Then Eliakimand Shebnaand Joahsaidto Rabshakeh,"Speaknowto your servantsin Aramaic,for we understand[it]; and do not speakwith us in Judeanin the hearingof the peoplewhoare on the wall."
And in the daysof Artaxerxes,Bishlam,Mithredath,Tabeeland the restof his colleagueswroteto Artaxerxeskingof Persia;and the textof the letterwas writtenin Aramaicand translated[from] Aramaic.
Thussaysthe LordGODof hosts,"Come,goto thissteward,To Shebna,whois in chargeof the [royal] household,
"Then it will comeabout in that day,That I will summonMy servantEliakimthe sonof Hilkiah,
But Rabshakehsaid,"Has my mastersentme only to your masterand to you to speakthesewords,[and] not to the menwho siton the wall,[doomed] to eattheir own dungand drinktheir own urinewith you?"
Then Rabshakehstoodand criedwith a loudvoicein Judeanand said,"Hearthe wordsof the greatking,the kingof Assyria.
youthsin whomwas nodefect,who were good-looking,showingintelligencein every[branch of] wisdom,endowedwith understandingand discerningknowledge,and whohad abilityfor servingin the king'scourt;and [he ordered him] to teachthem the literatureand languageof the Chaldeans.
Then the Chaldeansspoketo the kingin Aramaic:"O king,liveforever!Tellthe dreamto your servants,and we will declarethe interpretation."
