Isaiah 37
1 And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and 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 Eliacim who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaias the son of Amos the prophet.
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 saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble and of punishment. It's like when babies arrive at the entrance to the birth canal but there's no strength to deliver them.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
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 And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias.
After Hezekiah's officials delivered his message to Isaiah,
6 And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.
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 will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country.
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 And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna. For he had heard that he was 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 say about Tharaca the king of Ethiopia: He is come forth to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:
Sennacherib had received a message about Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that said, “Watch out! He is coming to attack you.” So Sennacherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall you speak to Ezechias the king of Juda, saying: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given 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 thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians hare done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou 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 delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thalassar?
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 Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?
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 Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias 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 Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying:
Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth.
“Lord Almighty, 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.
17 Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme 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.
18 For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste lands, and their countries.
Yes, it's true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed these nations and their lands.
19 And they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and stone: and they broke them in pieces.
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.
20 And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord.
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.”
21 And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib the 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: Because you've prayed to me about Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee.
this is the word of 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.
23 Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? 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!
24 By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord: and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus: and I will out down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees, and will enter to the top of its height, to the forest of its 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 heights, its deepest forests.
25 I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks.
I have dug wells and drunk water in foreign lands. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers in Egypt.’”
26 Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it hath come to pass that hills fighting together, and fenced cities should be destroyed.
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.
27 The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which withered before it was ripe.
Their people, powerless, are terrified and humiliated. They're like plants in a field, like soft green shoots, like grass that sprouts on the rooftop—scorched before it can even grow.
28 I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy 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.
29 When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
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.”
30 But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third year sow and reap, and giant vineyards, and eat 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.
31 And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward:
The remnant that's left of Judah will revive again, sending roots below and bearing fruit above.
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a, remnant, and salvation from mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts 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.
33 Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about 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.
34 By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.
He shall return the same way he came, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
35 And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.
I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36 And the angel of the Lord went out, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses.
Then the angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 of them. When the survivors woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by dead bodies.
37 And Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians went out and departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, gave up and left. He returned home to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon 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.
