II Kings - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 399

16 At the same time Hezekiah stripped it from the doors of the Temple of the Evm<—L1v1x~:<;, and the door·posts which Hezekiah, king of judeh, had plated, and gave it to the king of Ashur. (u.c:. 71o.) 5mukb2riit lnszukz his Giirzaig mth Qiiucku 521·11zaIzm. x7 Yet the king of Ashur sent Tha.r— than, and Re.b·saris, and Rebshakah, from Lakish to king Hezekiah, with e. powerful army to jerusalem, and they advanced and arrived at jerusalem, and on arrival stationed themselves at the ascent of the High Reservoir, which is by the highway of the Potters‘ field. (ac. 710.) 18 From there they called for the king, and he sent out to them Aliakim—ben- Hilkiah, who was Superintendent of the Palace, and Shebnah, the Secre· tary, and joakh—ben-Asaf, the Re-

19 corder, and Rabshakah said to them: iiahzbakalfz insulting Speedy. 22 ‘Say to Hezekiah: The Great

King, the king of Ashur, asks this: ‘ What is the Protector upon whom you rely?’ You say-but they are empty words——‘I have genius and strength for the war! ’ ‘ On whom did you rely when you

revolted from me? Look, now !—you trusted yourself upon that broken reed—upon Mitzerl—··up0n which if a man leans it runs into his hand and pierces it! Such is Pharoh, king of the Mitzeraim, to all who trust upon him! But if you reply to me, ‘ We trust on our Even-1.1vmo Gon’:‘is not that He whose Columns and whose Altars Hezekiah has thrown down, and ordered judah and jerusalem to bow towards the Altar of jerusalem 2 But, however, come over, I say, to my Master, the king of Ashur, and I will give you two thousand horses; if you are able to put riders upon

them for yourself I S0 how can you turn back the face of one of the last of my Masters captains, and trust yourself to Mitzer for chariotsand horsemen? However, have I ad- vanced against this place without an order from the Evan-1.1v1No to destroy it? The Evan-mvmc; said to me, ‘Invade that country and (Here Aliakim-ben·Hilkiah, and 26 Shebnah, and joakh said to Rabsha.·· Speak to your servants, we _beg, 1n Aramith, for we understand it, and do not speak to us in Hebrew, in the hearing of the soldiers on the ` But. Rabshakah replied to them: ‘ Did my Master send me to speak

to your Master, or to You, the things that I am saying? Was it not to the men on the wall,—-who eattheir own dung and drink their own piss with (Then Rabshakah stood up and

shouted with aloud voice in Hebrew, and spoke, and said :-—·) ‘ Listen to the words of the Great

King-—the King of Ashurl Thus says the King: ‘ Let not Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to deliver you from my hand! And let not Hezekiah himself trust on the The Evan- LIVING will deliver, and not give this city to the hand of the king of ' Listen not to Hezekiah! ~for the king of Ashur says this:

‘Make a treaty with me, and come out to me, and let everyone eat of his own grapes, and everyone his own figs, and everyone drink water from his own well, until I come and take you to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine,··—a land of bread and vineyards—·—a land of olives, oil, and honey,—~where you can live, and not die,—-—and listen not to Heze- kiah, who deceives you by saying, ‘ The LoRD will deliver ust ’ ‘ Have the gods of the nations

delivered any one of their countries from the hand of the king of Ashur? Where are the gods of Khamath and Arfad? Where are the gods of Sefarvaim, Ina, and Avah? Who de- livered Shomeron from my hand ?’ (The people, however, were silent,

and did not answer him a word, for the king’s command was to give him no reply.) Then Aliakim-ben-Hilkiah, Super-

intendent of the Palace, and Shebna the Secretary. and joakh-ben-Asaf, the Recorder, returned to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and reported to him the speech of Rabshakah; and when Hezekiah heard it, he tore his robes, and put on sackcloth, and 399 28 33 34 35 37 19