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.
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 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.
And he sent Elyakim, who was superintendent over the house, and Shebnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the 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.
And they said unto him, Thus hath said Hezekiah, A day of trouble, and of rebuke, and derision is this day; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
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.
Perhaps the Lord thy God will hear all 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 in behalf of the remnant that is still found here.
5 So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias.
And the servants of king Hezekiah came 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.
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to 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 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.
Behold, I will put an [other] spirit in him, that 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 Rapsakes returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Lobna: for he heard that he [had] departed from Lachis.
And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
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,
And he heard it said of Thirhakah the king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight with thee; and he again sent messengers unto 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.
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 all that the kings of the Assyrians have done in all the lands, to waste them utterly: and 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 at all delivered them, whom my fathers destroyed; both Gozan, and Charran, and Raphis, and the sons of Edem who were in Thaesthen?
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 Haemath, and the king of Arphad? and where is the king of the city of Seppharvaim, of Ana, and Aba?
Where is the king of Chamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvayim, of Hena', and '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,
And Hezekiah took the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and read them: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread them 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.
And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, who dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the [true] God, thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth; for it is thou who hast made the heavens and the 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.
Bend down, O Lord, thy ear, and hear! open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see! and hear the words of Sennacherib, that which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God.
17 For truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have wasted the nations,
Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their land,
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.
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.
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.
And now, O Lord our God, save us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, thou alone.
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 sent Isaiah the son of Amoz to Hezekiah, saying, Thus hath said the Lord the God of Israel, What thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib the king of Assyria have I heard.
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 that the Lord hath spoken over him: She despiseth thee, she laugheth thee to scorn, the virgin daughter of Zion; behind thee shaketh her head the daughter of Jerusalem.
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?
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.
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 thy messengers thou hast 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 lodgings on its summit, the forest of its fruitful soil.
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 and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up with the sole of my feet all the streams of besieged places.
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.
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.
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].
And thus their inhabitants were short of power, they were dismayed 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.
27 But I know your down-sitting, and your going forth, and your rage against me.
But thy abiding and thy going out and thy coming in do I know, and thy raging 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 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.
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.
And this shall be unto thee the sign, Ye shall eat this year what groweth of itself, and in the second year what springeth up after the same; and in the third year sow and reap, and 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.
And the remnant of the house of Judah that is escaped shall yet again strike root downward, and bear fruit upward.
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 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.
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.
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 shield, nor cast up against it an embankment.
33 By the way by which he comes, by it shall he return, and he shall not enter into 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.
34 And I will defend this city as with a shield, 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.
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.
And it came to pass, on the same night, that an angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred eighty and five thousand men: and when people arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians departed, and went and returned, and lived in Nineve.
And Sennacherib the king of Assyria then departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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.
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.
