Kings IV 19
1 And it came to pass when king Ezekias heard it, that he tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth, an went into the house of the Lord.
When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the Lord's Temple.
2 And he sent Heliakim the steward, and Somnas the scribe, and the elders of the priests, clothed with sackcloth, to Esaias the prophet the son of Amos.
He sent Eliakim the palace manager, Shebna, the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to see the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
3 And they said to him, Thus says Ezekias, This day [is] a day of tribulation, and rebuke, and provocation: for the children are come to the travail-[pangs], but the mother has no strength.
They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, punishment. It's like when babies arrive at the entrance to the birth canal but there's no strength to deliver them.
4 Peradventure the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rapsakes, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God and to revile him with the words which the Lord your God has heard: and you shall offer [your] prayer for the remnant that is found.
Maybe the Lord your God, hearing the message the army commander delivered on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria—a message sent to insult the living God—will punish him for his words. Please say a prayer for the remnant of us who still survive.”
5 So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias.
After Hezekiah's officials delivered his message to Isaiah,
6 And Esaias said to them, Thus shall you say to your master, Thus says the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, wherewith the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed.
Isaiah replied to them, “Tell your master, This is what the Lord says: Don't be frightened by the words that you have heard, the words used by the servants of the king of Assyria to blaspheme me.
7 Behold, I send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and shall return to his own land; and I will overthrow him with the sword in his own land.
Look, I'm going to scare him—he'll hear a rumor, and he'll have to return to his own country. When he's there I'll have him killed by the sword.”
8 So Rapsakes returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Lobna: for he heard that he [had] departed from Lachis.
The Assyrian army commander left and went back to join the king of Assyria, having heard the king had left Lachish and was attacking Libnah.
9 And he heard concerning Tharaca king of the Ethiopians, saying, Behold, he is come forth to fight with you: and he returned, and sent messengers to Ezekias, saying,
Sennacherib had received a message about Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that said, “Watch out! He has set out to attack you.” So Sennacherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Let not your God on whom you trust encourage you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
“Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Don't let your God, the one you're trusting in, fool you by saying that Jerusalem won't fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.
11 Behold, you have heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done in all the lands, to waste them utterly: and shall you be delivered?
Look! You've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries they've invaded— they destroyed them completely! Do you really think you'll be saved?
12 Have the gods of the nations at all delivered them, whom my fathers destroyed; both Gozan, and Charran, and Raphis, and the sons of Edem who were in Thaesthen?
Did the gods of the nations my forefathers destroyed save them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Haemath, and the king of Arphad? and where is the king of the city of Seppharvaim, of Ana, and Aba?
Where today is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”
14 And Ezekias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezekias spread it before the Lord,
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Lord's Temple and opened it out before the Lord.
15 and said, O Lord God of Israel that dwell over the cherubs, you are the only god in all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord, God of Israel, you who live above the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth, you are Creator of heaven and earth.
16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear: open, Lord, your eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherim, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
Please listen with your ears, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17 For truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have wasted the nations,
Yes, it's true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed these nations and their lands.
18 and have cast their gods into the fire: because they are no gods, but the works of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed them.
They have thrown their gods into the fire because they are not really gods—they are just the work of human hands, made of wood and stone so they could destroy them.
19 And now, O Lord our God, deliver us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that you alone [are] the Lord God.
Now, Lord our God, please save us from him, in order that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that only you, Lord, are God.”
20 And Esaias the son of Amos sent to Ezekias, saying, Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, I have heard your prayer to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians.
Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about Sennacherib, king of Assyria.
21 This [is] the word which the Lord has spoken against him; The virgin daughter of Sion has made light of you, and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
This is the word the Lord condemning him: The virgin daughter of Zion scorns you and mocks you; the daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head as you run away.
22 Whom have you reproached, and whom have you reviled? and against whom have you lifted up your voice, and raised your eyes on high? [Is it] against the Holy One of Israel?
Who have you been insulting and ridiculing? Who did you raise your voice against? Who did you look at with so proud eyes? It was against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers you has reproached the Lord, and have said, I will go up with the multitude of my chariots, to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Libanus, and I have cut down the height of his cedar, [and] his choice cypresses; and I have come into the midst of the forest and of Carmel.
By your servants you have mocked the Lord. You said: ‘With my many chariots I have ascended to the high mountains, to the farthest peaks of Lebanon. I have chopped down its tallest cedars, the best of its cypress trees. I have reached its most distant outposts, its deepest forests.
24 I have refreshed [myself], and have drunk strange waters, and I have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers of fortified places.
I have dug wells and drunk water in foreign lands. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers in Egypt.’”
25 I have brought about [the matter], I have brought it to a conclusion; and it is come to the destruction of the bands of warlike prisoners, [even of] strong cities.
The Lord replies, “Haven't you heard? I decided it long ago; I planned it in the olden days. Now I am making sure it happens—that you are to knock down fortified towns into piles of rubble.
26 And they that lived in them were weak in hand, they quaked and were confounded, they became [as] grass of the field, or [as] the green herb, the grass [growing on] houses, and that which is trodden down by him that stands [upon it].
Their people, powerless, are terrified and humiliated. They're like plants in a field, like soft green shoots, like grass that sprouts on rooftop—scorched before it can even grow.
27 But I know your down-sitting, and your going forth, and your rage against me.
But I know you very well—where you live, when you come in, when you leave, and your furious anger against me.
28 Because you was angry against me, and your fierceness is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hooks in your nostrils, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
Because of your furious anger against me, and because I know how you disrespect me, I'm going to put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will force you to return the same way you came.”
29 And this shall be a sign to you; eat this year the things that grow of themselves, and in the second year the things which spring up: and in the third year [let there be] sowing, and reaping, and planting of vineyards, and eat you the fruit of them.
“Hezekiah, this will be a sign to prove this is true: This year you'll eat what grows by itself. The second year you'll eat what grows from that. But in the third year you'll sow and reap, you'll plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 And he shall increase him that has escaped of the house of Juda: and the remnant [shall strike] root beneath, and it shall produce fruit above.
The remnant that's left of Judah will revive again, sending roots below and bearing fruit above.
31 For from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and he that escapes from the mountain of Sion: the zeal of the Lord of host shall do this.
For a remnant will come out of Jerusalem, and survivors will come from Mount Zion. The intense determination of the Lord will make sure this happens.
32 [Is it] not so? Thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, neither shall a shield come against it, neither shall he heap a mound against it.
This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He shall not enter this city or shoot an arrow at it. He shall not advance towards it with a shield, or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way by which he comes, by it shall he return, and he shall not enter into this city, says the Lord.
He shall return the same way he came, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
34 And I will defend this city as with a shield, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 And it came to pass at night that the angel of the Lord went forth, an struck in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and they rose early in the morning, and, behold, [these were] all dead corpses.
That night the angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000. When the survivors woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by dead bodies.
36 And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians departed, and went and returned, and lived in Nineve.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, gave up and left. He returned home to Nineveh and stayed there.
37 And it came to pass, while he was worshipping in the house of Meserach his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons struck him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararath; and Asordan his son reigned in his stead.
While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword and then ran away to the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him as king.
