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 when the king, Hezekiah, heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah.
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 palace, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
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 saith Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of contempt; for the children have come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring 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.”
It may be that Jehovah, thy God, will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, and to revile him with the words which Jehovah, thy God, hath heard. Do thou, therefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant of the people, that is yet left.
5 And the servants of King Hezekiah come to Isaiah,
And the servants of King Hezekiah came 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, Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid on account of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have 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 put a spirit within him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and 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 found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed 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,
Then he heard concerning Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that it was said, “He is come forth to war against thee.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah and said,
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.
Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah: Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
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, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands; how they have utterly destroyed them. And shalt thou 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?
Did the gods of the nations which my father destroyed, deliver them? Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden in 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 Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and of Ivah?
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 received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Then he went up to the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.
15 And Hezekiah prays to YHWH, saying,
And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, 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 Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubs, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast 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.
Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 Truly, O YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
In truth, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations, and their lands,
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 have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed them.
20 And now, our God YHWH, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth know that You [are] YHWH, You alone.”
But do thou, O Jehovah, our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone art Jehovah.
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—
Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to me on account of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria,
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 which Jehovah hath spoken against him. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despiseth thee; she laugheth thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head after thee.
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 hast thou reproached, and reviled, And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, And lifted up thine 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 thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and said: “With the multitude of my chariots have I ascended the heights of the mountains, the extremities of Lebanon; I have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice cypress-trees; I have come to its utmost height, to its garden forest.
25 I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
I have digged and drunk water, And with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
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,
Hast thou not heard, that of old I ordained it, And from ancient times purposed it? Now have I brought it to pass, That thou shouldst convert fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
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.
Therefore were their inhabitants of little strength; They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field, and the green herb; As grass upon the house-top, and as corn blasted, before it is grown up.
28 And your sitting down, and your going out, And your coming in, I have known, And your anger toward Me.
I know thy sitting down, thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy rage 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.
Because thy rage against me, and thy insolence, is come up into my ears, I will put my ring into thy nose, And my bridle into thy lips, And turn thee back by the way in which thou camest.
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.
And this shall be the sign to thee; Eat this year that which groweth of itself, And in the second year that which groweth of itself, And in the third year ye shall sow and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
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 the remnant of the house of Judah, that have escaped, Shall again strike root downward, And bear fruit upward.
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 shall go forth a remnant, And they that have escaped from mount Zion. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform 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.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the king of Assyria; He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow into it; He shall not present a shield before it, Nor cast up a mound against 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,
By the way in which he came, by the same shall he return, And into this city shall he not come, saith Jehovah.
35 And I have covered over this city, To save it, for My own sake, And for the sake of My servant David.”
For I will defend this city, and deliver it, For mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
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 an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men; and when the people arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses.
37 And he journeys, and goes, and Sennacherib king of Asshur turns back, and dwells in Nineveh.
Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, decamped, and went away, and returned, and dwelt 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 as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch, his god, he was slain with the sword by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer, who escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.
