Isaiah 37
1 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
And he sent Elyakim, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet.
3 They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to give birth.
And they said unto him, Thus hath said Hezekiah, A day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of derision is this day; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”
Perhaps the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and who hath reproached with the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that is still found here.
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The LORD says, “Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus hath said the Lord, Be not afraid because of the words which thou hast heard, with which the boys of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
Behold, I will put an [other] spirit in him, and when he will hear a rumor, he shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.
And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 He heard news concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
And he heard it said of Thirhakah the king of Ethiopia, He is come out to fight with thee. And when he had heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah the king of Judah, as followeth, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given up into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?
Behold, thou thyself hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands by destroying them utterly: and thou alone shouldst be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
Have the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed delivered them, as Gozan, and Charan, and Rezeph, and the children of 'Eden, who were in Thelassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Where is the king of Chamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvayim, of Hena', and 'Ivvah?
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD.
And Hezekiah took the letter out of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it out before the Lord.
15 Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying,
And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16 “LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the [true] God, thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth; [for] it is thou who hast made the heavens and earth.
17 Turn your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.
Bend down, O Lord, thy ear, and hear; open, O Lord, thy eye, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God.
18 Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land,
Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the nations, and their land;
19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
And they have placed their gods into the fire; for they are no gods, but the work of man's hands, wood and stone; and these have they destroyed.
20 Now therefore, LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD, even you only.”
And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, thou alone.
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel says, ‘Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,
Then sent Isaiah the son of Amoz unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib the king of Assyria:
22 this is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
This is the word that the Lord hath spoken over him: She despiseth thee, she laugheth thee to scorn, the virgin daughter of Zion; behind she shaketh her head, the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
Whom hast thou blasphemed, and [whom] hast thou scorned? and against whom hast thou raised thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the Holy One of Israel.
24 By your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.
Through thy servants hast thou blasphemed the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I indeed come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, the choice of its fir-trees: and I will enter into the height of its summit, the forest of its fruitful soil.
25 I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
I have dug, and drunk water; and I will dry up with the sole of my feet all the streams of besieged places.
26 “‘Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.
Hadst thou not heard, that in distant ages I had prepared this? in the times of antiquity when I formed it? now have I brought it along, and it came to pass to desolate into ruinous heaps fortified cities.
27 Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.
And thus their inhabitants were of short power, they were discouraged and confounded: they were as the herbs of the field, and as the green grass; as the moss on the housetops, and as corn blasted before the ear appeareth.
28 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
But thy abiding, and thy going out, and thy coming in do I know, and thy raging against me.
29 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
Because of thy raging against me, and thy tumult, that is come up into my ears, will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle between thy lips, and I will cause thee to turn back on the way by which thou camest.
30 “‘This shall be the sign to you: You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from it; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
And this shall be unto thee the sign, Ye shall eat this year what groweth of itself, and in the second year what springeth after the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
And the remnant of the house of Judah that is escaped shall yet strike root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and survivors will escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will perform this.’
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which escapeth out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
Therefore thus hath said the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow thereon, nor come before it with shields, nor cast up an embankment against it.
34 He will return the way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says the LORD.
On the way by which he came, by the same shall he return, and into this city shall he not come, saith the Lord.
35 ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”
And I will shield this city to save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.
36 Then the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Then went out an angel of the Lord, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty and five thousand men; and when people arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there.
And Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
And it came to pass, as he was prostrating himself in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Essar-chaddon his son became king in his stead.
