11. " 'Hezekiah says, "The Lord our God will save us from the powerful hand of the king of Assyria." But he isn't telling you the truth. If you listen to him, you will die of hunger and thirst.
12. " 'Didn't Hezekiah himself remove your god's high places and altars? Didn't Hezekiah say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship at one altar. You must burn sacrifices on it"?
13. " 'Don't you know what I and the kings who ruled before me have done? Don't you know what we've done to all of the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to save their lands from my power?
14. The kings who ruled before me destroyed many nations. Which one of the gods of those nations has been able to save his people from me? So how can your god save you from my power?
15. " 'Don't let Hezekiah trick you. He's telling you lies. Don't believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom has been able to save his people from my power. No god has been able to save his people from the power of the kings who ruled before me. So your god won't save you from my power either!' "
16. Sennacherib's officers spoke even more things against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah.
17. The king also wrote letters against the Lord. His letters made fun of the God of Israel. They said, "The peoples of other lands have their gods. But those gods didn't save their people from my powerful hand. So the god of Hezekiah won't save his people from my powerful hand either."
18. Then the officers called out in the Hebrew language to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall. They were trying to scare them and make them afraid. That's because they wanted to capture the city.
19. They were comparing the God of Jerusalem to the gods of the other nations of the world. But those gods were only statues. They had been made by the hands of men.