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 it comes to pass, at King Hezekiah’s hearing, that he tears his garments, and covers himself with sackcloth, and enters the house of YHWH,
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 sends Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and [the] elderly of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet,
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 say to him, “Thus said Hezekiah: A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising, [is] this day; for sons have come to the birth, and there is not power to bear.
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 your God YHWH hears the words of Rabshakeh with which the king of Asshur his lord has sent him to reproach the living God, and has decided concerning the words that your God YHWH has heard, and you have lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.”
5 So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias.
And the servants of King Hezekiah come 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 says to them, “Thus you say to your lord, Thus said YHWH: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.
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.
Behold, I am giving a spirit in him, and he has heard a report, and has turned back to his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.”
8 So Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachis.
And Rabshakeh turns back and finds the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he has heard that he has journeyed 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 he hears concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, “He has come out to fight with you”; and he hears, and sends messengers to Hezekiah, 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.
“Thus you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you are trusting lift you up, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
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?
Behold, you have heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands—to devote them—and you are delivered!
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 deliver them whom my fathers destroyed—Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who [are] 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 city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”
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 takes the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and reads them, and Hezekiah goes up to the house of YHWH, and Hezekiah spreads it before YHWH.
15 And Ezekias prayed to the Lord, saying,
And Hezekiah prays to YHWH, 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.
“YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubim, You [are] God Himself—You alone—to all kingdoms of the earth, You have made the heavens and the 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.
Incline, O YHWH, Your ear, and hear; open, O YHWH, Your eyes and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to reproach 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 YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
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.
so as to put their gods into fire—for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone—and they destroy them.
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.
And now, our God YHWH, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth know that You [are] YHWH, You alone.”
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.
And Isaiah son of Amoz sends to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur—
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 that YHWH spoke concerning him: Trampled on you, laughed at you, Has the virgin daughter of Zion, The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken the head behind 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?
Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom—lifted up the voice? Indeed, you lift up your eyes on high 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:
By the hand of your servants You have reviled the Lord, and say: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
25 and I have made a bridge, and dried up the waters, and every pool of water.
I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
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.
Have you not heard from afar [that] I did it, From days of old—that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, And it is to make desolate, Ruinous heaps—fortified cities,
27 I weakened [their] hands, and they withered; and they became as dry grass on the housetops, and as grass.
And their inhabitants are feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up. They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted grain, before it has risen up.
28 But now I know your rest, and your going out, and your coming in.
And your sitting down, and your going out, And your coming in, I have known, And your anger toward Me.
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 of your anger toward Me, And your noise—it came up into My ears, I have put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I have caused you to turn back In the way in which 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 [is] the sign to you, Self-sown grain [is] food of the year, And in the second year the spontaneous growth, And in the third year, sow and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 And they that are left in Judea shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
And it has continued—The escaped of the house of Judah that has been left—To take root beneath, And it has made fruit upward.
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 a remnant goes forth from Jerusalem, And an escape from Mount Zion, The zeal of YHWH of Hosts does this.
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.
Therefore, thus said YHWH, Concerning the king of Asshur: He does not come into this city, Nor does he shoot an arrow there, Nor does he come before it [with] shield, Nor does he pour out a mound 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.
In the way that he came, in it he turns back, And to this city he does not come in, A declaration of YHWH,
35 I will protect this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
And I have covered over this city, To save it, for My own sake, And for the sake 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 a messenger of YHWH goes out, and strikes in the camp of Asshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and [men] rise early in the morning, and behold, all of them [are] dead corpses.
37 And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians turned and departed, and lived in Nineve.
And he journeys, and goes, and Sennacherib king of Asshur turns back, and dwells in 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 comes to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, and his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer have struck him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esar-Haddon reigns in his stead.
