Isaiah 37
1 And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, —and covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh;
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
2 and sent Eliakim who was over the household and Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, —unto Isaiah the prophet, Son of Amoz;
And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz
3 and they said unto him, Thus, saith Hezekiah, A day of distress and rebuke and reviling, is this day, —For children are come to the birth, and, strength, is there none to bring forth.
to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
4 It may be, that Yahweh thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria his lord, hath sent to reproach a Living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh thy God hath heard, —Wherefore lift thou up a prayer, for the remnant that remaineth.
Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came unto Isaiah.
So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus, shall ye, surely say, unto your lord, —Thus, saith Yahweh—Be not thou afraid because of the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled, Me.
who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
7 Behold me! about to let go against him a blast of alarm, and when he heareth the report, then will he return to his own country, —and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria, warring against Libnah, —for he had heard, that he had broken up from Lachish.
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 And he heard it reported concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, saying, He hath come forth to fight with thee, —so when he heard it, he sent messengers unto Hezekiah, saying:
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus, shall ye surely speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom, thou, art trusting, beguile thee, saying, —Jerusalem, shall not be given over, into the hand of the king of Assyria.
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 Lo! thou, thyself, hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands in devoting them to destruction, —and shalt, thou, be delivered?
Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
12 Did the gods of the nations, deliver them, whom my fathers destroyed, —Gozan, and Haran, —and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who were in Telassar?
Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
13 Where are the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, —of Hena, and Ivvah?
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 And, when Hezekiah had received the letter at the hand of the messengers, and had read it, then went he up to the house of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out, before Yahweh.
So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto Yahweh saying:
And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 O Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel—inhabiting the cherubim, Thou thyself, art GOD, even thou alone, for all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou, didst make the heavens and the earth.
“O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
17 Bow down, O Yahweh, thine ear—and hear, Open, O Yahweh, thine eyes—and see, —Yea hear thou all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent—to reproach a Living God.
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
18 Of a truth, O Yahweh, —the kings of Assyria have devoted to destruction all the countries, and their land;
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
19 and have put their gods in the fire, —for, no-gods, were they, but the work of the hands of men wood and stone and so they destroyed them.
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
20 Now, therefore, O Yahweh our God, save us, out of his hand, —That all the kingdoms of the earth, may know, That, thou, art Yahweh, thou alone.
And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah saying, —Thus, saith Yahweh, God of Israel, In that thou hast prayed unto me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 this, is the word which Yahweh hath spoken concerning him, —The virgin daughter of Zion, laugheth thee to scorn—mocketh thee, The daughter of Jerusalem after thee doth wag her head,
this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
23 Whom, hast thou reproached and insulted? And, against whom, hast thou lifted high thy voice? Yea thou hast proudly raised thine eyes, against the Holy One of Israel.
Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 Through thy servants, thou hast reproached My Lord and hast said, —With my multitude of chariots, have I ascended The height of the mountains The recesses of Lebanon, That I may cut down Its tallest cedars Its choicest firs, That I may enter Its highest summit, Its thick garden forest:
Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest heights, the densest of its forests.
25 I, have digged, and drunk waters, —That I may dry up, with the soles of my feet, all the Nile-streams of Egypt.
I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26 Hast thou not heard—That, long ago, that, is what I appointed, And from days of old, devised? Now, have I brought it to pass, That thou mightest Serve to lay waste, in desolate ruins, fortified cities;
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
27 And their inhabitants, being powerless, were overthrown and put to shame—They became—Grass of the field and Young herbage, Grass on housetops, and Seed parched before it came up.
Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
28 Howbeit, thine abode and thy coming out and thy going in, I know, —and thy raging against me.
But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
29 Because, thy raging against me, and thy contempt, have come up into mine ears, Therefore will I put My ring in thy nose, and My bit in thy lips, And will turn thee back, by the way by which thou camest.
Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
30 And, this unto thee, is the sign, Eating this year, the growth of scattered seeds, And in the second year, that which shooteth up of itself, —Then in the third year, Sow ye—and reap, and Plant ye vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 Then shall the escaped of the house of Judah that remain, again, Take root downward, —And bear fruit upward.
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For, out of Jerusalem, shall come forth a remnant, And that which hath escaped, out of Mount Zion, —the jealousy of Yahweh of hosts, will perform, this.
For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
33 Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh, concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not enter this city, Nor shoot there, an arrow, —Nor attack it with shield, Nor cast up against it a mound:
So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
34 By the way that he Came in, By the Same, shall he return, —And into this city, shall he not enter, Declareth Yahweh.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’
35 Thus will I throw a covering over this city to save it, —For mine own sake, And for the sake of David my servant.
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
36 Then went forth the messenger of Yahweh, and smote—in the camp of the Assyrians—a hundred and eighty-five thousand, —and when men arose early in the morning, lo! they were all, dead bodies!
Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
37 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria brake up, and went his way, and returned, —and remained in Nineveh.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 And it came to pass, as he was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, that, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons, smote him with the sword, howbeit, they, escaped into the land of Ararat, —and, Esarhaddon his son, reigned, in his stead.
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
