< 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;
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;
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.
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.
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came unto 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.
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.
8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria, warring against Libnah, —for he had heard, that he had broken up from Lachish.
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:
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.
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?
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?
13 Where are the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, —of 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.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto Yahweh saying:
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.
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.
18 Of a truth, O Yahweh, —the kings of Assyria have devoted to destruction all the countries, and their land;
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.
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.
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,
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,
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.
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:
25 I, have digged, and drunk waters, —That I may dry up, with the soles of my feet, all the Nile-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;
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.
28 Howbeit, thine abode and thy coming out and thy going in, I know, —and thy 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.
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.
31 Then shall the escaped of the house of Judah that remain, again, Take root downward, —And bear fruit upward.
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.
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:
34 By the way that he Came in, By the Same, shall he return, —And into this city, shall he not enter, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
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!
37 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria brake up, and went his way, and returned, —and remained in Nineveh.
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.
