< 2 Kings 19 >
1 And when King Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes and put on sackecloth, and came into the house of the Lord,
And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2 And sent Eliakim which was the stewarde of the house, and Shebnah the chanceller, and the Elders of the Priestes clothed in sackecloth to Isaiah the Prophet the sonne of Amoz.
And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloths, to Isaias the prophet the son of Amos,
3 And they said vnto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of tribulation and of rebuke, and blasphemie: for the childre are come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring foorth.
And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children are come to the birth, and the woman in travail hath not strength.
4 If so be the Lord thy God hath heard all the wordes of Rabshakeh, whome the King of Asshur his master hath sent to raile on the liuing God, and to reproch him with wordes which the Lord thy God hath heard, then lift thou vp thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and to reprove with words, which the Lord thy God hath heard: and do thou offer prayer for the remnants that are found.
5 So the seruants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias.
6 And Isaiah said vnto them, So shall ye say to your master, Thus sayeth the Lord, Be not afraide of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the seruants of the king of Asshur haue blasphemed me.
And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.
7 Beholde, I will sende a blast vpon him, and he shall heare a noyse, and returne to his owne lande: and I will cause him to fall by the sworde in his owne lande.
Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return into his own country, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own country.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and founde the King of Asshur fighting against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.
9 He heard also men say of Tirhakah King of Ethiopia, Beholde, he is come out to fight against thee: he therefore departed and sent other messengers vnto Hezekiah, saying,
And when he heard of Theraca king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is come out to fight with thee: and was going against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:
10 Thus shall ye speake to Hezekiah King of Iudah, and say, Let not thy God deceiue thee in whome thou trustest, saying, Ierusalem shall not be deliuered into the hande of the King of Asshur.
Thus shall you say to Ezechias king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
11 Beholde, thou hast heard what the Kings of Asshur haue done to all landes, how they haue destroyed them: and shalt thou be deliuered?
Behold thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered?
12 Haue the gods of the heathen deliuered them which my fathers haue destroyed? as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Thelasar?
Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them, whom my fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran, and Reseph, and the children of Eden that were in Thelassar?
13 Where is the King of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the King of the citie of Shepharuaim, Hena and Iuah?
Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana and of Ava?
14 So Hezekiah receiued the letter of the hande of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went vp into the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it before the Lord.
And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord,
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and saide, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest betweene the Cherubims, thou art very God alone ouer all the kingdomes of the earth: thou hast made the heauen and the earth.
And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who sitteth upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth:
16 Lord, bow downe thine eare, and heare: Lord open thine eyes and behold, and heare the wordes of Saneherib, who hath sent to blaspheme the liuing God.
Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God.
17 Trueth it is, Lord, that the Kings of Asshur haue destroyed the nations and their landes,
Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all.
18 And haue set fire on their gods: for they were no gods, but the worke of mans hands, euen wood and stone: therefore they destroyed them.
And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not Rods, but the works of men’s hands of wood and stone, and they destroyed them.
19 Nowe therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, saue thou vs out of his hande, that all the kingdomes of the earth may knowe, that thou, O Lord, art onely God.
Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou art the Lord the only God.
20 Then Isaiah the sonne of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I haue heard that which thou hast prayed me, concerning Saneherib King of Asshur.
And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians.
21 This is the worde that the Lord hath spoken against him, O Virgine, daughter of Zion, he hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorne: O daughter of Ierusalem, he hath shaken his head at thee.
This is the word, that 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 her head behind thy back.
22 Whome hast thou railed on? and whome hast thou blasphemed? and against whome hast thou exalted thy voyce, and lifted vp thine eyes on hie? euen against the Holie one of Israel.
Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel.
23 By thy messengers thou hast rayled on the Lord, and said, By the multitude of my charets I am come vp to the toppe of the mountaines, by the sides of Lebanon, and will cut downe the hie cedars thereof, and the faire firre trees thereof, and I will goe into the lodging of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
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 have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees. And I have entered into the furthest parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel.
24 I haue digged, and drunke the waters of others, and with the plant of my feete haue I dried all the floods closed in.
I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up waters.
25 Hast thou not heard, howe I haue of olde time made it, and haue formed it long ago? and should I nowe bring it, that it should be destroyed, and laid on ruinous heapes, as cities defensed?
Hast thou not heard what I have done from the beginning? from the days of old I have formed it, and now I have brought it to effect: that fenced cities of fighting men should be turned to heaps of ruin:
26 Whose inhabitants haue small power, and are afraid, and confounded: they are like the grasse of the field, and greene herbe, or grasse on ye house toppes, or as corne blasted before it be growen.
And the inhabitants of them, were weak of hand, they trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the field, and the green herb on the tops of houses, which withered before it came to maturity.
27 I knowe thy dwelling, yea, thy going out, and thy comming in, and thy furie against me.
Thy dwelling and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy way I knew before, and thy rage against me.
28 And because thou ragest against me, and thy tumult is come vp to mine eares, I will put mine hooke in thy nostrels, and my bridle in thy lippes, and will bring thee backe againe the same way thou camest.
Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come 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.
29 And this shalbe a signe vnto thee, O Hezekiah, Thou shalt eate this yeere such things as growe of them selues, and the next yeere such as growe without sowing, and the third yeere sowe ye and reape, and plant vineyardes, and eate the fruites thereof.
And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year, such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Iudah, shall againe take roote downewarde, and beare fruite vpwarde.
And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Ierusalem shall goe a remnant, and some that shall escape out of mount Zion: the zeale of the Lord of hostes shall doe this.
For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
32 Wherefore thus saith the Lord, concerning the King of Asshur, He shall not enter into this citie, nor shoote an arrowe there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a mount against it:
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.
33 But he shall returne the way he came, and shall not come into this citie, saith the Lord.
By the way that he came, he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defende this citie to saue it for mine owne sake, and for Dauid my seruants sake.
And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David my servant’s sake.
35 And the same night the Angell of the Lord went out and smote in the campe of Asshur an hundreth foure score and fiue thousande: so when they rose earely in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.
36 So Saneherib King of Asshur departed, and went his way, and returned, and dwelt in Nineueh.
And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departing went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.
37 And as he was in the Temple worshipping Nisroch his god, Adramelech and Sharezer his sonnes slewe him with the sworde: and they escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his sonne reigned in his steade.
And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword, and they fled into the land of the Armenians, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.