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Do you think mere words substitute for strategy and might in war? In whom, then, do you place your trust, that you rebel against me? Do you trust in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it? That is what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is to all who trust in him.(A) Or do you say to me: It is in the Lord, our God, we trust? Is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,[a] commanding Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Worship before this altar’?(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 36:7 The Assyrians assert that Hezekiah’s removal of the high places and altars (unofficial sanctuaries) was taken by the Lord as an insult. They declare to Jerusalem’s emissaries that the city therefore no longer has a right to the Lord’s protection and that they are the ones who truly carry out his will (cf. v. 10).

You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(A) against me? Look, I know you are depending(B) on Egypt,(C) that splintered reed(D) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. But if you say to me, “We are depending(E) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(F) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(G)

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