2 Kings 18:22-25

New International Version

²²But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?

²³“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! ²⁴How can you repulse one officer^(A) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen^[a]? ²⁵Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?^(B) The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers

2 Kings 18:30-35

New International Version

³⁰Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

³¹“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree^(A) and drink water from your own cistern,^(B) ³²until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life^(C) and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ ³³Has the god^(D) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ³⁴Where are the gods of Hamath^(E) and Arpad?^(F) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? ³⁵Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”^(G)