Liber II Regum, 18

1. Anno tertio Osee filii Ela regis Israel regnavit Ezechias filius Achaz regis Iudae.

1. In the third year of Hoshe'a son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezeki'ah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign.

2. Viginti quinque annorum erat, cum regnare coepisset, et viginti et novem annis regnavit in Ierusalem. Nomen matris eius Abi filia Zachariae.

2. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechari'ah.

3. Fecitque, quod erat bonum coram Domino, iuxta omnia, quae fecerat David pater suus.

3. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.

4. Ipse dissipavit excelsa et contrivit lapides et succidit palum confregitque serpentem aeneum, quem fecerat Moyses; siquidem usque ad illud tempus filii Israel adolebant ei; vocabatur Nohestan.

4. He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Ashe'rah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had burned incense to it; it was called Nehush'tan.

5. In Domino, Deo Israel, speravit. Itaque post eum non fuit similis ei de cunctis regibus Iudae sed neque in his, qui ante eum fuerunt.

5. He trusted in the LORD the God of Israel; so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.

6. Et adhaesit Domino et non recessit a vestigiis eius fecitque mandata eius, quae praeceperat Dominus Moysi,

6. For he held fast to the LORD; he did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses.

7. unde et erat Dominus cum eo, et in cunctis, ad quae procedebat, prospere agebat. Rebellavit quoque contra regem Assyriorum et non servivit ei.

7. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went forth, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria, and would not serve him.

8. Ipse percussit Philisthaeos usque Gazam et terminos eius, a turre custodum usque ad civitatem munitam.

8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

9. Anno quarto regis Ezechiae, qui erat annus septimus Osee filii Ela regis Israel, ascendit Salmanasar rex Assvriorum Samariam et oppugnavit eam

9. In the fourth year of King Hezeki'ah, which was the seventh year of Hoshe'a son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmane'ser king of Assyria came up against Sama'ria and besieged it

10. et cepit. Post annos tres, anno sexto Ezechiae, id est nono anno Osee regis Israel, capta est Samaria.

10. and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezeki'ah, which was the ninth year of Hoshe'a king of Israel, Sama'ria was taken.

11. Et transtulit rex Assyriorum Israel in Assur collocavitque eos in Hala et Habor iuxta fluvium Gozan et in civitatibus Medorum,

11. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria, and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

12. quia non audierunt vocem Domini Dei sui, sed praetergressi sunt pactum eius; omnia, quae praeceperat Moyses servus Domini, non audierunt neque fecerunt.

12. because they did not obey the voice of the LORD their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded; they neither listened nor obeyed.

13. Anno quarto decimo regis Ezechiae ascendit Sennacherib rex Assyriorum ad universas civitates Iudae munitas et cepit eas.

13. In the fourteenth year of King Hezeki'ah Sennach'erib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

14. Tunc misit Ezechias rex Iudae nuntios ad regem Assyriorum Lachis dicens: “Peccavi. Recede a me, et omne, quod imposueris mihi, feram”. Indixit itaque rex Assyriorum Ezechiae regi Iudae trecenta talenta argenti et triginta talenta auri;

14. And Hezeki'ah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear." And the king of Assyria required of Hezeki'ah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

15. deditque Ezechias omne argentum, quod repertum fuerat in domo Domini et in thesauris regis.

15. And Hezeki'ah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of the king's house.

16. In tempore illo confregit Ezechias valvas templi Domini et postes, quos ipse inauraverat, et dedit aurum regi Assyriorum.

16. At that time Hezeki'ah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the doorposts which Hezeki'ah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.

17. Misit autem rex Assyriorum Tharthan et Rabsaris et Rabsacen de Lachis ad regem Ezechiam cum manu valida Ierusalem. Qui cum ascendissent, venerunt in Ierusalem et steterunt iuxta aquae ductum piscinae superioris, quae est in via agri fullonis,

17. And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rab'saris, and the Rab'shakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezeki'ah at Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. When they arrived, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the Fuller's Field.

18. vocaveruntque regem. Egressus est autem ad eos Eliachim filius Helciae praepositus domus et Sobna scriba et Ioah filius Asaph a commentariis.

18. And when they called for the king, there came out to them Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, who was over the household, and Shebnah the secretary, and Jo'ah the son of Asaph, the recorder.

19. Dixitque ad eos Rabsaces: “Loquimini Ezechiae: Haec dicit rex magnus, rex Assyriorum: Quae est ista fiducia, qua niteris?

19. And the Rab'shakeh said to them, "Say to Hezeki'ah, `Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this confidence of yours?

20. Forsitan putas verbum labiorum esse consilium et fortitudinem ad proelium? In quo confidis, ut audeas rebellare contra me?

20. Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? On whom do you now rely, that you have rebelled against me?

21. An speras in baculo arundineo atque confracto, Aegypto, super quem, si incubuerit homo, comminutus ingreditur manum eius et perforabit eam? Sic est pharao rex Aegypti omnibus, qui confidunt in eo.

21. Behold, you are relying now on Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

22. Quod si dixeritis mihi: “In Domino Deo nostro habemus fiduciam”, nonne iste est, cuius abstulit Ezechias excelsa et altaria et praecepit Iudae et Ierusalem: “Ante altare hoc adorabitis in Ierusalem?”.

22. But if you say to me, "We rely on the LORD our God," is it not he whose high places and altars Hezeki'ah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, "You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem"?

23. Nunc igitur spondete cum domino meo rege Assyriorum; dabo tibi duo milia equorum; et vide an habere valeas ascensores eorum.

23. Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders upon them.

24. Et quomodo potes in fugam vertere unum satrapam de servis domini mei minimis? An fiduciam habes in Aegypto propter currus et equites?

24. How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my master's servants, when you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

25. Numquid sine Domini voluntate ascendi ad locum istum, ut demolirer eum? Dominus dixit mihi: “Ascende ad terram hanc et demolire eam””.

25. Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.'"

26. Dixerunt autem Eliachim filius Helciae et Sobna et Ioah Rabsaci: “Precamur, ut loquaris nobis servis tuis Aramaice, siquidem intellegimus hanc linguam, et non loquaris nobis Iudaice, audiente populo, qui est super murum”.

26. Then Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, and Shebnah, and Jo'ah, said to the Rab'shakeh, "Pray, speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the language of Judah within the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

27. Responditque eis Rabsaces: “Numquid ad dominum tuum et ad te misit me dominus meus, ut loquerer sermones hos, et non ad viros, qui sedent super murum, ut comedant stercora sua et bibant urinam suam vobiscum?”.

27. But the Rab'shakeh said to them, "Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall, who are doomed with you to eat their own dung and to drink their own urine?"

28. Stetit itaque Rabsaces et clamavit voce magna Iudaice et ait: “Audite verba regis magni, regis Assyriorum:

28. Then the Rab'shakeh stood and called out in a loud voice in the language of Judah: "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

29. Haec dicit rex: Non vos seducat Ezechias; non enim poterit eruere vos de manu mea!

29. Thus says the king: `Do not let Hezeki'ah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of my hand.

30. Neque fiduciam vobis tribuat super Domino dicens: “Eruens liberabit nos Dominus, et non tradetur civitas haec in manu regis Assyriorum”.

30. Do not let Hezeki'ah make you to rely on the LORD by saying, The LORD will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.'

31. Nolite audire Ezechiam! Haec enim dicit rex Assyriorum: Facite mecum benedictionem et egredimini ad me, et comedet unusquisque de vinea sua et de ficu sua, et bibetis aquas de cisternis vestris,

31. Do not listen to Hezeki'ah; for thus says the king of Assyria: `Make your peace with me and come out to me; then every one of you will eat of his own vine, and every one of his own fig tree, and every one of you will drink the water of his own cistern;

32. donec veniam et transferam vos in terram, quae similis terrae vestrae est, in terram fructiferam et fertilem vini, terram panis et vinearum, terram olivarum olei ac mellis; et vivetis et non moriemini. Nolite audire Ezechiam, qui vos decipit dicens: “Dominus liberabit nos!”.

32. until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezeki'ah when he misleads you by saying, The LORD will deliver us.

33. Numquid liberaverunt dii gentium unusquisque terram suam de manu regis Assyriorum?

33. Has any of the gods of the nations ever delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

34. Ubi sunt dii Emath et Arphad? Ubi sunt dii Sepharvaim, Ana et Ava? Numquid liberaverunt Samariam de manu mea?

34. Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharva'im, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Sama'ria out of my hand?

35. Quinam illi sunt in universis diis terrarum, qui eruerunt regionem suam de manu mea, ut possit eruere Dominus Ierusalem de manu mea?”.

35. Who among all the gods of the countries have delivered their countries out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

36. Tacuit itaque populus et non respondit ei quidquam; siquidem praeceptum regis acceperant, ut non responderent ei.

36. But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king's command was, "Do not answer him."

37. Venitque Eliachim filius Helciae praepositus domus et Sobna scriba et Ioah filius Asaph a commentariis ad Ezechiam, scissis vestibus, et nuntiaverunt ei verba Rabsacis.

37. Then Eli'akim the son of Hilki'ah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Jo'ah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezeki'ah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of the Rab'shakeh.