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 came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into 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 household, 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 trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are 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 the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: therefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 And the servants of King Hezekiah come to Isaiah,
So 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 the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that 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 send a wind upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, 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.
So 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,
And he heard it said concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, 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.
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 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 lands by destroying them utterly; 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?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were 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, Hena, and 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: and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before 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, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, 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 thy ear, O LORD, and hear; open thy eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 Truly, O YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
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 no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore 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.”
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, even thou only.
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 the LORD God of Israel, Though thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib 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 the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and mocked thee; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at 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 blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted thy eyes on high? even 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 hast said, By the multitude of my chariots have I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees: and I will enter into the height of its border, and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
I have dug, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
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 long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste 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 their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blighted 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.
But I know thy abode, and 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 tumult, is come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by 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 a sign to thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
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 that hath escaped of the house of Judah shall again take 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 out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape from mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do 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 the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a mount 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 that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith 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.”
For I will defend this city to save it for my 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 the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and eighty and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies.
37 And he journeys, and goes, and Sennacherib king of Asshur turns back, and dwells in Nineveh.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went 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 it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
