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 when the king, Hezekiah, heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah.
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 palace, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, 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, Thus saith Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of contempt; for the children have come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
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 Jehovah, thy God, will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, and to revile him with the words which Jehovah, thy God, hath heard. Do thou, therefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant of the people, that is yet left.
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 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, Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid on account of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed 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 will put a spirit within him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 So Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachis.
Then Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed 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,
Then he heard concerning Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that it was said, “He is come forth to war against thee.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah and said,
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 shall ye say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah: Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand 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?
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands; how they have utterly destroyed them. And shalt thou be 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 which my father destroyed, deliver them? Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden 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 Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and of Ivah?
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 received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Then he went up to the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.
15 And Ezekias prayed to the Lord, saying,
And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, 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 Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubs, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast 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.
Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath 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,
In truth, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have destroyed 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 cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed 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.
But do thou, O Jehovah, our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone art Jehovah.
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, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to me on account of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria,
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 Jehovah hath spoken against him. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despiseth thee; she laugheth thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head after thee.
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 hast thou reproached, and reviled, And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, And lifted up thine 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 thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and said: “With the multitude of my chariots have I ascended the heights of the mountains, the extremities of Lebanon; I have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice cypress-trees; I have come to its utmost height, to its garden forest.
25 and I have made a bridge, and dried up the waters, and every pool of water.
I have digged and drunk water, And with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
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.
Hast thou not heard, that of old I ordained it, And from ancient times purposed it? Now have I brought it to pass, That thou shouldst convert fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
27 I weakened [their] hands, and they withered; and they became as dry grass on the housetops, and as grass.
Therefore were their inhabitants of little strength; They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field, and the green herb; As grass upon the house-top, and as corn blasted, before it is grown up.
28 But now I know your rest, and your going out, and your coming in.
I know thy sitting down, thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy rage against 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 thy rage against me, and thy insolence, is come up into my ears, I will put my ring into thy nose, And my bridle into thy lips, And turn thee back by the way in which thou camest.
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 shall be the sign to thee; Eat this year that which groweth of itself, And in the second year that which groweth of itself, And in the third year ye shall sow and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And they that are left in Judea shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
And the remnant of the house of Judah, that have escaped, Shall again strike root downward, And bear 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 from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, And they that have escaped from mount Zion. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform 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 saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the king of Assyria; He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow into it; He shall not present a shield before it, Nor cast up 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.
By the way in which he came, by the same shall he return, And into this city shall he not come, saith Jehovah.
35 I will protect this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
For I will defend this city, and deliver it, For mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
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.
Then an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men; and when the people arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses.
37 And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians turned and departed, and lived in Nineve.
Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, decamped, and went away, and returned, and dwelt 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 as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch, his god, he was slain with the sword by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer, who escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.
