14. Then Hezekiah, the king of Judah, sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians at Lachish, saying: "I have offended. Withdraw from me, and all that you will impose upon me, I will bear." And so the king of the Assyrians levied a tax upon Hezekiah, the king of Judah, of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15. And Hezekiah gave all the silver that had been found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasuries of the king.
16. At that time, Hezekiah broke apart the doors of the temple of the Lord, with the plates of gold which he had affixed to them. And he gave these to the king of the Assyrians.
17. Then the king of the Assyrians sent Tartan, and Rabsaris, and Rabshakeh, from Lachish, to king Hezekiah, with a powerful hand, to Jerusalem. And when they had ascended, they arrived in Jerusalem, and they stood beside the aqueduct of the upper pool, which is along the way of the fuller's field.
18. And they called for the king. But there went out to them Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, the first ruler of the house, and Shebnah, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the keeper of records.
19. And Rabshakeh said to them: "Speak to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this faith, in which you strive?
20. Perhaps, you have taken counsel, so that you would prepare yourself for battle. In whom do you trust, so that you would dare to rebel?
21. Do you hope in Egypt, that staff of a broken reed, which, if a man would lean upon it, breaking, it would pierce his hand? Such is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who would trust in him.
22. But if you say to me: 'We have faith in the Lord, our God.' Is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away? And did he not instruct Judah and Jerusalem: 'You shall adore before this altar in Jerusalem?'
23. Now therefore, cross over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give to you two thousand horses, and we will see if you even have enough riders for them.
24. So how can you resist one prince from the least of my lord's servants? Do you have faith in Egypt because of the chariots and horsemen?
25. Is it not by the will of the Lord that I have chosen to ascend to this place, so that I may destroy it? The Lord said to me: 'Ascend to this land, and destroy it.' "
26. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh: "We beseech you, that you may speak to us, your servants, in Syriac. For we understand that language to some extent. And do not speak to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people, who are upon the wall."
27. And Rabshakeh responded to them, saying: "Has my lord sent me to your lord and to you, so that I may speak these words, and not instead to the men who are sitting upon the wall, so that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you?"
28. And so, Rabshakeh stood up, and he exclaimed in a great voice, in the Jews' language, and he said: "Listen to the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.