have done wrong! Return from me. That which Thou puttest on me, I will bear."

Then the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the House of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. (2 Kings xviii.. 13-16.)

The Great Invasion by Sennacherib (701 B.C.).

After these things, and this faithfulness, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fortified towns, and planned to break them up. Then when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that his face was set against Jerusalem, he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city. And they helped him. So there was gathered much people together, and they stopped all the fountains, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, 'Why should the king of Assyria come, and find much water?' He also summoned up courage, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised up the towers, and he repaired the other wall, and Millo, in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance. And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the broad place at the gate of the city, and spake encouragingly to them, saying: "Be strong and courageous. Be not afraid nor dismayed at the king of Assyria, nor at all the multitude that is with him. For there be more with us than with him!

With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles."

And the people leaned upon the words of Hezekiah, the

king of Judah.

After this did Sennacherib send his officers to Jerusalem : he himself, and all his army with him were at Lachish.

And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the Upper Pool in the highway of the Fuller's field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the king's house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the secretary.

The Assyrian boast.

And the Rabshakeh said unto them

"Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, 'What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? I say thy counsel and strength for war are but vain things! Now, on whom dost thou trust, that thou art rebelling against me? Lo! Thou trustest on the staff of the broken reed, even Egypt: and if a man lean on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is the Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him. But if thou say to me "We trust in the Lord our God," then is this not He whose High places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, "Ye shall worship before this altar only ?" Now, see, give a wager, I pray you, to my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put riders upon them! How then will you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen ? And am I now come up without

the Lord's consent against this land to destroy it? The Lord hath said unto me, 'Go up against this land, and destroy it.""

Then said Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah unto the Rabshakeh "Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people on the wall."

But the Rabshakeh said, "Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? Hath he not sent me also to the men that sit on the wall-that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own water with you?"

Then the Rabshakeh stood, and cried in a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said:

"Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us! this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.' Hearken not to Hezekiah! For thus saith the king of Assyria, 'Make an agreement with me by tribute, and come out to me. Let each one of you eat of his own vine, and of his own fig tree, and drink water out of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and grapes.' Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have those of Samaria delivered her out of my hand? Who are they of all the gods of these countries that have delivered their land out of

my hand, that Jehovah should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?"

But they held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's order was, saying, “Answer him not."

Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was in charge of the king's house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the secretary, to Hezekiah, with their clothes rent, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard them, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of the Lord. He sent also Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz: and they said unto him :—

"Thus saith Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blaspheming. The children indeed are come to the birth, but there is not strength to bring forth! It may be the Lord, thy God, will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the Living God, and will reprove the words, which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore lift up prayer for the remnant that is left.""

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

(Ch. xxxvi., xxxvii. 1-5.)

The word of the Lord to Hezekiah.

And Isaiah said unto them:

"Thus shall ye say unto your master: Thus saith the Lord-Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the officers of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold! I will send a spirit into him, and

D

he will hear a report, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."

The second message of Sennacherib to Hezekiah.

Now the Rabshakeh had returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. And he heard it said concerning Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia: "Behold! he is come forth to make war with thee." And when he heard it, he sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, saying:-"Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying! 'Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." Behold! thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries by destroying them utterly. And shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, viz., Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph, and the Children of Eden which were in Telassar. Where is the king of Hamath? And the king of Arpad? And the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, of Ivah?'" (Ch. xxxvii. 6-13.)

Hezekiah's Prayer.

And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the ambassadors, and read it. Then Hezekiah went up unto the House of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying:

"O Lord of Hosts! God of Israel! Thou that dwellest between the Cherubim! Thou art the God, Thou the Only One, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth! Incline Thine ear, O Lord! and hear. Open Thine eyes, O Lord! and see. Oh hear all the