18. And they called the king, and Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the writer of chronicles went out to them.
19. And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this in which thou dost trust?
20. Thou sayest (but they are but vain words), I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou hast rebelled against me?
21. Now, behold, thou dost trust upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it; so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt unto all that trust in him.
22. But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is he not the one whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
23. Now therefore, I pray thee, give hostages unto my lord, the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou art able on thy part to set riders upon them.
24. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s slaves, even though thou dost trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25. Furthermore, Have I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it.
26. Then said Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy slaves in the Syrian language, for we understand it, and do not talk with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
27. But Rabshakeh said unto them, Has my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak these words and not rather to the men who sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung and drink their own piss with you?
28. Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language and spoke, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria.
29. Thus hath the king said, Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand.
30. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
31. Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for thus saith the king of Assyria, Give me a blessing and come out to me, and then each one of you shall eat of their own vine and of their own fig tree, and each one shall drink the waters of their own well,
32. until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, of oil, and of honey, that ye may live, and not die. Do not hearken unto Hezekiah, for he deceives you, saying, The Lord will deliver us.
33. Peradventure have any of the gods of the Gentiles delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
34. Where is the god of Hamath and of Arpad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and of Ivah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?