Kings IV 19
1 And it came to pass when king Ezekias heard it, that he tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth, an went into the house of the Lord.
And it comes to pass, at King Hezekiah’s hearing, that he tears his garments, and covers himself with sackcloth, and enters the house of YHWH,
2 And he sent Heliakim the steward, and Somnas the scribe, and the elders of the priests, clothed with sackcloth, to Esaias the prophet the son of Amos.
and sends Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elderly of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz,
3 And they said to him, Thus says Ezekias, This day [is] a day of tribulation, and rebuke, and provocation: for the children are come to the travail-[pangs], but the mother has no strength.
and they say to him, “Thus said Hezekiah: This day [is] a day of distress, and rebuke, and despising; for sons have come to the birth, and there is not power to bring forth.
4 Peradventure the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rapsakes, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God and to revile him with the words which the Lord your God has heard: and you shall offer [your] prayer for the remnant that is found.
It may be your God YHWH hears all the words of the chief of the butlers with which the king of Asshur his lord has sent him to reproach the living God, and has decided concerning the words that your God YHWH has heard, and you have lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.”
5 So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias.
And the servants of King Hezekiah come to Isaiah,
6 And Esaias said to them, Thus shall you say to your master, Thus says the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, wherewith the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed.
and Isaiah says to them, “Thus you say to your lord, Thus said YHWH: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.
7 Behold, I send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and shall return to his own land; and I will overthrow him with the sword in his own land.
Behold, I am giving a spirit in him, and he has heard a report, and has turned back to his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.”
8 So Rapsakes returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Lobna: for he heard that he [had] departed from Lachis.
And the chief of the butlers turns back and finds the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he has heard that he has journeyed from Lachish.
9 And he heard concerning Tharaca king of the Ethiopians, saying, Behold, he is come forth to fight with you: and he returned, and sent messengers to Ezekias, saying,
And he hears concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, “Behold, he has come out to fight with you”; and he turns and sends messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Let not your God on whom you trust encourage you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
“Thus you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you are trusting lift you up, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
11 Behold, you have heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done in all the lands, to waste them utterly: and shall you be delivered?
Behold, you have heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands—to devote them; and are you delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations at all delivered them, whom my fathers destroyed; both Gozan, and Charran, and Raphis, and the sons of Edem who were in Thaesthen?
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 is the king of Haemath, and the king of Arphad? and where is the king of the city of Seppharvaim, of Ana, and Aba?
Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”
14 And Ezekias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezekias spread it before the Lord,
And Hezekiah takes the letters out of the hand of the messengers and reads them, and goes up to the house of YHWH, and Hezekiah spreads it before YHWH.
15 and said, O Lord God of Israel that dwell over the cherubs, you are the only god in all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
And Hezekiah prays before YHWH and says, “O YHWH, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubim, You [are] God Himself—You alone—to all the kingdoms of the earth: You have made the heavens and the earth.
16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear: open, Lord, your eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherim, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
Incline, O YHWH, Your ear, and hear; open, O YHWH, Your eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib with which he has sent him to reproach the living God.
17 For truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have wasted the nations,
Truly, O YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste the nations and their land,
18 and have cast their gods into the fire: because they are no gods, but the works of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed 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 And now, O Lord our God, deliver us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that you alone [are] the Lord God.
And now, O our God YHWH, please save us out of his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth know that You [are] YHWH God—You alone.”
20 And Esaias the son of Amos sent to Ezekias, saying, Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, I have heard your prayer to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians.
And Isaiah son of Amoz sends to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur I have heard;
21 This [is] the word which the Lord has spoken against him; The virgin daughter of Sion has made light of you, and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
this [is] the word that YHWH spoke concerning him: Trampled on you—laughed at you Has the virgin daughter of Zion; Shaken the head behind you Has the daughter of Jerusalem!
22 Whom have you reproached, and whom have you reviled? and against whom have you lifted up your voice, and raised your eyes on high? [Is it] against the Holy One of Israel?
Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom lifted up a voice? Indeed, you lift up your eyes on high—Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers you has reproached the Lord, and have said, I will go up with the multitude of my chariots, to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Libanus, and I have cut down the height of his cedar, [and] his choice cypresses; and I have come into the midst of the forest and of Carmel.
By the hand of your messengers You have reproached the Lord, and say, 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 refreshed [myself], and have drunk strange waters, and I have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers of fortified places.
I have dug, and drunk strange waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
25 I have brought about [the matter], I have brought it to a conclusion; and it is come to the destruction of the bands of warlike prisoners, [even of] strong cities.
Have you not heard from afar [that] I made it, From days of old that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, And it becomes a desolation, Ruinous heaps [are] fortified cities,
26 And they that lived in them were weak in hand, they quaked and were confounded, they became [as] grass of the field, or [as] the green herb, the grass [growing on] houses, and that which is trodden down by him that stands [upon it].
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 grain—before it has risen up!
27 But I know your down-sitting, and your going forth, and your rage against me.
And your sitting down, and your going out, And your coming in, I have known, And your anger toward Me;
28 Because you was angry against me, and your fierceness is come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hooks in your nostrils, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
Because of your anger toward Me, And your noise—it came up into My ears, I have put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And have caused you to turn back In the way in which you came.
29 And this shall be a sign to you; eat this year the things that grow of themselves, and in the second year the things which spring up: and in the third year [let there be] sowing, and reaping, and planting of vineyards, and eat you the fruit of them.
And this [is] the sign to you, Food of the year [is] the spontaneous growth, And in the second year the self-produced, And in the third year you sow, and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.
30 And he shall increase him that has escaped of the house of Juda: and the remnant [shall strike] root beneath, and it shall produce fruit above.
And it has continued—The escaped of the house of Judah That has been left—to take root beneath, And has made fruit upward.
31 For from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and he that escapes from the mountain of Sion: the zeal of the Lord of host shall do this.
For a remnant goes out from Jerusalem, And an escape from Mount Zion; The zeal of YHWH [of Hosts] does this.
32 [Is it] not so? Thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, neither shall a shield come against it, neither shall he heap a mound against it.
Therefore, thus said YHWH, Concerning the king of Asshur: He does not come into this city, Nor does he shoot an arrow there, Nor does he come before it with shield, Nor does he pour out a mound against it.
33 By the way by which he comes, by it shall he return, and he shall not enter into this city, says the Lord.
In the way that he comes in—In it he turns back, And to this city he does not come in, A declaration of YHWH—
34 And I will defend this city as with a shield, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
And I have covered over this city, To save it for My own sake, And for the sake of My servant David.”
35 And it came to pass at night that the angel of the Lord went forth, an struck in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and they rose early in the morning, and, behold, [these were] all dead corpses.
And it comes to pass, in that night, that a messenger of YHWH goes out, and strikes one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of Asshur, and they rise early in the morning, and behold, all of them [are] dead corpses.
36 And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians departed, and went and returned, and lived in Nineve.
And Sennacherib king of Asshur journeys, and goes, and turns back, and dwells in Nineveh;
37 And it came to pass, while he was worshipping in the house of Meserach his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons struck him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararath; and Asordan his son reigned in his stead.
and it comes to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, and [his sons] Adramelech and Sharezar have struck him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esar-Haddon reigns in his stead.
