Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem

(2 Kings 18:17–37, Isaiah 36:1–22)

9 Later, as Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces besieged Lachish, he sent his servants to Jerusalem with a message for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem: 10 “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What is the basis of your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? 11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he says, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria?’ 12 Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’?

13 Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand? 14 Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction [fn] has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?

15 So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!”

16 And the servants of Sennacherib spoke further against the LORD God and against His servant Hezekiah. 17 He also wrote letters mocking the LORD, the God of Israel, and saying against Him: “Just as the gods of the nations did not deliver their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.”

18 Then the Assyrians called out loudly in Hebrew [fn] to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them in order to capture the city. 19 They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands.