ישעה 37
| ויהי כשמע המלך חזקיהו ויקרע את בגדיו ויתכס בשק ויבא בית יהוה | 1 |
When King Hezekiah heard what they reported, he tore his clothes and put on clothes made of rough sackcloth [because he was very distressed]. Then he went into the temple of Yahweh [and prayed].
| וישלח את אליקים אשר על הבית ואת שבנא הסופר ואת זקני הכהנים מתכסים בשקים--אל ישעיהו בן אמוץ הנביא | 2 |
Then he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the (older/most important) priests, who were also wearing clothes made of rough sackcloth, to talk to me.
| ויאמרו אליו כה אמר חזקיהו יום צרה ותוכחה ונאצה היום הזה כי באו בנים עד משבר וכח אין ללדה | 3 |
He said to them, “Tell this to Isaiah: ‘King Hezekiah says that this is a day when we are greatly distressed. Other nations are causing us to be insulted and disgraced. We are like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth to a baby, but she does not have the strength that she needs to do it.
| אולי ישמע יהוה אלהיך את דברי רבשקה אשר שלחו מלך אשור אדניו לחרף אלהים חי והוכיח בדברים אשר שמע יהוה אלהיך ונשאת תפלה בעד השארית הנמצאה | 4 |
[But] perhaps Yahweh our God has heard what the official from Assyria said. Perhaps he knows that his boss, the King of Assyria, sent him to insult the all-powerful God, and that Yahweh will punish the King of Assyria for what he said. And the king requests that you pray for the few of us who are still alive [here in Jerusalem].’”
| ויבאו עבדי המלך חזקיהו--אל ישעיהו | 5 |
After those men gave me that message,
| ויאמר אליהם ישעיהו כה תאמרון אל אדניכם כה אמר יהוה אל תירא מפני הדברים אשר שמעת אשר גדפו נערי מלך אשור אותי | 6 |
I replied, “Tell the King, ‘This is what Yahweh says: “Those messengers from the King of Assyria have said evil things about me. But do not be disturbed by what they said.
| הנני נותן בו רוח ושמע שמועה ושב אל ארצו והפלתיו בחרב בארצו | 7 |
Listen to this: I will cause Sennacherib to hear a rumor [that the armies of Babylon are about to attack his country], and that will worry him. So he will return to his own country, and there I will cause him to be assassinated by [men using] swords.”’”
| וישב רבשקה וימצא את מלך אשור נלחם על לבנה כי שמע כי נסע מלכיש | 8 |
The official from Assyria found out that the King of Assyria [and his army] had captured Lachish [city] and that they were attacking Libnah, [which is a nearby city]. So the official left Jerusalem and went to Libnah [to report to the king what had happened in Jerusalem].
| וישמע על תרהקה מלך כוש לאמר יצא להלחם אתך וישמע וישלח מלאכים אל חזקיהו לאמר | 9 |
Soon after that, King [Sennacherib] received a report that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was leading his army to attack them. So before King Sennacherib left Libnah [with his army to fight against the army from Ethiopia], he sent other messengers to Hezekiah in Jerusalem with a letter. [In the letter he wrote this] to Hezekiah:
| כה תאמרון אל חזקיהו מלך יהודה לאמר אל ישאך אלהיך אשר אתה בוטח בו לאמר לא תנתן ירושלם ביד מלך אשור | 10 |
“Do not allow your god, on whom you are relying, to deceive you by promising you that Jerusalem will not be captured by my army.
| הנה אתה שמעת אשר עשו מלכי אשור לכל הארצות--להחרימם ואתה תנצל | 11 |
You have certainly heard what the armies of the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries; our armies have destroyed them completely. So, (do you think that you will escape?/do not think that your god will save you!) [RHQ]
| ההצילו אותם אלהי הגוים אשר השחיתו אבותי את גוזן ואת חרן ורצף ובני עדן אשר בתלשר | 12 |
Did the gods of the nations that were about to be destroyed by the armies of the previous kings of Assyria rescue them? Did those gods rescue Gozan [region], and Haran and Rezeph [cities in northern Syria], and the people of Eden [region] who were forced to go to Tel-Assar [city]?
| איה מלך חמת ומלך ארפד ומלך לעיר ספרוים הנע ועוה | 13 |
What happened to the King of Hamath and the King of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah [cities]? [Did their gods rescue them] [RHQ]?”
| ויקח חזקיהו את הספרים מיד המלאכים ויקראהו ויעל בית יהוה ויפרשהו חזקיהו לפני יהוה | 14 |
Hezekiah received the letter that the messengers gave him, and he read it. Then he went up to the temple and spread out the letter in front of Yahweh.
| ויתפלל חזקיהו אל יהוה לאמר | 15 |
And [then] Hezekiah prayed this:
| יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל ישב הכרבים אתה הוא האלהים לבדך לכל ממלכות הארץ אתה עשית את השמים ואת הארץ | 16 |
“O Yahweh, Commander of the armies of angels, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, you are seated on your throne above the statues of the creatures with wings, [above the Sacred Chest]. Only you are [truly] God. You rule all the kingdoms on this earth. You are the one who created everything on the earth and in the sky.
| הטה יהוה אזנך ושמע פקח יהוה עינך וראה ושמע את כל דברי סנחריב אשר שלח לחרף אלהים חי | 17 |
[So], Yahweh, [please] listen to what I am saying, and look at [what is happening]! And listen to what Sennacherib has said to insult you, the all-powerful God!
| אמנם יהוה החריבו מלכי אשור את כל הארצות--ואת ארצם | 18 |
Yahweh, it is true that [the armies of] the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and ruined their land.
| ונתן את אלהיהם באש כי לא אלהים המה כי אם מעשה ידי אדם עץ ואבן--ויאבדום | 19 |
And they have thrown all the idols of those nations into fires and burned them. But they were not [really] gods. They were only idols made of wood and stone, [and that is why they were destroyed easily].
| ועתה יהוה אלהינו הושיענו מידו וידעו כל ממלכות הארץ כי אתה יהוה לבדך | 20 |
So now, Yahweh our God, [please] rescue us from the power [MTY] of [the King of Assyria], in order that [the people in] all the kingdoms of the world will know that you, Yahweh, are the only one who is [truly] God.”
| וישלח ישעיהו בן אמוץ אל חזקיהו לאמר כה אמר יהוה אלהי ישראל אשר התפללת אלי אל סנחריב מלך אשור | 21 |
Then I sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what Yahweh, the God to whom [we] Israelis belong, says: Because you prayed about what King Sennacherib of Assyria [said],
| זה הדבר אשר דבר יהוה עליו בזה לך לעגה לך בתולת בת ציון--אחריך ראש הניעה בת ירושלם | 22 |
this is what I say to him: ‘The people of Jerusalem despise you and make fun of you. They will wag/shake their heads to mock you while you flee from here.
| את מי חרפת וגדפת ועל מי הרימותה קול ותשא מרום עיניך אל קדוש ישראל | 23 |
Whom do you think you have been despising and ridiculing? Whom do you think you were shouting at? Whom do you think you were looking at [very] proudly/arrogantly? [It was I], the Holy One whom the Israelis worship!
| ביד עבדיך חרפת אדני ותאמר ברב רכבי אני עליתי מרום הרים ירכתי לבנון ואכרת קומת ארזיו מבחר ברשיו ואבוא מרום קצו יער כרמלו | 24 |
The messengers whom you sent made fun of me. You said, “With my many chariots I have gone to the highest mountains, [even] to the highest mountains in Lebanon. We have cut down its tallest cedar [trees] and its nicest pine/cypress [trees]. We have been to the most distant/remote peaks and to its densest forests.
| אני קרתי ושתיתי מים ואחרב בכף פעמי כל יארי מצור | 25 |
We have dug wells [in many countries] and drunk water [from them]. And by marching through [MTY] the streams of Egypt, we dried them all up [HYP]!”
| הלוא שמעת למרחוק אותה עשיתי מימי קדם ויצרתיה עתה הבאתיה--ותהי להשאות גלים נצים ערים בצרות | 26 |
[But I, Yahweh, reply], “Have you never heard that long ago I determined [those things]; I planned them long ago, and now I have been causing those things to occur. I planned that your army would destroy cities and cause them to become piles of rubble.
| וישביהן קצרי יד חתו ובשו היו עשב שדה וירק דשא חציר גגות ושדמה לפני קמה | 27 |
The people in those cities have no power, and as a result they are dismayed and discouraged. They are [as frail as] [MET] grass and plants in the fields, as frail as grass that grows on the roofs of houses and is scorched by the hot east wind.
| ושבתך וצאתך ובואך ידעתי ואת התרגזך אלי | 28 |
[But] I know [everything about you]; I know when you are [in your house and] when you go outside; I also know that you are (raging/speaking very angrily) against me.
| יען התרגזך אלי ושאננך עלה באזני--ושמתי חחי באפך ומתגי בשפתיך והשיבתיך בדרך אשר באת בה | 29 |
[So], because you have raged against me and because I have heard you speak very proudly/arrogantly, [it will be as though] I will put a hook in your nose and I will put an iron (bit/metal bar) in your mouth [in order that I can lead you where I want you to go], and I will force you to return [to your own country], on the same road on which you came [here, without conquering Jerusalem].”’
| וזה לך האות--אכול השנה ספיח ובשנה השנית שחיס ובשנה השלישית זרעו וקצרו ונטעו כרמים--ואכול (ואכלו) פרים | 30 |
[Then I said to Hezekiah], ‘This will prove to you [that what I said will happen]: “This year, you(pl) will eat [only the crops] that grow by themselves, and next year the same thing will happen. But in the third year you will plant [crops] and harvest them; you will take care of your vineyards and eat the grapes.
| ויספה פליטת בית יהודה הנשארה--שרש למטה ועשה פרי למעלה | 31 |
And [you] people who are still [here] in Judah, will be strong and prosper again [MET].
| כי מירושלם תצא שארית ופליטה מהר ציון קנאת יהוה צבאות תעשה זאת | 32 |
A small number of my people will survive, and they will spread out from Jerusalem [DOU].” That will happen because [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, am desiring very much to accomplish it.’
| לכן כה אמר יהוה אל מלך אשור לא יבוא אל העיר הזאת ולא יורה שם חץ ולא יקדמנה מגן ולא ישפך עליה סללה | 33 |
And this is what [I], Yahweh, say about the King of Assyria: ‘His [armies] will not enter Jerusalem; they will not [even] shoot arrows into it. His soldiers will not [march outside] the city gates holding their shields, and they will not build high mounds of dirt against the walls of the city [to enable them to attack the city].
| בדרך אשר בא בה ישוב ואל העיר הזאת לא יבוא נאם יהוה | 34 |
And their king will return [to his own country] on the same road on which he came [here]. He will not enter this city!’ [That will happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!
| וגנותי על העיר הזאת להושיעה--למעני ולמען דוד עבדי | 35 |
For the sake of my own reputation and because of what I promised King David, who served me [well], I will defend this city and prevent it from being destroyed.”
| ויצא מלאך יהוה ויכה במחנה אשור מאה ושמנים וחמשה אלף וישכימו בבקר והנה כלם פגרים מתים | 36 |
[That night], an angel from Yahweh went out to where the army of Assyria had set up their tents and killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When [the rest of the soldiers] woke up the next morning, they saw that there were corpses everywhere.
| ויסע וילך וישב סנחריב מלך אשור וישב בנינוה | 37 |
Then King Sennacherib left and returned home to Nineveh [in Assyria], and stayed there.
| ויהי הוא משתחוה בית נסרך אלהיו ואדרמלך ושראצר בניו הכהו בחרב והמה נמלטו ארץ אררט וימלך אסר חדן בנו תחתיו | 38 |
[One day], when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. Then they escaped and went to the Ararat [region northwest of Nineveh]. And another of Sennacherib’s sons, Esarhaddon, became the King of Assyria.
