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 was don, whanne kyng Ezechie hadde herd, he to-rente hise clothis, and he was wlappid in a sak, and entride in to the hous 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 sente Eliachym, that was on the hous, and Sobna, the scryuen, and the eldre men of prestis, hilid with sackis, to Isaie, the prophete, the sone of Amos.
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.
And thei seiden to hym, Ezechie seith these thingis, A dai of tribulacioun, and of angwisch, and of chastisyng, and of blasfemye is this dai; for children camen `til to childberyng, and vertu of childberyng is not.
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].’”
Therfor reise thou preier for the relifs that ben foundun, if in ony maner thi Lord God here the wordis of Rapsaces, whom the king of Assiriens, his lord, sente, for to blasfeme lyuynge God, and to dispise bi the wordis, whiche thi Lord God herde.
5 After those men gave me that message,
And the seruauntis of kyng Esechie camen to Isaie;
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 Isaie seide to hem, Ye schulen seie these thingis to youre lord, The Lord seith these thingis, Drede thou not of the face of wordis whiche thou herdist, bi whiche the children of the kyng of Assiriens blasfemyden 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.”’”
Lo! Y schal yyue to hym a spirit, and he schal here a messanger; and he schal turne ayen to his londe, and Y schal make hym to falle doun bi swerd in his lond.
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].
Forsothe Rapsaces turnede ayen, and foond the kyng of Assiriens fiytynge ayens Lobna; for he hadde herd, that the kyng was gon fro 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 the kyng herde messangeris seiynge of Theracha, kyng of Ethiopiens, He is gon out to fiyte ayens thee. And whanne he hadde herd this thing, he sente messangeris to Ezechie, and seide, Ye schulen seie,
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.
spekynge these thingis to Ezechye, kyng of Juda, Thi God disseyue not thee, in whom thou tristist, and seist, Jerusalem schal not be youun in to the hond of the kyng of Assiriens.
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]
Lo! thou herdist alle thingis whiche the kynges of Assiriens diden to alle londis whiche thei distrieden; and maist thou be delyuered?
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]?
Whethir the goddis of folkis delyuereden hem, whiche my fadris distrieden; Gosan, and Aran, and Reseph, and the sones of Eden, that weren in Thalasar?
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 is the kyng of Emath, and the kyng of Arphath, and the kyng of the citee of Sepharuaym, and of Ana, and of Aua?
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 Ezechie took the bookis fro the hond of messangeris, and redde tho; and he stiede in to the hous of the Lord, and spredde abrood tho bifore the Lord;
15 And [then] Hezekiah prayed this:
and preiede to the Lord,
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.
and seide, Lord of oostis, God of Israel, that sittist on cherubyn, thou art God aloone of alle the rewmes of erthe; thou madist heuene and erthe.
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!
Lord, bowe doun thin eere, and here; Lord, open thin iyen, and se; and here thou alle the wordis of Sennacherib, whiche he sente for to blasfeme lyuynge God.
18 Yahweh, it is true that [the armies of] the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and ruined their land.
For verili, Lord, the kyngis of Assiriens maden londis dissert, and the cuntreis of tho, and yauen the goddis of tho to fier;
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].
for thei weren not goddis, but the werkis of mennus hondis, trees and stoonys; and thei al to-braken tho goddis.
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.”
And now, oure Lord God, saue thou vs fro the hond of hym; and alle rewmes of erthe knowe, that thou art Lord God aloone.
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 Isaie, the sone of Amos, sente to Ezechie, and seide, The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, For whiche thingis thou preidist me of Sennacherib, the kyng of Assiriens,
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 the Lord spak on hym, Thou virgyn, the douyter of Sion, he dispiside thee, he scornede thee; thou virgyn, the douyter of Jerusalem, he moued his heed aftir 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 despisist thou, and whom blasfemedist thou? and on whom reisidist thou thi vois, and reisidist the hiynesse of thin iyen?
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.
To the hooli of Israel. Bi the hond of thi seruauntis thou dispisidist the Lord, and seidist, In the multitude of my cartis Y stiede on the hiynesses of hillis, on the yockis of Liban; and Y schal kitte doun the hiy thingis of cedris therof, and the chosun beechis therof; and Y schal entre in to the hiynesse of the cop therof, in to the forest of Carmele therof.
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]!”
Y diggide, and drank watir; and Y made drie with the step of my foot all the strondis of feeldis.
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.
Whether thou, Sennacherib, herdist not what thingis Y dide sum tyme? Fro elde daies Y fourmyde that thing, and now Y haue brouyt; and it is maad in to drawyng vp bi the roote of litle hillis fiytynge togidere, and of strong citees.
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.
The dwelleris of tho citees trembliden togidere with hond maad schort, and ben aschamed; thei ben maad as hei of the feeld, and the gras of lesewe, and as erbe of roouys, that driede vp bifore that it wexide ripe.
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.
Y knew thi dwellyng, and thi goyng out, and thin entryng, and thi woodnesse ayens me.
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].”’
Whanne thou were wood ayens me, thi pride stiede in to myn eeris; therfor Y schal sette a ryng in thi nosethirlis, and a bridil in thi lippis; and Y schal lede thee ayen in to the weie, bi 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.
Forsothe to thee, Ezechie, this schal be a signe; ete thou in this yeer tho thingis that growen bi her fre wille, and in the secunde yeer ete thou applis; but in the thridde yeer sowe ye, and repe ye, and plaunte ye vyneris, and ete ye the fruyt of tho.
31 And [you] people who are still [here] in Judah, will be strong and prosper again [MET].
And that that is sauyd of the hous of Juda, and that, that is left, schal sende roote bynethe, and schal make fruyt aboue;
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 whi relifs schulen go out of Jerusalem, and saluacioun fro the hil of Sion; the feruent loue of the Lord of oostis schal do this thing.
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].
Therfor the Lord seith these thingis of the kyng of Assiriens, He schal not entre in to this citee, and he schal not schete there an arowe; and a scheeld schal not ocupie it, and he schal not sende erthe in the cumpas therof.
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!
In the weie in which he cam, he schal turne ayen bi it; and he schal not entre in to this citee, seith 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.”
And Y schal defende this citee, that Y saue it, for me, and for Dauid, my seruaunt.
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.
Forsothe the aungel of the Lord yede out, and killide an hundride thousynde and fourscoor and fyue thousynde in the tentis of Assiriens; and thei risen eerli, and lo! alle men weren careyns of deed men.
37 Then King Sennacherib left and returned home to Nineveh [in Assyria], and stayed there.
And Sennacherib yede out of Jude, and wente awei. And Sennacherib, the kyng of Assiriens, turnede ayen, and dwellide in Nynyue.
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 it was don, whanne he worschipide Mesrach, his god, in the temple, Aramalech and Sarasar, hise sones, killiden hym with swerd, and fledden in to the lond of Ararath; and Asaradon, his sone, regnyde for hym.
