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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Isaiah 36 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/isaiah/36.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/isaiah/36-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Isaiah 36</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../isaiah/35.htm" title="Isaiah 35">◄</a> Isaiah 36 <a href="../isaiah/37.htm" title="Isaiah 37">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">The Assyrians Surround Jerusalem</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="2KI 18:13-27">2 Kings 18.13-27</ref>; <ref loc="2CH 32:1-19">2 Chronicles 32.1-19</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_1"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.1" class="v23_36_1">1</span>Hezekiah had been king of Judah for 14 years when King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded the country and captured every walled city </span><span class="v23_36_2"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.2" class="v23_36_2">2</span>except Jerusalem. The Assyrian king ordered his army commander to leave the city of Lachish and to take a large army to Jerusalem.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_2">The commander went there and stood on the road near the cloth makers' shops along the canal from the upper pool. </span><span class="v23_36_3"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.3" class="v23_36_3">3</span>Three of the king's highest officials came out of Jerusalem to meet him. One of them was Hilkiah's son Eliakim, who was the prime minister. The other two were Shebna, assistant to the prime minister, and Joah son of Asaph, keeper of the government records.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_4"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.4" class="v23_36_4">4</span>The Assyrian commander told them:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v23_36_4">I have a message for Hezekiah from the great king of Assyria. Ask Hezekiah why he feels so sure of himself. </span><span class="v23_36_5"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.5" class="v23_36_5">5</span>Does he think he can plan and win a war with nothing but words? Who is going to help him, now that he has turned against the king of Assyria? </span><span class="v23_36_6"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.6" class="v23_36_6">6</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.36.6!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Is he depending on Egypt and its king? That's the same as leaning on a broken stick, and it will go right through his hand.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v23_36_7"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.7" class="v23_36_7">7</span>Is Hezekiah now depending on the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, your God? Didn't Hezekiah tear down all except one of the <span class="nd">Lord</span>'s altars and places of worship?<a href="#fn" id="link_Isa.36.7!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Didn't he tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah to worship at that one place?</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v23_36_8"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.8" class="v23_36_8">8</span>The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people! He will give you 2,000 horses, if you have enough troops to ride them. </span><span class="v23_36_9"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.9" class="v23_36_9">9</span>How could you even defeat our lowest ranking officer, when you have to depend on Egypt for chariots and cavalry? </span><span class="v23_36_10"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.10" class="v23_36_10">10</span>Don't forget that it was the <span class="nd">Lord</span> who sent me here with orders to destroy your nation!</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_11"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.11" class="v23_36_11">11</span>Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said, “Sir, we don't want the people listening from the city wall to understand what you are saying. So please speak to us in Aramaic instead of Hebrew.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_12"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.12" class="v23_36_12">12</span>The Assyrian army commander answered, “My king sent me to speak to everyone, not just to you leaders. These people will soon have to eat their own body waste and drink their own urine! And so will the three of you!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_13"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.13" class="v23_36_13">13</span>Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he shouted out in Hebrew:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v23_36_13">Listen to what the great king of Assyria says! </span><span class="v23_36_14"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.14" class="v23_36_14">14</span>Don't be fooled by Hezekiah. He can't save you. </span><span class="v23_36_15"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.15" class="v23_36_15">15</span>Don't trust him when he tells you that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will protect you from the king of Assyria. </span><span class="v23_36_16"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.16" class="v23_36_16">16</span>Stop listening to Hezekiah. Pay attention to my king. Surrender to him. He will let you keep your own vineyards, fig trees, and cisterns </span><span class="v23_36_17"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.17" class="v23_36_17">17</span>for a while. Then he will come and take you away to a country just like yours, where you can plant vineyards and raise your own grain.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v23_36_18"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.18" class="v23_36_18">18</span>Hezekiah claims the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will save you. But don't be fooled by him. Were any other gods able to defend their land against the king of Assyria? </span><span class="v23_36_19"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.19" class="v23_36_19">19</span>What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, and Sepharvaim? Were the gods of Samaria able to protect their land against the Assyrian forces? </span><span class="v23_36_20"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.20" class="v23_36_20">20</span>None of those gods kept their people safe from the king of Assyria. Do you think the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, your God, can do any better?</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v23_36_21"><span class="reftext" id="Isa.36.21-Isa.36.22" class="v23_36_21">21-22</span>Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah had been warned by King Hezekiah not to answer the Assyrian commander. So they tore their clothes in sorrow and reported to Hezekiah everything the commander had said.</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">36.7 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">worship: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hezekiah actually had torn down the places where idols were worshiped, and he had told the people to worship the <char style="nd">Lord</char> at the one place of worship in Jerusalem. But the Assyrian leader was confused and thought these were also places where the <char style="nd">Lord</char> was supposed to be worshiped.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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