2 Kings 18:23

Easy-to-Read Version

‘If you still want to fight my master, the king of Assyria, I will make this agreement with you. I promise that I will give you 2000 horses if you can find enough men to ride them into battle.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“So now, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them!

Hebrew Names Version
Now therefore, Please give pledges to my master the king of Ashshur, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

King James Version
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

English Standard Version
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 on them.

New Century Version
"‘Now make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough men to ride them.

New English Translation
Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

Amplified Bible
"Now then, make a bargain with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if on your part you can put riders on them.

New American Standard Bible
"Now then, come 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 put riders on them!

World English Bible
Now therefore, Please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Now therefore giue hostages to my lord the King of Asshur, & I will giue thee two thousand horses, if thou be able to set riders vpon them.

Legacy Standard Bible
So now, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them.

Berean Standard Bible
Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses-if you can put riders on them!

Contemporary English Version
The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people. He will give you two thousand horses, if you have enough troops to ride them.

Complete Jewish Bible
All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them.

Darby Translation
And now, engage, I pray thee, with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou canst set the riders upon them.

George Lamsa Translation
Now therefore, make an alliance with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you have riders to set upon them.

Good News Translation
I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many men to ride them!

Lexham English Bible
So then, please make a wager with my lord, with the king of Assyria, and I will give to you a thousand horses if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

Literal Translation
And, now, I ask you, exchange pledges for yourself to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give to you two thousand horses if you are able to give for yourself riders on them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Make a multitude now therfore vnto my lorde the kynge of Assiria, and I wil geue ye two thousande horses, let se yf thou be able to man them:

American Standard Version
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

Bible in Basic English
And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nowe therfore I pray thee geue hostages to my lorde the king of Assyria, and I will deliuer thee two thousande horses, if thou be able to set ryders vpon them:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now therefore, I pray thee, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

King James Version (1611)
Now therefore, I pray thee, giue pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliuer thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders vpon them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And now, I pray you, make and agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou shalt be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

English Revised Version
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Now therfor passe ye to my lord, the kyng of Assiriens, and Y schal yyue to you twei thousynde of horsis, and se ye, whether ye moun haue rideris of `tho horsis?

Young's Literal Translation
`And, now, give a pledge for thee, I pray thee, to my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to give for thee riders on them.

Update Bible Version
Now therefore, I pray you, give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou shalt be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

New King James Version
Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses--if you are able on your part to put riders on them!

New Living Translation
"I'll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!

New Life Bible
Come now, make an agreement with my ruler the king of Assyria. And I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

New Revised Standard
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 on them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, therefore, pledge thyself, I pray thee, with my lord, the king of Assyria, - that I supply thee with two thousand horses, if thou, on thy part, be able to set riders upon them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now therefore come over to my master, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them.

Revised Standard Version
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.

THE MESSAGE
"So be reasonable. Make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you two thousand horses if you think you can provide riders for them. You can't do it? Well, then, how do you think you're going to turn back even one raw buck private from my master's troops? How long are you going to hold on to that figment of your imagination, these hoped-for Egyptian chariots and horses?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Now therefore, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ The king of Assyria sent his three most important officers with a large army to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. They left Lachish and went to Jerusalem. They stood near the aqueduct by the Upper Pool, on the street that leads up to Laundryman's Field. ¹⁸ These men called for the king, but Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah son of Asaph went out to meet them. Eliakim was the palace manager, Joah was the record keeper, and Shebna was the royal secretary. ¹⁹ The commander said to them, "Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria says: ‘What are you trusting in to help you? ²⁰ If you say, "I trust in power and great battle plans," then that is useless. Now I ask you, who do you trust so much that you are willing to rebel against me? ²¹ Are you depending on Egypt to help you? Egypt is like a broken walking stick. If you lean on it for support, it will only hurt you and make a hole in your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, cannot be trusted by anyone who depends on him for help. ²² Maybe you will say, "We trust the Lord our God to help us." But I know that Hezekiah destroyed the altars and high places where people worshiped the Lord. Hezekiah told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, "You must worship only at this one altar here in Jerusalem." ²³ ‘If you still want to fight my master, the king of Assyria, I will make this agreement with you. I promise that I will give you 2000 horses if you can find enough men to ride them into battle. ²⁴ But even then you couldn't beat one of my master's lowest ranking officers. So why do you still depend on Egypt's chariots and horse soldiers? ²⁵ ‘Now, do you think I came to this country to destroy it without the Lord 's help? No, the Lord said to me, "Go up against this country and destroy it!"'" ²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebna, and Joah said to the commander, "Please speak to us in Aramaic. We understand that language. Don't speak to us in the language of Judah because the people on the wall will understand you."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

pledges: Heb. hostages

I will deliver: 1 Samuel 17:42, 1 Samuel 17:44, 1 Kings 20:10, 1 Kings 20:18, Nehemiah 4:2-5, Psalms 123:3, Psalms 123:4, Isaiah 10:13, Isaiah 10:14, Isaiah 36:8, Isaiah 36:9

Reciprocal: Judges 9:29 - Increase thine army 2 Samuel 17:12 - we will light 2 Kings 14:14 - and hostages 2 Kings 19:23 - With the multitude Nehemiah 4:3 - Tobiah

Cross-References

Genesis 18:4
I will bring some water to wash your feet. You can rest under the trees.

Genesis 18:5
I will get some food for you, and you can eat as much as you want. Then you can continue your journey." The three men said, "Do as you wish."

Genesis 18:6
Abraham hurried to the tent. He said to Sarah, "Quickly, prepare enough flour for three loaves of bread."

Genesis 18:7
Then Abraham ran to his cattle. He took his best young calf and gave it to the servant there. He told the servant to quickly kill the calf and prepare it for food.

Genesis 18:25
Surely you would not destroy the city. You would not destroy fifty good people to kill those who are evil. If that happened, those who are good would be the same as those who are evil—both would be punished. As the judge of the whole world, surely you would do the right thing!"

Genesis 20:4
But Abimelech had not yet slept with Sarah, so he said, "Lord, I am not guilty. Would you kill an innocent man?

2 Samuel 24:17
When he saw the angel who killed the people, David spoke to the Lord . David said, "I sinned! I did wrong! And these people only did what I told them—they only followed me like sheep. They did nothing wrong. Please let your punishment be against me and my father's family."

Job 8:3
God is always fair. God All-Powerful does what is right.

Job 34:17
Can someone be a ruler if he hates justice? Job, God is not only powerful, but he is fair. Do you think you can judge him guilty?

Psalms 73:28
As for me, all I need is to be close to God. I have made the Lord God my place of safety. And, God, I will tell about all that you have done.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The phrase translated “give pledges,” or “hostages” (margin) may perhaps be best understood as meaning “make an agreement.” If you will “bind yourself to find the riders” (i. e., trained horsemen), we will “bind ourselves to furnish the horses.” The suggestion implied that in all Judaea there were not 2000 men accustomed to serve as cavalry.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 18:23. I will deliver thee two thousand horses — Another insult: Were I to give thee two thousand Assyrian horses, thou couldst not find riders for them. How then canst thou think that thou shalt be able to stand against even the smallest division of my troops?