Isaiah 37
1 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,
And it happened that, when king Hezekiah had heard this, he rent his garments, and he wrapped himself in sackcloth, and he entered the house of the Lord.
2 and sends Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and [the] elderly of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet,
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, the prophet.
3 and they say to him, “Thus said Hezekiah: A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising, [is] this day; for sons have come to the birth, and there is not power to bear.
And they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For the sons have arrived at the time for birth, but there is not enough strength to bring them forth.
4 It may be your God YHWH hears the words of Rabshakeh 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.”
Perhaps, somehow, the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, has sent to blaspheme the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayers on behalf of the remnant which has been left behind.”
5 And the servants of King Hezekiah come to Isaiah,
And so the servants of king Hezekiah went to Isaiah.
6 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.
And Isaiah said to them: “You shall say this to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid to face the words that you have heard, by which the servants of the king of the Assyrians blasphemed me.
7 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.”
Behold, I will send a spirit to him, and he will hear a message, and he will return to his own land. And I will cause him to fall by the sword, in his own land.”
8 And Rabshakeh turns back and finds the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he has heard that he has journeyed from Lachish.
Then Rabshakeh returned, and he found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that he had set out from Lachish.
9 And he hears concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, “He has come out to fight with you”; and he hears, and sends messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
And he heard from Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia: “He has gone forth so that he may fight against you.” And when he had heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying:
10 “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.
“You shall say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying: ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.’
11 Behold, you have heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands—to devote them—and you are delivered!
Behold, you have heard about all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all the lands that they have conquered, and so, how can you be delivered?
12 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 Telassar?
Have the gods of the nations rescued those whom my fathers have conquered: Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were at Telassar?
13 Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”
Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena and Ivvah?”
14 And Hezekiah takes the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and reads them, and Hezekiah goes up to the house of YHWH, and Hezekiah spreads it before YHWH.
And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it out in the sight of the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prays to YHWH, saying,
And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying:
16 “YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubim, You [are] God Himself—You alone—to all kingdoms of the earth, You have made the heavens and the earth.
“O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel who sits upon the Cherubim: you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
17 Incline, O YHWH, Your ear, and hear; open, O YHWH, Your eyes and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to reproach the living God.
O Lord, incline your ear and listen. O Lord, open your eyes and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to blaspheme the living God.
18 Truly, O YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
For truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste to countries and territories.
19 so as to put their gods into fire—for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone—and they destroy them.
And they have cast their gods into the fire. For these were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, of wood and of stone. And they broke them into pieces.
20 And now, our God YHWH, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth know that You [are] YHWH, You alone.”
And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand. And let all the kingdoms of the earth acknowledge that you alone are Lord.”
21 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—
And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because of what you have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians,
22 this [is] the word that YHWH spoke concerning him: Trampled on you, laughed at you, Has the virgin daughter of Zion, The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken the head behind you.
this is the word that the Lord has spoken over him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and mocked you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
23 Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom—lifted up the voice? Indeed, you lift up your eyes on high Against the Holy One of Israel.
Whom have you insulted? And whom have you blasphemed? And against whom have you lifted up your voice and raised up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By the hand of your servants You have reviled the Lord, and say: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
By the hand of your servants, you have reproached the Lord. And you have said: ‘With a multitude of my four-horse chariots, I have ascended the heights of the mountains adjoining Lebanon. And I will cut down its lofty cedars and its choice pine trees. And I will reach the top of its summit, to the forest of its Carmel.
25 I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
I dug deep, and I drank water, and I dried up all the river banks with the sole of my foot.’
26 Have you not heard from afar [that] I did it, From days of old—that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, And it is to make desolate, Ruinous heaps—fortified cities,
Have you not heard what I have done to it in past times? In ancient times, I formed it. And now I have brought it forth. And it has been made so that the hills and the fortified cities would fight together, unto its destruction.
27 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.
Their inhabitants had unsteady hands. They trembled and were confused. They became like the plants of the field, and the grass of the pastures, and like the weeds on the rooftops, which wither before they are mature.
28 And your sitting down, and your going out, And your coming in, I have known, And your anger toward Me.
I know your habitation, and your arrival, and your departure, and your madness against me.
29 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 I have caused you to turn back In the way in which you came.
When you became angry against me, your arrogance rose up to my ears. Therefore, I will place a ring in your nose, and a bit between your lips. And I will turn you back on the road by which you arrived.
30 And this [is] the sign to you, Self-sown grain [is] food of the year, And in the second year the spontaneous growth, And in the third year, sow and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
But this shall be a sign for you: Eat, in this year, whatever springs up on its own. And in the second year, eat fruits. But in the third year, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 And it has continued—The escaped of the house of Judah that has been left—To take root beneath, And it has made fruit upward.
And what will be saved from the house of Judah, and what is left behind, will form deep roots, and will bear high fruits.
32 For a remnant goes forth from Jerusalem, And an escape from Mount Zion, The zeal of YHWH of Hosts does this.
For from Jerusalem, a remnant shall go forth, and salvation from mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
33 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.
For this reason, thus says the Lord about the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor overtake it with a shield, nor dig a rampart all around it.
34 In the way that he came, in it he turns back, And to this city he does not come in, A declaration of YHWH,
He will return on the road by which he arrived. And into this city, he will not enter, says the Lord.
35 And I have covered over this city, To save it, for My own sake, And for the sake of My servant David.”
And I will protect this city, so that I may save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David, my servant.”
36 And a messenger of YHWH goes out, and strikes in the camp of Asshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and [men] rise early in the morning, and behold, all of them [are] dead corpses.
Then the Angel of the Lord went forth and struck down, in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold, all these were dead bodies.
37 And he journeys, and goes, and Sennacherib king of Asshur turns back, and dwells in Nineveh.
And Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, departed and went away. And he returned and lived at Nineveh.
38 And it comes to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, and his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer have struck him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esar-Haddon reigns in his stead.
And it happened that, as he was adoring his god in the temple of Nisroch, his sons, Adramelech and Sharezer, struck him with the sword. And they fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his place.
