Isaiah 37
1 And it cometh to pass, at the king Hezekiah's hearing, that he rendeth his garments, and covereth himself with sackcloth, and entereth the house of Jehovah,
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 sendeth Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, unto Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet,
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 and they say unto him, 'Thus said Hezekiah, A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising, [is] this day; for come have sons unto the birth, and power there is not to bear.
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.
4 'It may be Jehovah thy God doth hear the words of Rabshakeh with which the king of Asshur his lord hath sent him to reproach the living God, and hath decided concerning the words that Jehovah thy God hath heard, and thou hast lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.'
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.'”
5 And the servants of king Hezekiah come in unto Isaiah,
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6 and Isaiah saith unto them, 'Thus do ye say unto your lord, Thus said Jehovah, Be not afraid because of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled 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, I am giving in him a spirit, and he hath heard a report, and hath turned back unto his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.'
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 And Rabshakeh turneth back and findeth the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he hath heard that he hath journeyed from Lachish.
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 he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, 'He hath come out to fight with thee;' and he heareth, and sendeth messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,
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 'Thus do ye speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God lift thee up in whom thou art trusting, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
“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.”
11 Lo, thou hast heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands — to devote them — and thou art delivered!
See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them completely. So will you be rescued?
12 Did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed — Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who [are] in Telassar?
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 king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'”
14 And Hezekiah taketh the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and readeth them, and Hezekiah goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and Hezekiah spreadeth it before Jehovah.
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.
15 And Hezekiah prayeth unto Jehovah, saying,
Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh:
16 'Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubs, Thou [art] God Himself — Thyself alone — to all kingdoms of the earth, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth.
“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.
17 Incline, O Jehovah, Thine ear, and hear; open, O Jehovah, Thine eyes and see; and hear Thou all the words of Sennacherib that he hath sent to reproach the living God.
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.
18 'Truly, O Jehovah, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
It is true, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands.
19 so as to put their gods into fire — for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone — and they destroy them.
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.
20 And now, Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth do know that Thou [art] Jehovah, Thyself alone.'
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.”
21 And Isaiah son of Amoz sendeth unto Hezekiah, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed unto me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur —
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,
22 this [is] the word that Jehovah spake concerning him: Trampled on thee, laughed at thee, Hath the virgin daughter of Zion, Behind thee shaken the head hath the daughter of Jerusalem.
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.
23 Whom hast thou reproached and reviled? And against whom lifted up the voice? Yea, thou dost lift up on high thine eyes Against the Holy One 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.
24 By the hand of thy servants Thou hast reviled the Lord, and sayest: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
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.
25 I — I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
I have dug wells and drunk water; I dried up all the rivers of Egypt under the soles of my feet.'
26 Hast thou not heard from afar? — it I did, From days of old — that I formed it. Now, I have brought it in, And it is to make desolate, Ruinous heaps — fenced cities,
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.
27 And their inhabitants are feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up. They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted corn, before it hath risen up.
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.
28 And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thy anger towards Me.
But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
29 Because of thy anger towards Me, And thy noise — it came up into Mine ears, I have put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And I have caused thee to turn back In the way in 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.”
30 — And this to thee [is] the sign, Food of the year [is] self-sown grain, And in the second year the spontaneous growth, And in the third year, sow ye and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
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.
31 And it hath continued — the escaped Of the house of Judah that hath been left — To take root beneath, And it hath made fruit upward.
The remnant of the house of Judah that survives will again take root and bear fruit.
32 For from Jerusalem goeth forth a remnant, And an escape from mount Zion, The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts doth this.
For from Jerusalem a remnant will come out; from Mount Zion survivors will come. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.'”
33 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Concerning the king of Asshur: He doth not come in unto this city, Nor doth he shoot there an arrow, Nor doth he come before it [with] shield, Nor doth he pour out against it a mount.
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.
34 In the way that he came, in it he turneth back, And unto this city he doth not come in, An affirmation of Jehovah,
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.
35 And I have covered over this city, To save it, for Mine own sake, And for the sake of David My servant.'
For I will defend this city and rescue it, for my own sake and for David my servant's sake.”
36 And a messenger of Jehovah goeth out, and smiteth in the camp of Asshur a hundred and eighty and five thousand; and [men] rise early in the morning, and lo, all of them [are] dead corpses.
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.
37 And journey, and go, and turn back doth Sennacherib king of Asshur, and dwelleth in Nineveh.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria left Israel and went home and stayed in Nineveh.
38 And it cometh to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons have smitten him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-Haddon his son reigneth in his stead.
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.
