And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.

Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

Though he is wise, and able to send evil, and his purpose will not be changed; but he will go against the house of the evil-doers, and against those to whom they are looking for help.

Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

For thus hath Jehovah said unto me: Like as the lion and the young lion growling over his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, is not afraid of their voice, nor giveth way before the multitude of them; so will Jehovah of hosts come down to war upon mount Zion, and on the hill thereof.

Turn back to him, yes to him whom your people have so greatly betrayed, you people of Israel.

For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.

And his rock shall pass through from fear, and his chiefs were terrified from the signal, says Jehovah whose light to him in Zion, and furnace to him in Jerusalem.

And not dazzled are the eyes of beholders, And the ears of hearers do attend.

No longer will the fool be called noble,
Or the rogue be spoken of as generous.

The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

But those who are decent plan noble things, and by noble deeds they stand."

Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

For days beyond a year shall ye be troubled, ye careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come.

Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

For breasts they are lamenting, For fields of desire, for the fruitful vine.

And for the land of my people, where thorns will come up; even for all the houses of joy in the glad town.

For the fortress is neglected; the once-crowded city is abandoned. Hill and watchtower are permanently uninhabited. Wild donkeys love to go there, and flocks graze there.

Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness will live in the fertile field.

And my people will be living in peace, in houses where there is no fear, and in quiet resting-places.

Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,
You who were not destroyed,
And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.
As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;
As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.

And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

and he shall be the stability of thy times, the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah shall be your treasure.

See, the men of war are sorrowing outside the town: those who came looking for peace are weeping bitterly.

The highways are desolate, the wayfaring man ceaseth. He hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

The land mourneth, it languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, is withered; the Sharon is become as a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped.

Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

And the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.

Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

Whoso is walking righteously, And is speaking uprightly, Kicking against gain of oppressions, Shaking his hands from taking hold on a bribe, Stopping his ear from hearing of blood, And shutting his eyes from looking on evil,

He high places doth inhabit, Strongholds of rock are his high tower, His bread hath been given, his waters stedfast.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will see a far-distant land.

Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?

Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.

But there the mighty and magnificent Lord will be for us
A place of broad rivers and streams,
Where no oar-driven boat will go,
And on which no mighty and stately ship will pass.

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

Come near, you nations, and give ear; take note, you peoples: let the earth and everything in it give ear; the world and all those living in it.

And their wounded are cast out, And their carcases cause their stench to ascend, And melted have been mountains from their blood.

and all the host of heaven shall rot. And the skies shall roll up like scroll, and all their host shall wither like the withering of a leaf from a vine, or like [the] withering from a fig tree.

For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

The burning will not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will lie in ruins;
No one will ever again pass through it.

Of her nobles who should proclaim the kingdom, none are there; and all her princes shall be nought.

And gone up her palaces have thorns, Nettle and bramble are in her fortresses, And it hath been a habitation of dragons, A court for daughters of an ostrich.

There shall the arrow-snake make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there also shall the vultures be gathered one with another.

Seek through the scripture of the LORD and read it: There shall none of these things be left out, there shall not one, nor such like, fail. For what his mouth commandeth, that same doth his spirit gather together or fulfill.

Upon whomsoever the lot falleth, or to whom he dealeth it with the line: those shall possess the inheritance from generation to generation, and dwell therein.

It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Then opened are eyes of the blind, And ears of the deaf are unstopped,

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

No lion will be there, or any cruel beast; they will not be seen there; but those for whom the Lord has given a price,

Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. The chief adviser stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.

The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on?

I say, sayest thou, (but they are but vain words) I have counsel and strength for war: now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?

Look, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will enter and pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who trust in him.

But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

How then can you repulse [the attack of] a single commander of the least of my master’s servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall.

But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

Then the Rab-shakeh got up and said with a loud voice in the Jews' language, Give ear to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria:

And do not let Hezekiah make you put your faith in the Lord, saying, The Lord will certainly keep us safe, and this town will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make your peace with me, 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 waters of his own cistern;

Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

And they were silent, and answered him not a word; for the king's command was, saying, Answer him not.

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’”

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

I am about to put a spirit in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”

So the Rab-shakeh went back, and when he got there the king of Assyria was making war against Libnah: for it had come to his ears that the king of Assyria had gone away from Lachish.

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

“You shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse: and will you be kept safe from their fate?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.

this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

Virgin Daughter Zion
despises you and scorns you:
Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head
behind your back.

“Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!

“Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;
And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.

Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls.

Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

“But I know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life],
And your raging against Me.

“Because your raging against Me
And your arrogance has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your mouth,
And I will turn you back by the way you came.

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

And those of Judah who are still living will again take root in the earth, and give fruit.

For from Jerusalem those who have been kept safe will go out, and those who are still living will go out of Mount Zion: by the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.

Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.