake yet more against the LORD God, and against his servant Hezekiah.
17. He wrote also letters, to rail on the LORD, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of the lands which have not delivered their people out of mine hand, so shall not the God of Hezekiah deliver his people out of mine hand.
18. And they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to affright them, and to trouble them; that they might take the city.