Esias 37
1 And it came to pass, when king Ezekias heard [it, that] he tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and went up to the house of the Lord.
And on hearing it Hezekiah took off his robe and put on haircloth 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 son of Amos, the prophet. And they said to him, Thus says Ezekias,
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the chief priests, dressed in haircloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3 To-day is a day of affliction, and reproach, and rebuke, and anger: for the pangs are come upon the travailing [woman], but she has not strength to bring forth.
And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame: for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them.
4 May the Lord your God hear the words of Rabsaces, which the king of the Assyrians has sent, to reproach the living God, even to reproach with the words which the Lord your God has heard: therefore you shall pray to your Lord for these that are left.
It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so make your prayer for the rest of the people.
5 So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias.
So 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 you afraid at the words which you have heard, wherewith the ambassadors of the king of the Assyrians have reproached me,
And Isaiah said to them, This is what you are to say to your master: The Lord says, Be not troubled by the words which the servants of the king of Assyria have said against me in your hearing.
7 Behold, I [will] send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and return to his own country, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.
See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death.
8 So Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachis.
So the Rab-shakeh went back, and when he got there the king of Assyria was making war against Libnah: for it had come to his ears that the king of Assyria had gone away from Lachish.
9 And Tharaca king of the Ethiopians went forth to attack him. And when he heard it, he turned aside, and sent messengers to Ezekias, saying,
And when news came to him that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had made an attack on him, ... And he sent representatives to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying,
10 Thus shall you say to Ezekias king of Judea, Let not your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom is your faith, give you a false hope, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.
11 Hast you not heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done, how they have destroyed the whole earth? and shall you be delivered?
No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse: and will you be kept safe from their fate?
12 Have the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed delivered them, both Gozan, and Charrhan, and Rapheth, which are in the land of Theemath?
Did the gods of the nations keep safe those on whom my fathers sent destruction, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
13 Where are the kings of Emath? and where [is the king of] Arphath? and where [is the king] of the city of Eppharuaim, [and of] Anagugana?
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the town of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivva?
14 And Ezekias received the letter from the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and opened it before the Lord.
And Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of those who had come with it; and after reading it, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, opening the letter there before the Lord,
15 And Ezekias prayed to the Lord, saying,
And he made prayer to the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sit upon the cherubs, you alone are the God of every kingdom of the world: you have made heaven and earth.
O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, seated between the winged ones, you only are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
17 Incline your ear, O Lord, listen, O Lord; open your eyes, O Lord, look, O Lord: and behold the words of Sennacherim, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord; let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see: take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God.
18 For of a truth, Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the whole world, and the countries thereof,
Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have made waste all the nations and their lands,
19 and have cast their idols into the fire: for, they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have cast them away.
And have given their gods to the fire: for they were no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men's hands; so they have given them to destruction.
20 But now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hands, that every kingdom of the earth may know that you are God alone.
But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hand, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you, and you only, are the Lord.
21 And Esaias the son of Amos was sent to Ezekias, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I have heard your prayer to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians.
Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears.
22 This is the word which God has spoken concerning him; The virgin daughter of Sion has despised you, and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
This is the word which the Lord has said about him: In the eyes of the virgin daughter of Zion you are shamed and laughed at; the daughter of Jerusalem has made sport of you.
23 Whom have you reproached and provoked? and against whom have you lifted up your voice? and have you not lifted up your eyes on high against the Holy One of Israel?
Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? and against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel.
24 For you have reproached the Lord by messengers; for you have said, With the multitude of chariots have I ascended to the height of mountains, and to the sides of Libanus; and I have cropped the height of his cedars and the beauty of his cypresses; and I entered into the height of the forest region:
You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all my war-carriages I have come up to the top of the mountains, to the inmost parts of Lebanon; and its tall cedars will be cut down, and the best trees of its woods: I will come up into his highest places, into his thick woods.
25 and I have made a bridge, and dried up the waters, and every pool of water.
I have made water-holes and taken their waters, and with my foot I have made all the rivers of Egypt dry.
26 Hast you not heard of these things which I did of old? I appointed [them] from ancient times; but now have I manifested [my purpose] of desolating nations in [their] strong holds, and them that dwell in strong cities.
Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls.
27 I weakened [their] hands, and they withered; and they became as dry grass on the housetops, and as grass.
This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field, or a green plant; like the grass on the house-tops, which a cold wind makes waste.
28 But now I know your rest, and your going out, and your coming in.
But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in.
29 And your wrath wherewith you have been enraged, and your rancour has come up to me; therefore I will put a hook in your nose, and a bit in your lips, and will turn you back by the way by which you came.
Because your wrath against me and your pride have come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came.
30 And this shall be a sign to you, Eat this year what you have sown; and the second year that which is left: and the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself, and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed, and get in the grain, and make vine-gardens, and take of their fruit.
31 And they that are left in Judea shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
And those of Judah who are still living will again take root in the earth, and give fruit.
32 for out of Jerusalem there shall be a remnant, and the saved ones out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
For from Jerusalem those who have been kept safe will go out, and those who are still living will go out of Mount Zion: by the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.
33 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, nor cast a weapon against it, nor bring a shield against it, nor make a rampart round it.
For this cause the Lord says about the king of Assyria, He will not come into this town, or send an arrow against it; he will not come before it with arms, or put up an earthwork against it.
34 But by the way by which he came, by it shall he return, and shall not enter into this city: thus says the Lord.
By the way he came he will go back, and he will not get into this town.
35 I will protect this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
For I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.
36 And the angel of the Lord went forth, and killed out of the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and they arose in the morning and found all [these] bodies dead.
And the angel of the Lord went out and put to death in the army of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men: and when the people got up early in the morning, there was nothing to be seen but dead bodies.
37 And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians turned and departed, and lived in Nineve.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went back to his place at Nineveh.
38 And while he was worshipping Nasarach his country's god in the house, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons struck him with swords; and they escaped into Armenia: and Asordan his son reigned in his stead.
And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword, and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon, his son, became king in his place.
