< Isaiah 37 >

1 It came about that when King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahweh.
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, all covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet.
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 They said to him, “Hezekiah says, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to give birth to her child.
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 Yahweh your God will hear the words of the chief commander, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Now lift up your prayer for the remnant that is still here.'”
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 to Isaiah,
So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 and Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master: 'Yahweh says, “Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted 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 Look, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear a certain report and go back to his own land. 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 Then the chief commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had gone away from Lachish.
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush and Egypt had mobilized to fight against him, so he sent messengers again to Hezekiah with a message:
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 “Say to Hezekiah, king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given 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 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them completely. So will you be rescued?
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 Have the gods of the nations rescued them, the nations that my fathers destroyed: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Tel Assar?
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 is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'”
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah received this letter from hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house of Yahweh and spread it before him.
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 Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh:
And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, you who sit above the cherubim, you are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made 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 Turn your ear, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the 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 It is true, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
19 They have put their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, just wood and stone. So the Assyrians have 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 So now, Yahweh our God, save us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh 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 a message to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel says, 'Because you have prayed to 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 that Yahweh has spoken about him: “The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head at you.
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 have you defied and insulted? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes in pride? 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 By your servants you have defied the Lord and have said, 'With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the highest elevations of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and choice cypress trees there, and I will enter into its farthest high places, its most fruitful 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 dug wells and drunk water; I dried up all the rivers of Egypt under the soles of my feet.'
I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26 Have you not heard how I determined it long ago and worked it out in ancient times? Now I am bringing it to pass. You are here to reduce impregnable cities into heaps of ruins.
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 Their inhabitants, of little strength, are shattered and ashamed. They are plants in the field, green grass, the grass on the roof or in the field, before the east wind.
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 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
29 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose, and my bit in your mouth; I will turn you back the way you came.”
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 This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows wild, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year you must plant and harvest, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
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 The remnant of the house of Judah that survives will again take root and bear fruit.
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
32 For from Jerusalem a remnant will come out; from Mount Zion survivors will come. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do 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 Yahweh says this about the king of Assyria: “He will not come into this city and he will not shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
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 The way by which he came will be the same way he will leave; he will not enter this city—this is Yahweh's declaration.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’
35 For I will defend this city and rescue it, for my own sake and for David my servant's sake.”
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
36 Then the angel of Yahweh went out and attacked the camp of the Assyrians, putting to death 185,000 soldiers. When the men arose early in the morning, dead bodies lay everywhere.
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 king of Assyria left Israel and went home and stayed in Nineveh.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 Later, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisrok his god, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword. Then they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
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.

< Isaiah 37 >