8. “Now, make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses if you can put riders on them.
9. How can you defeat my master’s lowest-ranking officers when you trust Egypt for chariots and horses?
10. “Have I come to destroy this country without the Lord on my side? The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this country, and destroy it.’ ”
11. Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the field commander, “Speak to us in Aramaic, since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in the Judean language as long as there are people on the wall listening.”