Isaiah 36

The Assyrians Surround Jerusalem

(2 Kings 18.13-27; 2 Chronicles 32.1-19)

1Hezekiah had been king of Judah for 14 years when King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded the country and captured every walled city

2except Jerusalem. The Assyrian king ordered his army commander to leave the city of Lachish and to take a large army to Jerusalem.

The commander went there and stood on the road near the cloth makers' shops along the canal from the upper pool.

3Three of the king's highest officials came out of Jerusalem to meet him. One of them was Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the prime minister. The other two were Shebna, assistant to the prime minister, and Joah son of Asaph, keeper of the government records.

4The Assyrian commander told them:

11Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said, “Sir, we don't want the people listening from the city wall to understand what you are saying. So please speak to us in Aramaic instead of Hebrew.”

12The Assyrian army commander answered, “My king sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you leaders. These people will soon have to eat their own body waste and drink their own urine! And so will the three of you!”

13Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he shouted out in Hebrew:

21-22Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah had been warned by King Hezekiah not to answer the Assyrian commander. So they tore their clothes in sorrow and reported to Hezekiah everything the commander had said.

Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Published by: American Bible Society