Sennacherib had marched his troops (then proceeding to the attack on Egypt) through the Philistine lowland southward without turning towards Jerusalem, while he himself put up his headquarters at Lachish, which was one of the most important of the provincial cities of Judah. He had no reason to besiege the town of Jerusalem, fortified as it was by nature and human art. When the country was completely conquered, the capital would be forced to surrender of itself. If this plan had succeeded, Jerusalem would have suffered a fate similar to that of Samaria, and the few remaining tribes would have been carried off into captivity and scattered abroad, to be irretrievably lost amongst the various nationalities. In spite of this hopeless prospect, Isaiah held firm to the prediction that Judah would not fall. It would suffer under the dominion of Sennacherib, but these very sufferings would tend to the reformation of a part of the nation, if not of the whole of it. Isaiah was not the only prophet who, at this day of oppression and imminent destruction, held aloft the banner of hope, and predicted a glorious future for Israel, in which all the nations of the earth would take part. Micah spoke in a similar strain, though his speeches were not so artistic or striking. But amidst the din of battle he spoke yet more decidedly than Isaiah of the everlasting peace of the world, and thus endeavoured to raise the fallen hopes of Jerusalem (Micah iv.-v.). The actual present, however, formed a striking contrast to Isaiah's and Micah's high-soaring predictions of a most brilliant and noble future. King Hezekiah, seeing the distress of Jerusalem resulting from the subjection and devastation of the country, sent messengers to Sennacherib in Lachish, to ask pardon for his rebellion and give assurances of his submission. The Assyrian king demanded in the first place the immense sum of 300 khikars (talents) of silver, and 30 khikars of gold. Hezekiah succeeded in collecting this sum, but he did it with a heavy heart, for he found himself obliged to remove the golden ornaments which adorned the temple. When Sennacherib had received this sum, he demanded more--unconditional surrender. In order to add weight to his demand, he sent a division of his army to Jerusalem. This detachment was stationed to the north-east of the city on the way to the upper lake, and made preparations for a siege. Before beginning it, however, the Assyrians summoned King Hezekiah to an interview. Rab-shakeh, one of the Assyrian officials, representing Sennacherib, spoke with as much disdain as if the conquest of Jerusalem were as easy as robbing a bird's nest. The Judæan warriors stationed on the outer wall waited with great anxiety for the result of the interview. In order to daunt their courage, Rab-shakeh uttered his bold and daring speech in the Hebrew or Judæan tongue, in order that the listeners might understand him. When Hezekiah's officers requested