Isaiah 37
1 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.
On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
2 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.
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 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.
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 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.
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 And the seruauntis of kyng Esechie camen to Isaie;
So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
6 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.
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 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.
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 Forsothe Rapsaces turnede ayen, and foond the kyng of Assiriens fiytynge ayens Lobna; for he hadde herd, that the kyng was gon fro Lachis.
When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9 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,
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 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.
“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 Lo! thou herdist alle thingis whiche the kynges of Assiriens diden to alle londis whiche thei distrieden; and maist thou be delyuered?
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 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?
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 kyng of Emath, and the kyng of Arphath, and the kyng of the citee of Sepharuaym, and of Ana, and of Aua?
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 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;
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 and preiede to the Lord,
And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 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.
“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 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.
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 For verili, Lord, the kyngis of Assiriens maden londis dissert, and the cuntreis of tho, and yauen the goddis of tho to fier;
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands.
19 for thei weren not goddis, but the werkis of mennus hondis, trees and stoonys; and thei al to-braken tho goddis.
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 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.
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 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,
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 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.
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 despisist thou, and whom blasfemedist thou? and on whom reisidist thou thi vois, and reisidist the hiynesse of thin iyen?
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 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.
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 Y diggide, and drank watir; and Y made drie with the step of my foot all the strondis of feeldis.
I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26 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.
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 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.
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 Y knew thi dwellyng, and thi goyng out, and thin entryng, and thi woodnesse ayens me.
But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.
29 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.
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 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.
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 And that that is sauyd of the hous of Juda, and that, that is left, schal sende roote bynethe, and schal make fruyt aboue;
And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.
32 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.
For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
33 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.
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 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.
He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’
35 And Y schal defende this citee, that Y saue it, for me, and for Dauid, my seruaunt.
‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
36 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.
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 And Sennacherib yede out of Jude, and wente awei. And Sennacherib, the kyng of Assiriens, turnede ayen, and dwellide in Nynyue.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 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.
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.
