< 2 Kings 19 >
1 And whanne kyng Ezechie hadde herd these thingis, he to-rente his clothis, and was hilid with a sak; and he entride in to the hous of the Lord.
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.
2 And he sente Eliachym, souereyn of the hous, and Sobna, scryueyn, and elde men of the preestis, hilid with sackis, to Ysaie, the prophete, sone of Amos.
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.
3 Whiche seiden, Ezechie seith these thingis, This dai is a dai of tribulacioun, and of blamyng, and of blasfemye; sones camen `til to the childberyng, and the `traueler of childe hath not strengthis.
They said to him, “Hezekiah says, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for the children have come to the time of birth, but there is no strength for them to be born.
4 If perauenture thi Lord God here alle the wordis of Rabsaces, whom the kyng of Assiryens, his lord sente, that he schulde dispise the Lord lyuynge, and repreue bi wordis, whiche thi Lord God herde; and make thou preier for these relikis, that ben foundun.
It may be that Yahweh your God will hear all 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.'”
5 Therfor the seruauntis of kyng Ezechie camen to Isaie;
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6 and Isaie seide to hem, Seie ye these thingis to youre lord, The Lord seith these thingis, Nyle thou drede of the face of wordis whiche thou herdist, bi whiche the children of the kyng of Assiriens blasfemeden me.
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.
7 Lo! Y schal sende to hym a spirit, and he schal here a messanger, and he schal turne ayen in to his lond; and Y schal caste hym doun bi swerd in his owne lond.
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.”'”
8 Therfor Rabsaces turnede ayen, and foond the kyng of Assiriens fiytynge ayens Lobna; for he hadde herd, that the kyng hadde go awei fro Lachis.
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.
9 And whanne he hadde herd of Theracha, kyng of Ethiope, `men seyynge, Lo! he yede out, that he fiyte ayens thee; that he schulde go ayens `that kyng, he sente messangeris to Ezechie,
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:
10 and seide, Seie ye these thingis to Ezechie, kyng of Juda, Thi Lord God, in whom thou hast trist, disseyue not thee, nether seie thou, Jerusalem schal not be `bitakun in to the hondis of the kyng of Assiriens;
“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given over into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
11 for thou thi silf herdist what thingis the kyngis of Assiriens diden in alle londis, hou thei wastiden tho; whether therfor thou aloone maist be delyuered?
See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them completely. So will you be rescued?
12 Whether the goddis of hethene men delyueriden alle men whiche my fadris distrieden, that is, Gozam, and Aran, and Reseph, and the sones of Eden, that weren in Thelassar?
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?
13 Where is the kyng of Emath, and the kyng of Arphat? and the kyng of the cytee of Sepharuaym, of Ana, and of Aua?
Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'”
14 Therfor whanne Ezechie hadde take the lettris fro the hond of messangeris, and hadde red tho, he stiede in to the hows of the Lord, and spredde abrood tho bifor the Lord;
Hezekiah received this letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house of Yahweh and spread it before him.
15 and preiede in his siyt, and seide, Lord God of Israel, that sittist on cherubym, thou art God aloone of alle kyngis of erthe; thou madist heuene and erthe.
Then Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh and said, “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.
16 Bowe thin eere, and here; opyn thin iyen, Lord, and se; and here alle the wordis of Senacherib, which sente, that he schulde dispise `to vs `God lyuynge.
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.
17 Verili, Lord, the kynges of Assiriens distrieden hethene men, and the londis of alle men,
Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands.
18 and senten the goddis of hem in to fier; for thei weren not goddis, but werkis of `hondis of men, of tre and stoon; and thei losten `tho goddis.
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.
19 Now therfor, oure Lord God, make vs saaf fro the hond of hem, that alle rewmes of erthe wite that thou art the Lord God aloone.
Now then, Yahweh our God, save us, I implore you, from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.”
20 Forsothe Isaie, sone of Amos, sente to Ezechie, and seide, The Lord God of Israel seith these thingis, Y haue herd tho thingis, whiche thou preidist me on Sennacherib, king of Assiriens.
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, I have heard you.
21 This is the word, which the Lord spak of hym, Thou virgyn douytir of Syon, he dispiside thee, and scornyde thee; thou douyter of Jerusalem, he mouyde his heed aftir thi bak.
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.
22 Sennacherib, whom `dispisidist thou, and whom `blasfemedist thou? Ayens whom hast thou reisid thi vois, and hast reisid thin iyen an hiye? Ayens the hooli of Israel.
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!
23 Bi the hond of thi seruauntis thou dispisidist the Lord, and seidist, In the multitude of my charys Y stiede in to the hiye thingis of hillis, in the hiynesse of Liban, and kittide doun the hiye cedris therof, and the chosyn beechis therof; and Y entride `til to the termes therof,
By your messengers 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 the tall cedars and the choice cypress trees there. I will enter into its farthest parts, its most fruitful forest.
24 and Y kittide doun the forest of Carmele therof; and Y drank alien watris, and Y made drie with the steppis of `the feet of myn `alle watris closid.
I have dug wells and have drunk foreign waters. I dried up all the rivers of Egypt under the soles of my feet.'
25 Whether thou herdist not, what Y made at the bigynnyng? Fro elde daies Y made it, and now Y haue brouyt forth; and strengthid citees of fiyteris schulen be in to fallyng of hillis.
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.
26 And thei that sitten meke of hond in tho, trembliden togidere, and ben schent; thei ben maad as the hei of the feeld, and as grene eerbe of roouys, which is dried, bifor that it cam to ripenesse.
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, burned before it has grown up.
27 And Y bifor knew thi dwellyng, and thi goyng out, and thin entryng, and thi weie, and thi woodnesse ayens me.
But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
28 Thou were wood ayens me, and thi pride stide in to myn eeris; therfor Y schal putte a cercle in thi nosethirlis, and a bernacle in thi lippis, and Y schal lede thee ayen in to the weie bi which thou camest.
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.”
29 Forsothe, Ezechie, this schal be a signe `to thee; ete thou in this yeer that, that thou fyndist; forsothe in the secounde yeer tho thingis, that growen bi her owne wille; sotheli in the thridde yeer sowe ye, and repe ye, plaunte ye vyneris, and ete the fruytis of tho.
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.
30 And what euer thing schal be residue of the hows of Juda, it schal sende root dounward, and schal make fruyt vpward.
The remnant of the house of Judah that survives will again take root and bear fruit.
31 For relikis schulen go out of Jerusalem, and that, that schal be sauyd, `schal go out of the hil of Syon; the feruent loue of the Lord of oostis schal do this.
For from Jerusalem a remnant will come out, from Mount Zion survivors will come. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.
32 Wherfor the Lord seith these thingis of the kyng of Assiriens, He schal not entre in to this citee, nethir he schal sende an arowe in to it, nether scheeld shal occupie it, nether strengthing, ethir bisegyng, schal cumpasse it.
Therefore Yahweh says this about the king of Assyria: “He will not come into this city nor shoot an arrow here. Neither will he come before it with shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
33 He schal turne ayen bi the weie `bi which he cam, and he schal not entre in to this citee, seith the Lord;
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.”
34 and Y schal defende this citee, and Y schal saue it for me, and for Dauid, my seruaunt.
For I will defend this city and rescue it, for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.'”
35 Therfor it was don, in that niyt the aungel of the Lord cam, and smoot in the castels of Assiryens an hundrid foure score and fyue thousynde. And whanne Sennacherib hadde rise eerli, he siy alle bodies of deed men; and he departide, and yede awei.
It came about that night that 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.
36 And Sennacherib, the kyng of Assiriens, turnede ayen, and dwellide in Nynyue.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria left Israel and went home and stayed in Nineveh.
37 And whanne he worschipide in the temple Nestrach his god, Adramelech and Sirasar, his sones, killide hym with swerd; and thei fledden in to the lond of Armenyes; and Asaradon, his sone, regnyde for hym.
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 became king in his place.