5. I tell you, if you are trusting in power and great battle plans, that is useless. Those are nothing but empty words. Now I ask you, who do you trust so much that you are willing to rebel against me?
6. Are you depending on Egypt to help you? Egypt is like a broken walking stick. If you lean on it for support, it will only stab you and hurt you. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, cannot be trusted by anyone who depends on him for help.
7. “‘So maybe you will say, “We trust the Lord our God to help us.” But Hezekiah destroyed the altars and high places where people worshiped your God, right? Hezekiah told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship only at this one altar here in Jerusalem.”
8. “‘If you still want to fight, my master, the king of Assyria, will make this agreement with you. I promise that I will give you 2000 horses if you can find enough men to ride them into battle.
9. But even then, you couldn’t beat even one of my master’s lowest ranking officers. So why do you still depend on Egypt’s chariots and horse soldiers?
10. “‘Now, do you think I came to this country to destroy it without the Lord’S help. No, it was the Lord who said to me, “Go up against this country and destroy it!”’”
11. Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the commander, “Please, speak to us in Hebrew. We understand that language. Don’t speak to us in the language of Judah. If you use our language, the people on the city walls will understand you.”
12. But the commander said, “My master sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you and your master. I must also speak to those people sitting there on the wall. When we surround your city, they will suffer too. Like you, they will become so hungry they will eat their own waste and drink their own urine!”
13. Then the commander, shouting loudly in Hebrew, gave this warning to them all: Hear this message from the great king, the king of Assyria!
14. This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah fool you! He cannot save you from my power.