Isaiæ 36
1 Et factum est in quartodecimo anno regis Ezechiae, ascendit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum super omnes civitates Iuda munitas, et cepit eas.
In the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, attacked and conquered all the fortified towns of Judah.
2 Et misit rex Assyriorum Rabsacen de Lachis in Ierusalem, ad regem Ezechiam in manu gravi, et stetit in aquaeductu piscinae superioris in via Agri fullonis.
The king of Assyria sent his army general, along with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. He stopped by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer's Field.
3 Et egressus est ad eum Eliachim filius Helchiae, qui erat super domum, et Sobna scriba, et Ioahe filius Asaph a commentariis.
Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebnah the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went out to speak with him.
4 Et dixit ad eos Rabsaces: Dicite Ezechiae: Haec dicit rex magnus, rex Assyriorum: Quae est ista fiducia, qua confidis?
The Assyrian army general said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What are you trusting in that gives you such confidence?
5 aut quo consilio vel fortitudine rebellare disponis? super quem habes fiduciam, quia recessisti a me?
You say you have a strategy and are ready for war, but these are empty words. Who are you relying on, now that you have rebelled against me?
6 Ecce confidis super baculum arundineum confractum istum, super Aegyptum: cui si innixus fuerit homo, intrabit in manum eius, et perforabit eam: sic Pharao rex Aegypti omnibus, qui confidunt in eo.
Now look! You're trusting in Egypt, a walking stick that's like a broken reed that will cut the hand of anyone leaning on it. That's what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is like to everyone who trusts in him.
7 Quod si responderis mihi: In Domino Deo nostro confidimus: nonne ipse est, cuius abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria, et dixit Iuda et Ierusalem: Coram altari isto adorabitis?
If you tell me, ‘We're trusting in the Lord our God,’ well didn't Hezekiah remove his high places and his altars, telling Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You have to worship at this altar in Jerusalem’?
8 Et nunc trade te domino meo regi Assyriorum, et dabo tibi duo millia equorum, nec poteris ex te praebere ascensores eorum.
Why don't you accept a challenge from my master, the king of Assyria? He says, I'll give you two thousand horses, if you can find enough riders for them!
9 Et quomodo sustinebis faciem iudicis unius loci ex servis domini mei minoribus? Quod si confidis in Aegypto, in quadrigis, et in equitibus:
How could you defeat even a single officer in charge of the weakest of my master's men when you're trusting in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
10 et nunc numquid sine Domino ascendi ad terram istam ut disperderem eam? Dominus dixit ad me: Ascende super terram istam, et disperde eam.
More than that—would I have come to attack this place without the Lord's encouragement? It was the Lord himself who told me, ‘Go and attack this land and destroy it.’”
11 Et dixit Eliachim, et Sobna, et Ioahe ad Rabsacen: Loquere ad servos tuos Syra lingua: intelligimus enim: ne loquaris ad nos Iudaice in auribus populi, qui est super murum.
Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah, said to the army general, “Please speak to us, your servants, in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don't speak to us in Hebrew while the people on the wall are listening.”
12 Et dixit ad eos Rabsaces: Numquid ad dominum tuum et ad te misit me dominus meus, ut loquerer omnia verba ista; et non potius ad viros, qui sedent in muro, ut comedant stercora sua, et bibant urinam pedum suorum vobiscum?
But the army general replied, “Did my master only send me to say these things to your master and to you, and not to the people sitting on the wall? They too, just like you, are going to have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
13 Et stetit Rabsaces, et clamavit voce magna Iudaice, et dixit: Audite verba regis magni, regis Assyriorum.
Then the army general shouted out in Hebrew, “Listen to this from the great king, the king of Assyria!
14 Haec dicit rex: Non seducat vos Ezechias, quia non poterit eruere vos.
This is what the king says: Don't let Hezekiah trick you! He can't save you!
15 Et non vobis tribuat fiduciam Ezechias super Domino, dicens: Eruens liberabit nos Dominus, non dabitur civitas ista in manu regis Assyriorum.
Don't believe Hezekiah when he tells you to trust in the Lord, saying, ‘I'm certain the Lord will save us. This city will never fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.’
16 Nolite audire Ezechiam: haec enim dicit rex Assyriorum: Facite mecum benedictionem, et egredimini ad me, et comedite unusquisque vineam suam, et unusquisque ficum suam: et bibite unusquisque aquam cisternae suae,
Don't listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king says: Make a peace treaty with me and surrender to me. That way everyone will eat from their own vine and their own fig tree, and drink water from their own well!
17 donec veniam, et tollam vos ad terram, quae est ut terra vestra, terram frumenti et vini, terram panum et vinearum.
I will come and take you to a land that's like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.
18 Nec conturbet vos Ezechias, dicens: Dominus liberabit nos. Numquid liberaverunt dii gentium unusquisque terram suam de manu regis Assyriorum?
But don't let Hezekiah trick you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have any of the gods of any nation ever saved their land from the power of the king of Assyria?
19 Ubi est deus Emath, et Arphad? ubi est deus Sepharvaim? numquid liberaverunt Samariam de manu mea?
Where were the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where were the gods of Sepharvaim? Were they able to save Samaria from me?
20 Quis est ex omnibus diis terrarum istarum, qui eruerit terram suam de manu mea, ut eruat Dominus Ierusalem de manu mea?
Which one of all the gods of these countries has saved their land from me? How then could the Lord save Jerusalem from me?”
21 Et siluerunt, et non responderunt ei verbum. Mandaverat enim rex, dicens: Ne respondeatis ei.
But the people remained silent and didn't say anything, for Hezekiah had given the order, “Don't answer him.”
22 Et ingressus est Eliachim filius Helchiae, qui erat super domum, et Sobna scriba, et Ioahe filius Asaph a commentariis ad Ezechiam scissis vestibus, et nunciaverunt ei verba Rabsacis.
Then Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, the palace manager, Shebna the scribe, and Joah, son of Asaph, the record-keeper, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they told him what the Assyrian army general had said.
