Isaiah 37
1 When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the Lord's Temple.
And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, —and covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh;
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 sent Eliakim who was over the household and Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, —unto Isaiah the prophet, Son of Amoz;
3 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.
and they said unto him, Thus, saith Hezekiah, A day of distress and rebuke and reviling, is this day, —For children are come to the birth, and, strength, is there none 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, that Yahweh thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria his lord, hath sent to reproach a Living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh thy God hath heard, —Wherefore lift thou up a prayer, for the remnant that remaineth.
5 After Hezekiah's officials delivered his message to Isaiah,
So the servants of King Hezekiah came 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 said unto them, Thus, shall ye, surely say, unto your lord, —Thus, saith Yahweh—Be not thou afraid because of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria 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.”
Behold me! about to let go against him a blast of alarm, and when he heareth the report, then will he return to his own country, —and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own 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.
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria, warring against Libnah, —for he had heard, that he had broken up from Lachish.
9 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,
And he heard it reported concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, saying, He hath come forth to fight with thee, —so when he heard it, he sent 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, shall ye surely speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom, thou, art trusting, beguile thee, saying, —Jerusalem, shall not be given over, into the hand of the king of Assyria.
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, thyself, hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands in devoting them to destruction, —and shalt, thou, be 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 were in Telassar?
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 are the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, —of 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, when Hezekiah had received the letter at the hand of the messengers, and had read it, then went he up to the house of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out, before Yahweh.
15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying,
And Hezekiah prayed unto Yahweh saying:
16 “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.
O Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel—inhabiting the cherubim, Thou thyself, art GOD, even thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou, didst make the heavens and the earth.
17 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.
Bow down, O Yahweh, thine ear—and hear, Open, O Yahweh, thine eyes—and see, —Yea hear thou all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent—to reproach a Living God.
18 Yes, it's true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed these nations and their lands.
Of a truth, O Yahweh, —the kings of Assyria have devoted to destruction all the countries, and their land;
19 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 in the fire, —for, no-gods, were they, but the work of the hands of men wood and stone and so they destroyed them.
20 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.”
Now, therefore, O Yahweh our God, save us, out of his hand, —That all the kingdoms of the earth, may know, That, thou, art Yahweh, thou alone.
21 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,
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah saying, —Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, In that thou hast prayed unto me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 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.
this, is the word which Yahweh hath spoken concerning him, —The virgin daughter of Zion, laugheth thee to scorn—mocketh thee, The daughter of Jerusalem after thee doth wag her head,
23 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 insulted? And, against whom, hast thou lifted high thy voice? Yea thou hast proudly raised thine eyes, against the Holy One of Israel.
24 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.
Through thy servants, thou hast reproached My Lord and hast said, —With my multitude of chariots, have I ascended The height of the mountains The recesses of Lebanon, That I may cut down Its tallest cedars Its choicest firs, That I may enter Its highest summit, Its thick garden forest:
25 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 waters, —That I may dry up, with the soles of my feet, all the Nile-streams of Egypt.
26 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—That, long ago, that, is what I appointed, And from days of old, devised? Now, have I brought it to pass, That thou mightest Serve to lay waste, in desolate ruins, fortified cities;
27 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.
And their inhabitants, being powerless, were overthrown and put to shame—They became—Grass of the field and Young herbage, Grass on housetops, and Seed parched before it came up.
28 But I know you very well—where you live, when you come in, when you leave, and your furious anger against me.
Howbeit, thine abode and thy coming out and thy going in, I know, —and thy raging against me.
29 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, thy raging against me, and thy contempt, have come up into mine ears, Therefore will I put My ring in thy nose, and My bit in thy lips, And will turn thee back, by the way by which thou camest.
30 “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 unto thee, is the sign, Eating this year, the growth of scattered seeds, And in the second year, that which shooteth up of itself, —Then in the third year, Sow ye—and reap, and Plant ye vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 The remnant that's left of Judah will revive again, sending roots below and bearing fruit above.
Then shall the escaped of the house of Judah that remain, again, Take root downward, —And bear fruit upward.
32 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, out of Jerusalem, shall come forth a remnant, And that which hath escaped, out of Mount Zion, —the jealousy of Yahweh of hosts, will perform, this.
33 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, saith Yahweh, concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not enter this city, Nor shoot there, an arrow, —Nor attack it with shield, Nor cast up against it a mound:
34 He shall return the same way he came, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
By the way that he Came in, By the Same, shall he return, —And into this city, shall he not enter, Declareth Yahweh.
35 I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
Thus will I throw a covering over this city to save it, —For mine own sake, And for the sake of David my servant.
36 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.
Then went forth the messenger of Yahweh, and smote—in the camp of the Assyrians—a hundred and eighty-five thousand, —and when men arose early in the morning, lo! they were all, dead bodies!
37 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, gave up and left. He returned home to Nineveh and stayed there.
So Sennacherib the king of Assyria brake up, and went his way, and returned, —and remained in Nineveh.
38 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 came to pass, as he was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, that, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons, smote him with the sword, howbeit, they, escaped into the land of Ararat, —and, Esarhaddon his son, reigned, in his stead.
