And Gad went in to David and told him, and said to him, Choose [one of these things] to befall you, whether there shall come upon you [for] three years famine in your land; or that you should flee three months before your enemies, and they should pursue you; or that there should be [for] three days mortality in your land. Now then decide, and see what answer I shall return to Him that sent me.

And they were silent, and none answered him a word; because the king had commanded that none should answer.

And Eliakim the [son] of Hilkiah, the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the [son] of Asaph the recorder, came in to Hezekiah, having torn their clothes, and they reported to him the words of Rabshakeh.

Obey your leaders, and submit to [them], for they keep watch over your souls, as giving an account, in order that they may do this with joy and not groaning, for this [would be] unprofitable for you.