Now therefore do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him: This verse concludes Sennacherib’s speech against the people of Judah and moves toward an appeal. The words Now therefore (literally “And now”) and the imperatives here indicate this quite clearly. The verbs deceive and mislead (see the comments on verse 11) have very similar meanings. The first verb focuses strongly on the idea of deception, but the two together make the entreaty stronger.

For no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my people: See the comments on the previous two verses.

How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!: This sentence is a rhetorical question in Hebrew. It strongly affirms the inability of the God of Judah to rescue his people. (The same kind of question is asked in 2 Chr 6.18.) The Hebrew word translated God is plural, although the ancient versions and some Hebrew manuscripts have the singular “God.” Some modern versions say “gods” (Revised English Bible, An American Translation, Bible en français courant). Nearly all the people in the ancient Near Eastern world worshiped several gods. A possible model for this sentence is “There is absolutely no way that your God can rescue you from me!”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .