< 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.
And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into 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, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the 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.
And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of contumely: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
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.
It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
5 And the seruauntis of kyng Esechie camen to Isaie;
So the servants of king Hezekiah came 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.
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king 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, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
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.
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
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,
And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come out to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he 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.
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 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 Lo! thou herdist alle thingis whiche the kynges of Assiriens diden to alle londis whiche thei distrieden; and maist thou be delyuered?
Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
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?
Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were 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 is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of 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;
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 and preiede to the Lord,
And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
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, the God of Israel, that sittest upon the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and 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 thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach 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;
Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land,
19 for thei weren not goddis, but the werkis of mennus hondis, trees and stoonys; and thei al to-braken tho goddis.
and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.
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.
Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
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 the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against 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 which the LORD hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom despisist thou, and whom blasfemedist thou? and on whom reisidist thou thi vois, and reisidist the hiynesse of thin iyen?
Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] 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.
By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into his farthest height, the forest of his fruitful field.
25 Y diggide, and drank watir; and Y made drie with the step of my foot all the strondis of feeldis.
I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers 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.
Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
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 were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field [of corn] before it be grown up.
28 Y knew thi dwellyng, and thi goyng out, and thin entryng, and thi woodnesse ayens me.
But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy 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 of thy raging against me, and for that thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
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 shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
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 remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
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 out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall perform 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.
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast a mount 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.
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith the LORD.
35 And Y schal defende this citee, that Y saue it, for me, and for Dauid, my seruaunt.
For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
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.
And the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
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 departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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.
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.