Throughyour messengersyou have reproachedthe Lord,And you have said,"With my manychariotsI cameup to the heightsof the mountains,To the remotestpartsof Lebanon;And I cutdownits tallcedars[and] its choicecypresses.And I enteredits farthestlodgingplace,its thickestforest.
Then the kingof AssyriasentTartanand Rab-sarisand Rabshakehfrom Lachishto KingHezekiahwith a largearmyto Jerusalem.So they wentup and cameto Jerusalem.And when they wentup, they cameand stoodby the conduitof the upperpool,whichis on the highwayof the fuller'sfield.
"Nowtherefore, come,makea bargainwith my masterthe kingof Assyria,and I will giveyou two thousandhorses,ifyou are ableon your part to setriderson them.
Perhapsthe LORDyour Godwill hearallthe wordsof Rabshakeh,whomhis masterthe kingof Assyriahas sentto reproachthe livingGod,and will rebukethe wordswhichthe LORDyour Godhas heard.Therefore, offera prayerfor the remnantthat is left.'"
He builttowersin the wildernessand hewedmanycisterns,for he hadmuchlivestock,both in the lowlandand in the plain.[He also had] plowmenand vinedressersin the hillcountryand the fertilefields,for he lovedthe soil.
He also wrotelettersto insultthe LORDGodof Israel,and to speakagainstHim, saying,"As the godsof the nationsof the landshave not deliveredtheir peoplefrom my hand,sothe Godof Hezekiahwill not deliverHis peoplefrom my hand."
Some[boast] in chariotsand somein horses,But we will boastin the nameof the LORD,our God.
They have boweddownand fallen,But we have risenand stoodupright.
For he has said,"By the powerof my handand by my wisdomI did[this], For I haveunderstanding;And I removedthe boundariesof the peoplesAnd plunderedtheir treasures,And like a mightymanI broughtdown[their] inhabitants,
And my handreachedto the richesof the peopleslike a nest,And as one gathersabandonedeggs,I gatheredallthe earth;And there was not one that flappedits wingor opened[its] beakor chirped."
And He will destroythe gloryof his forestand of his fruitfulgarden,bothsouland body,And it will be as when a sickmanwastesaway.
It evenmagnified[itself] to be equalwith the Commanderof the host;and it removedthe regularsacrificefrom Him, and the placeof His sanctuarywas throwndown.
