The Liar's Taunt

"Then [the enemy's spokesman] stood and cried with a loud voice in [the language God's people could understand] and said, 'Hear the words of the great king, the [enemy of your king]. Thus says the king, "Do not let [your king] deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you;  nor let [him] make you trust in the Lord, saying, 'The Lord will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of [the enemy].'"  Do not listen to [your king], for thus says [my] king, "Make your peace with me and come out to me...until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.  Beware that [your king] does not mislead you, saying, 'The Lord will deliver us.' Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of [your enemy]?"

The Response

[Upon receiving the news of the enemy's threats against him, and taunts against the faithfulness of his God:]  Then [the king of God's people] took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. [He] prayed to the Lord saying,

'O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of [the enemy's spokesmen], who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the [enemy has] devastated all the countries and their lands, and [has] cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.'"

Isaiah 36:13-21, 37:14-30