2 Kings 19
1 When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the Lord's Temple.
And it cometh to pass, at king Hezekiah's hearing, that he rendeth his garments, and covereth himself with sackcloth, and entereth the house of Jehovah,
2 He sent Eliakim the palace manager, Shebna, the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to see the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
and sendeth Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz,
3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, punishment. It's like when babies arrive at the entrance to the birth canal but there's no strength to deliver them.
and they say unto him, 'Thus said Hezekiah — A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising [is] this day; for come have sons unto the birth, and power there is not to bring forth.
4 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.”
'It may be Jehovah thy God doth hear all the words of the chief of the butlers with which the king of Asshur his lord hath sent him to reproach the living God, and hath decided concerning the words that Jehovah thy God hath heard, and thou hast lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.'
5 After Hezekiah's officials delivered his message to Isaiah,
And the servants of king Hezekiah come in unto Isaiah,
6 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.
and Isaiah saith to them, 'Thus do ye say unto your lord: Thus said Jehovah, Be not afraid because of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.
7 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.”
Lo, I am giving in him a spirit, and he hath heard a report, and hath turned back to his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.'
8 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.
And the chief of the butlers turneth back and findeth the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he hath heard that he hath journeyed from Lachish.
9 Sennacherib had received a message about Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that said, “Watch out! He has set out to attack you.” So Sennacherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
And he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, 'Lo, he hath come out to fight with thee;' and he turneth and sendeth messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,
10 “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.
'Thus do ye speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God lift thee up in whom thou art trusting, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
11 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?
Lo, thou hast heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands — to devote them; and thou art delivered!
12 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?
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 Thelassar?
13 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?”
Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'
14 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.
And Hezekiah taketh the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and readeth them, and goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and Hezekiah spreadeth it before Jehovah.
15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord, 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.
And Hezekiah prayeth before Jehovah, and saith, 'O Jehovah, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubs, Thou [art] God Himself — Thyself alone — to all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou hast made the heavens and the earth.
16 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.
Incline, O Jehovah, Thine ear, and hear; open, O Jehovah, Thine eyes, and see; and hear Thou the words of Sennacherib with which he hath sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Yes, it's true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed these nations and their lands.
'Truly, O Jehovah, kings of Asshur have laid waste the nations, and their land,
18 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.
and have put their gods into fire, for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone, and destroy them.
19 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.”
And now, O Jehovah our God, save us, we pray Thee, out of his hand, and know do all kingdoms of the earth that Thou [art] Jehovah God — Thyself alone.'
20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about Sennacherib, king of Assyria.
And Isaiah son of Amoz sendeth unto Hezekiah, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed unto Me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur I have heard:
21 This is the word 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.
this [is] the word that Jehovah spake concerning him: 'Trampled on thee — laughed at thee, Hath the virgin daughter of Zion Behind thee shaken the head — Hath the daughter of Jerusalem?
22 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!
Whom hast thou reproached and reviled? And against whom lifted up a voice? Yea, thou dost lift up on high thine eyes — Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 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 outposts, its deepest forests.
By the hand of thy messengers Thou hast reproached the Lord, and sayest: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of mountains — The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the lodging of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
24 I have dug wells and drunk water in foreign lands. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers in Egypt.’”
I have digged, and drunk strange waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
25 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.
Hast thou not heard from afar, it I made, From days of old that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, And it becometh a desolation, Ruinous heaps [are] fenced cities,
26 Their people, powerless, are terrified and humiliated. They're like plants in a field, like soft green shoots, like grass that sprouts on rooftop—scorched before it can even grow.
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 corn — before it hath risen up!
27 But I know you very well—where you live, when you come in, when you leave, and your furious anger against me.
And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thine anger towards Me;
28 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.”
Because of thine anger towards Me, And thy noise — it came up into Mine ears, I have put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And have caused thee to turn back, In the way in which thou camest.
29 “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.
And this to thee [is] the sign, Food of the year [is] the spontaneous growth, And in the second year the self-produced, And in the third year sow ye, and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.
30 The remnant that's left of Judah will revive again, sending roots below and bearing fruit above.
And it hath continued — The escaped of the house of Judah That hath been left — to take root beneath, And hath made fruit upward.
31 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.
For from Jerusalem goeth out a remnant, And an escape from mount Zion; The zeal of Jehovah [of Hosts] doth this.
32 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.
Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Concerning the king of Asshur: He doth not come in unto this city, Nor doth he shoot there an arrow, Nor doth he come before it with shield. Nor doth he pour out against it a mount.
33 He shall return the same way he came, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
In the way that he cometh in — In it he turneth back, And unto this city he doth not come in, The affirmation of Jehovah —
34 I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
And I have covered over this city, To save it, for Mine own sake, And for the sake of David My servant.'
35 That night the angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000. When the survivors woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by dead bodies.
And it cometh to pass, in that night, that a messenger of Jehovah goeth out, and smiteth in the camp of Asshur a hundred eighty and five thousand, and they rise early in the morning, and lo, all of them [are] dead corpses.
36 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, gave up and left. He returned home to Nineveh and stayed there.
And Sennacherib king of Asshur journeyeth, and goeth, and turneth back, and dwelleth in Nineveh;
37 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.
and it cometh to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adramelech and Sharezar [his sons] have smitten him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-Haddon his son reigneth in his stead.
