Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab. Ben-Hadad said, “There won’t be enough dust left in Samaria to give each of my followers even a handful. If there is, may the gods punish me greatly.”
The king of Assyria says, “ ‘By my power I have taken over all these nations. I am very wise. I have great understanding. I have wiped out the borders between nations. I’ve taken their treasures. Like a great hero I’ve brought their kings under my control.
I’ve taken the wealth of the nations. It was as easy as reaching into a bird’s nest. I’ve gathered the riches of all these countries. It was as easy as gathering eggs that have been left in a nest. Not a single baby bird flapped its wings. Not one of them opened its mouth to chirp.’ ”
But the commander replied, “My master sent me to say these things. Are these words only for your master and you to hear? Aren’t they also for the people sitting on the wall? They are going to suffer just like you. They’ll have to eat their own waste. They’ll have to drink their own urine.”
You will enter it and take it over. It isn’t like the land of Egypt. That’s where you came from. You planted your seeds there. You had to water them, just as you have to water a vegetable garden.