Isaiah 36

vayehi be'arba esreh shanah lammelekh khizqiyyahu alah sankheriv melekh-ashur al kol-are yehudah habbetsurot vayyitpesem

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched against all the fortified towns of Judah and seized them.

vayyishlakh melekh-ashur et-ravshaqeh millakhish yerushalae͏mah el-hammelekh khizqiyyahu bekhel kaved vayya'amod bitalat habberekhah ha'elyonah bimsillat sedeh khoves

From Lachish, the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh, with a large force, to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. [The Rabshakeh] took up a position near the conduit of the Upper Pool, by the road of the Fuller’s Field;

vayyetse elayw elyaqim ben-khilqiyyahu asher al-habbayit veshevna hassofer veyo'akh ben-asaf hammazkir

and Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to him.

vayyomer alehem ravshaqeh imru-na el-khizqiyyahu koh-amar hammelekh haggadol melekh ashur mah habbittakhon hazzeh asher batakheta

The Rabshakeh said to them, “You tell Hezekiah: Thus said the Great King, the king of Assyria: What makes you so confident?

amarti akh-devar-sefatayim etsah ugevurah lammilkhamah attah al-mi vatakhta ki maradta bi

I suppose mere talk makes counsel and valor for war! Look, on whom are you relying, that you have rebelled against me?

hinneh vatakhta al-mishenet haqqaneh haratsuts hazzeh al-mitsrayim asher yissamekh ish alayw uva vekhappo uneqavah ken paroh melekh-mitsrayim lekhol-habbotekhim alayw

You are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which enters and punctures the palm of anyone who leans on it. That’s what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like to all who rely on him.

vekhi-tomar elay el-Adonai elohenu batakhenu halo-hu asher hesir khizqiyyahu et-bamotayw ve'et-mizbekhotayw vayyomer lihudah velirushalai͏m lifne hammizbeakh hazzeh tishtakhavu

And if you tell me that you are relying on the ETERNAL your God, this is the very one whose shrines and altars Hezekiah did away with, telling Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship only at this altar!’

ve'attah hitarev na et-adoni hammelekh ashur ve'ettenah lekha alpayim susim im-tukhal latet lekha rokhevim alehem

Come now, make this wager with my master, the king of Assyria: I’ll give you two thousand horses, if you can produce riders to mount them.

ve'ekh tashiv et pene fakhat akhad avde adoni haqqetannim vattivtakh lekha al-mitsrayim lerekhev ulefarashim

So how could you refuse anything, even to the deputy of one of my master’s lesser servants, relying on Egypt for chariots and riders?

ve'attah hamibbalade Adonai aliti al-ha'arets hazzot lehashkhitah Adonai amar elay aleh el-ha'arets hazzot vehashkhitah

And do you think I have marched against this land to destroy it without GOD? It was GOD who told me: Go up against that land and destroy it.”

vayyomer elyaqim veshevna veyo'akh el-ravshaqeh dabber-na el-avadekha aramit ki shome'im anakhenu ve'al-tedabber elenu yehudit be'ozne ha'am asher al-hakhomah

Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah replied to the Rabshakeh, “Please, speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it; do not speak to us in Judean in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

vayyomer ravshaqeh ha'el adonekha ve'elekha shelakhani adoni ledabber et-haddevarim ha'elleh halo al-ha'anashim hayyoshevim al-hakhomah le'ekhol et-[tso'atam] (khryhm) velishtot et-[meme raglehem] (shynyhm) immakhem

But the Rabshakeh replied, “Was it to your master and to you that my master sent me to speak those words? It was precisely to the men who are sitting on the wall—who will have to eat their dung and drink their urine with you.”

vayya'amod ravshaqeh vayyiqra veqol-gadol yehudit vayyomer shimu et-divre hammelekh haggadol melekh ashur

And the Rabshakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in Judean:

koh amar hammelekh al-yashi lakhem khizqiyyahu ki lo-yukhal lehatsil etkhem

“Hear the words of the Great King, the king of Assyria! Thus said the king: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to save you.

ve'al-yavtakh etkhem khizqiyyahu el-Adonai lemor hatsel yatsilenu Adonai lo tinnaten ha'ir hazzot beyad melekh ashur

Don’t let Hezekiah make you rely on GOD, saying, ‘GOD will surely save us; this city will not fall into the hands of Assyria!’

al-tishme'u el-khizqiyyahu ki khoh amar hammelekh ashur asu-itti verakhah utse'u elay ve'ikhlu ish-gafno ve'ish te'enato ushetu ish me-voro

Don’t listen to Hezekiah. For thus said the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me, so that you may all eat from your vines and your fig trees and drink water from your cisterns,

ad-bo'i velaqakhti etkhem el-erets ke'artsekhem erets dagan vetirosh erets lekhem ukheramim

until I come and take you away to a land like your own, a land of bread and wine, of grain [fields] and vineyards.

pen-yassit etkhem khizqiyyahu lemor Adonai yatsilenu hahitsilu elohe haggoyim ish et-artso miyyad melekh ashur

Beware of letting Hezekiah mislead you by saying, ‘GOD will save us.’ Did any of the gods of the other nations save their land from the king of Assyria?

ayyeh elohe khamat ve'arpad ayyeh elohe sefarvayim vekhi-hitsilu et-shomeron miyyadi

Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim? And did they save Samaria from me?

mi bekhol-elohe ha'aratsot ha'elleh asher-hitsilu et-artsam miyyadi ki-yatsil Adonai et-yerushalai͏m miyyadi

Which among all the gods of those countries saved their countries from me, that GOD should save Jerusalem from me?”

vayyakharishu velo-anu oto davar ki-mitsvat hammelekh hi lemor lo ta'anuhu

But they were silent and did not answer him with a single word; for the king’s order was: “Do not answer him.”

vayyavo elyaqim ben-khilqiyyahu asher-al-habbayit veshevna hassofer veyo'akh ben-asaf hammazkir el-khizqiyyahu qeru'e vegadim vayyaggidu lo et divre ravshaqeh

And so Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and they reported to him what the Rabshakeh had said.