Isaiah 37
1 When King Hezekiah heard what they reported, he tore his clothes and put on clothes made of rough sackcloth [because he was very distressed]. Then he went into the temple of Yahweh [and prayed].
And it came to pass, when king Ezekias heard [it, that] he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and went up to the house of the Lord.
2 Then he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the (older/most important) priests, who were also wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, to talk to me.
And he sent Heliakim the steward, and Somnas the scribe, and the elders of the priests clothed with sackcloth, to Esaias the son of Amos, the prophet. And they said to him, Thus says Ezekias,
3 He said to them, “Tell this to Isaiah: ‘King Hezekiah says that this is a day when we are greatly distressed. Other nations are causing us to be insulted and disgraced. We are like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby, but she does not have the strength that she needs to do it.
To-day is a day of affliction, and reproach, and rebuke, and anger: for the pangs are come upon the travailing [woman], but she has not strength to bring forth.
4 [But] perhaps Yahweh our God has heard what the official from Assyria said. Perhaps he knows that his boss, the King of Assyria, sent him to insult the all-powerful God, and that Yahweh will punish the King of Assyria for what he said. And the king requests that you pray for the few of us who are still alive [here in Jerusalem].’”
May the Lord thy God hear the words of Rabsaces, which the king of the Assyrians has sent, to reproach the living God, even to reproach with the words which the Lord thy God has heard: therefore thou shalt pray to thy Lord for these that are left.
5 After those men gave me that message,
So the servants of king Ezekias came to Esaias.
6 I replied, “Tell the King, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “Those messengers from the King of Assyria have said evil things about me. But do not be disturbed by what they said.
And Esaias said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not thou afraid at the words which thou hast heard, wherewith the ambassadors of the king of the Assyrians have reproached me,
7 Listen to this: I will cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor [that the armies of Babylon are about to attack his country], and that will worry him. So he will return to his own country, and there I will cause him to be assassinated by [men using] swords.”’”
Behold, I [will] send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and return to his own country, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.
8 The official from Assyria found out that the King of Assyria [and his army] had captured Lachish [city] and that they were attacking Libnah, [which is a nearby city]. So the official left Jerusalem and went to Libnah [to report to the king what had happened in Jerusalem].
So Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he had departed from Lachis.
9 Soon after that, King [Sennacherib] received a report that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading his army to attack them. So before King Sennacherib left Libnah [with his army to fight against the army from Ethiopia], he sent other messengers to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with a letter. [In the letter he wrote this] to Hezekiah:
And Tharaca king of the Ethiopians went forth to attack him. And when he heard it, he turned aside, and sent messengers to Ezekias, saying,
10 “Do not allow your god, on whom you are relying, to deceive you by promising you that Jerusalem will not be captured by my army.
Thus shall ye say to Ezekias king of Judea, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
11 You have certainly heard what the armies of the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries; our armies have destroyed them completely. So, (do you think that you will escape?/do not think that your god will save you!) [RHQ]
Hast thou not heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done, how they have destroyed the whole earth? and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Did the gods of the nations that were about to be destroyed by the armies of the previous kings of Assyria rescue them? Did those gods rescue Gozan [region], and Haran and Rezeph [cities in northern Syria], and the people of Eden [region] who were forced to go to Tel-Assar [city]?
Have the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed delivered them, both Gozan, and Charrhan, and Rapheth, which are in the land of Theemath?
13 What happened to the King of Hamath and the King of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [cities]? [Did their gods rescue them] [RHQ]?”
Where are the kings of Emath? and where [is the king of] Arphath? and where [is the king] of the city of Eppharuaim, [and of] Anagugana?
14 Hezekiah received the letter that the messengers gave him, and he read it. Then he went up to the temple and spread out the letter in front of Yahweh.
And Ezekias received the letter from the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and opened it before the Lord.
15 And [then] Hezekiah prayed this:
And Ezekias prayed to the Lord, saying,
16 “O Yahweh, Commander of the armies of angels, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, you are seated on your throne above the statues of the creatures with wings, [above the Sacred Chest]. Only you are [truly] God. You rule all the kingdoms on this earth. You are the one who created everything on the earth and in the sky.
O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubs, thou alone art the God of every kingdom of the world: thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 [So], Yahweh, [please] listen to what I am saying, and look at [what is happening]! And listen to what Sennacherib has said to insult you, the all-powerful God!
Incline thine ear, O Lord, hearken, O Lord; open thine eyes, O Lord, look, O Lord: and behold the words of Sennacherim, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
18 Yahweh, it is true that [the armies of] the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and ruined their land.
For of a truth, Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the whole world, and the countries thereof,
19 And they have thrown all the idols of those nations into fires and burned them. But they were not [really] gods. They were only idols made of wood and stone, [and that is why they were destroyed easily].
and have cast their idols into the fire: for, they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have cast them away.
20 So now, Yahweh our God, [please] rescue us from the power [MTY] of [the King of Assyria], in order that [the people in] all the kingdoms of the world will know that you, Yahweh, are the only one who is [truly] God.”
But now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hands, that every kingdom of the earth may know that thou art God alone.
21 Then I sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what Yahweh, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, says: Because you prayed about what King Sennacherib of Assyria [said],
And Esaias the son of Amos was sent to Ezekias, and said to him, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, I have heard thy prayer to me concerning Sennacherim king of the Assyrians.
22 this is what I say to him: ‘The people of Jerusalem despise you and make fun of you. They will wag/shake their heads to mock you while you flee from here.
This is the word which God has spoken concerning him; The virgin daughter of Sion has despised thee, and mocked thee; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom do you think you have been despising and ridiculing? Whom do you think you were shouting at? Whom do you think you were looking at [very] proudly/arrogantly? [It was I], the Holy One whom the Israelis worship!
Whom hast thou reproached and provoked? and against whom hast thou lifted up thy voice? and hast thou not lifted up thine eyes on high against the Holy One of Israel?
24 The messengers whom you sent made fun of me. You said, “With my many chariots I have gone to the highest mountains, [even] to the highest mountains in Lebanon. We have cut down its tallest cedar [trees] and its nicest pine/cypress [trees]. We have been to the most distant/remote peaks and to its densest forests.
For thou hast reproached the Lord by messengers; for thou hast said, With the multitude of chariots have I ascended to the height of mountains, and to the sides of Libanus; and I have cropped the height of his cedars and the beauty of his cypresses; and I entered into the height of the forest region:
25 We have dug wells [in many countries] and drunk water [from them]. And by marching through [MTY] the streams of Egypt, we dried them all up [HYP]!”
and I have made a bridge, and dried up the waters, and every pool of water.
26 [But I, Yahweh, reply], “Have you never heard that long ago I determined [those things]; I planned them long ago, and now I have been causing those things to occur. I planned that your army would destroy cities and cause them to become piles of rubble.
Hast thou not heard of these things which I did of old? I appointed [them] from ancient times; but now have I manifested [my purpose] of desolating nations in [their] strong holds, and them that dwell in strong cities.
27 The people in those cities have no power, and as a result they are dismayed and discouraged. They are [as frail as] [MET] grass and plants in the fields, as frail as grass that grows on the roofs of houses and is scorched by the hot east wind.
I weakened [their] hands, and they withered; and they became as dry grass on the house-tops, and as grass.
28 [But] I know [everything about you]; I know when you are [in your house and] when you go outside; I also know that you are (raging/speaking very angrily) against me.
But now I know thy rest, and thy going out, and thy coming in.
29 [So], because you have raged against me and because I have heard you speak very proudly/arrogantly, [it will be as though] I will put a hook in your nose and I will put an iron (bit/metal bar) in your mouth [in order that I can lead you where I want you to go], and I will force you to return [to your own country], on the same road on which you came [here, without conquering Jerusalem].”’
And thy wrath wherewith thou hast been enraged, and thy rancour has come up to me; therefore I will put a hook in thy nose, and a bit in thy lips, and will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
30 [Then I said to Hezekiah], ‘This will prove to you [that what I said will happen]: “This year, you(pl) will eat [only the crops] that grow by themselves, and next year the same thing will happen. But in the third year you will plant [crops] and harvest them; you will take care of your vineyards and eat the grapes.
And this shall be a sign to thee, Eat this year what thou hast sown; and the second year that which is left: and the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
31 And [you] people who are still [here] in Judah, will be strong and prosper again [MET].
And they that are left in Judea shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
32 A small number of my people will survive, and they will spread out from Jerusalem [DOU].” That will happen because [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, am desiring very much to accomplish it.’
for out of Jerusalem there shall be a remnant, and the saved ones out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this.
33 And this is what [I], Yahweh, say about the King of Assyria: ‘His [armies] will not enter Jerusalem; they will not [even] shoot arrows into it. His soldiers will not [march outside] the city gates holding their shields, and they will not build high mounds of dirt against the walls of the city [to enable them to attack the city].
Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, nor cast a weapon against it, nor bring a shield against it, nor make a rampart round it.
34 And their king will return [to his own country] on the same road on which he came [here]. He will not enter this city!’ [That will happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!
But by the way by which he came, by it shall he return, and shall not enter into this city: thus saith the Lord.
35 For the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well], I will defend this city and prevent it from being destroyed.”
I will protect this city to save it for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
36 [That night], an angel from Yahweh went out to where the army of Assyria had set up their tents and killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When [the rest of the soldiers] woke up the next morning, they saw that there were corpses everywhere.
And the angel of the Lord went forth, and slew out of the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand: and they arose in the morning and found all [these] bodies dead.
37 Then King Sennacherib left and returned home to Nineveh [in Assyria], and stayed there.
And Sennacherim king of the Assyrians turned and departed, and dwelt in Nineve.
38 [One day], when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. Then they escaped and went to the Ararat [region northwest of Nineveh]. And another of Sennacherib’s sons, Esarhaddon, became the King of Assyria.
And while he was worshipping Nasarach his country's god in the house, Adramelech and Sarasar his sons smote him with swords; and they escaped into Armenia: and Asordan his son reigned in his stead.
