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.
And when the king, Hezekiah, heard it, he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Jehovah.
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, who was over the palace, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the 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.
And they said to him, Thus saith Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of contempt; for the children have come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
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.'”
It may be that Jehovah, thy God, will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, and to revile him with the words which Jehovah, thy God, hath heard. Do thou, therefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant of the people, that is yet left.
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
And the servants of King Hezekiah came 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.
And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall ye say to your master: Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid on account of the words which thou hast 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 within him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
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.
Then Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.
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:
Then he heard concerning Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that it was said, “He is come forth to war against thee.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah and said,
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.”
Thus shall ye say to Hezekiah, the king of Judah: Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given 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?
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands; how they have utterly destroyed them. And shalt thou be delivered?
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 which my father destroyed, deliver them? Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children 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 is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and of Ivah?
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.
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. Then he went up to the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.
15 Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh:
And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, saying,
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 Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest between the cherubs, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and 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 thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God.
18 It is true, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands.
In truth, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations, 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.
and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed them.
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.”
But do thou, O Jehovah, our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone art Jehovah.
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, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed to me on account of Sennacherib, the 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 which Jehovah hath spoken against him. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despiseth thee; she laugheth thee to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head after thee.
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 hast thou reproached, and reviled, And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, And lifted up thine eyes on high? 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.
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and said: “With the multitude of my chariots have I ascended the heights of the mountains, the extremities of Lebanon; I have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice cypress-trees; I have come to its utmost height, to its garden forest.
25 I have dug wells and drunk water; I dried up all the rivers of Egypt under the soles of my feet.'
I have digged and drunk water, And with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers 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.
Hast thou not heard, that of old I ordained it, And from ancient times purposed it? Now have I brought it to pass, That thou shouldst convert fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
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 were their inhabitants of little strength; They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field, and the green herb; As grass upon the house-top, and as corn blasted, before it is grown up.
28 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
I know thy sitting down, thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy rage 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 thy rage against me, and thy insolence, is come up into my ears, I will put my ring into thy nose, And my bridle into thy lips, And turn thee back by the way in which thou camest.
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 shall be the sign to thee; Eat this year that which groweth of itself, And in the second year that which groweth of itself, And in the third year ye shall sow and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 The remnant of the house of Judah that survives will again take root and bear fruit.
And the remnant of the house of Judah, that have escaped, Shall again strike root downward, And bear fruit upward.
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 from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, And they that have escaped from mount Zion. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform 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.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts concerning the king of Assyria; He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow into it; He shall not present a shield before it, Nor cast up a mound 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.
By the way in which he came, by the same shall he return, And into this city shall he not come, saith Jehovah.
35 For I will defend this city and rescue it, for my own sake and for David my servant's sake.”
For I will defend this city, and deliver it, For mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
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 an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men; and when the people arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria left Israel and went home and stayed in Nineveh.
Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, decamped, and went away, and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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.
And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch, his god, he was slain with the sword by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer, who escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.
