Sennacherib's Invasion of Judah

Douay-Rheims 1899 (DRA)

2Ki 18:13–37

13 In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against the fenced cities of Juda: and took them.
14 Then Ezechias king of Juda sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures.
16 At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians.
17 And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan and Rabsaris, and Rabsaces from Lachis to king Ezechias with a strong army to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller’s field.
18 And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim the son of Helcias who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder.
19 And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein thou trustest?
20 Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel?
21 Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.
22 But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
23 Now therefore come over to my master the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them.
24 And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my master’s servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land and destroy it.
26 Then Eliacim the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: We pray thee speak to us thy servants in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.
27 And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?
28 Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.
29 Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand.
30 Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
31 Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns,
32 Till I come, and take you away to a land, like to your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil and honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver us.
33 Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
35 Who are they among all the gods of the nations, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for they had received commandment from the king that they should not answer him.
37 And Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.

2Ch 32:1–19

1 After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them.
2 And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,
3 He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city: and as they were all of this mind,
4 He gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and And abundance of water.
5 He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without: and he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields:
6 And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying:
7 Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are many more with us than with him.
8 For with him is an arm of flesh: with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and fighteth for us. And the people were encouraged with these words of Ezechias king of Juda.
9 After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants to Jerusalem, (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis,) to Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city, saying:
10 Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem?
11 Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by hunger and thirst, affirming that the Lord your God shall deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
12 Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying: You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense?
13 Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the lands? have the gods of any nations and lands been able to deliver their country out of my hand?
14 Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand?
15 Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand.
16 And many other things did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant.
17 He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the God of Israel, and he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand.
18 Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews’ tongue, to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten them, and take the city.
19 And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men.

Isa 36:1–22

1 And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fenced cities of Juda, and took them.
2 And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to Jerusalem, to king Ezechias with a great army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller’s held.
3 And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder.
4 And Rabsaces said to them: Tell Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence wherein thou trustest?
5 Or with what counsel or strength dost thou prepare for war? on whom dost thou trust, that thou art revolted from me?
6 Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king or Egypt to all that trust in him.
7 But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar?
8 And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able on thy part to find riders for them.
9 And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my master’s servants? But if thou trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen:
10 And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.
11 And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: Speak to thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: speak not to us in the Jews’ language in the hearing of the people, that are upon the wall.
12 And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak all these words; and not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?
13 Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.
14 Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15 And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
16 Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me, and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the water of his cistern,
17 Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
19 Where is the god of Emath and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that hath delivered his country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
21 And they held their peace, and answered him not a word. For the king had commanded, saying: answer him not.
22 And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, went in to Ezechias with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.