Isaiah 37

¹And on hearing it Hezekiah took off his robe and put on haircloth and went into the house of the Lord.

²And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the chief priests, dressed in haircloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

³And they said to him, Hezekiah says, This day is a day of trouble and punishment and shame: for the children are ready to come to birth, but there is no strength to give birth to them.

⁴It may be that the Lord your God will give ear to the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to say evil things against the living God, and will make his words come to nothing: so make your prayer for the rest of the people.

⁵So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

⁶And Isaiah said to them, This is what you are to say to your master: The Lord says, Be not troubled by the words which the servants of the king of Assyria have said against me in your hearing.

⁷See, I will put a spirit into him, and bad news will come to his ears, and he will go back to his land; and there I will have him put to death.

⁸So the Rab-shakeh went back, and when he got there the king of Assyria was making war against Libnah: for it had come to his ears that the king of Assyria had gone away from Lachish.

⁹And when news came to him that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, had made an attack on him, ... And he sent representatives to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying,

¹⁰This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom is your faith, give you a false hope, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.

¹¹No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse: and will you be kept safe from their fate?

¹²Did the gods of the nations keep safe those on whom my fathers sent destruction, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?

¹³Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the town of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivva?

¹⁴And Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of those who had come with it; and after reading it, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, opening the letter there before the Lord,

¹⁵And he made prayer to the Lord, saying,

¹⁶O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, seated between the winged ones, you only are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.

¹⁷Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord; let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see: take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God.

¹⁸Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have made waste all the nations and their lands,

¹⁹And have given their gods to the fire: for they were no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men's hands; so they have given them to destruction.

²⁰But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hand, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you, and you only, are the Lord.

²¹Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears.

²²This is the word which the Lord has said about him: In the eyes of the virgin daughter of Zion you are shamed and laughed at; the daughter of Jerusalem has made sport of you.

²³Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? and against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel.

²⁴You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all my war-carriages I have come up to the top of the mountains, to the inmost parts of Lebanon; and its tall cedars will be cut down, and the best trees of its woods: I will come up into his highest places, into his thick woods.

²⁵I have made water-holes and taken their waters, and with my foot I have made all the rivers of Egypt dry.

²⁶Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls.

²⁷This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field, or a green plant; like the grass on the house-tops, which a cold wind makes waste.

²⁸But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in.

²⁹Because your wrath against me and your pride have come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came.

³⁰And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself, and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed, and get in the grain, and make vine-gardens, and take of their fruit.

³¹And those of Judah who are still living will again take root in the earth, and give fruit.

³²For from Jerusalem those who have been kept safe will go out, and those who are still living will go out of Mount Zion: by the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done.

³³For this cause the Lord says about the king of Assyria, He will not come into this town, or send an arrow against it; he will not come before it with arms, or put up an earthwork against it.

³⁴By the way he came he will go back, and he will not get into this town.

³⁵For I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David.

³⁶And the angel of the Lord went out and put to death in the army of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men: and when the people got up early in the morning, there was nothing to be seen but dead bodies.

³⁷Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went back to his place at Nineveh.

³⁸And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword, and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon, his son, became king in his place.

Isaiah 37

¹It happened, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Lord's house.

²He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.

³They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.

⁴It may be the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"

⁵So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

⁶Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'Thus says the Lord, "Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

⁷Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."'"

⁸So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

⁹He heard news concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "He has come out to fight against you." When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

¹⁰"Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, "Jerusalem won't be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."

¹¹Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered?

¹²Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?

¹³Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'"

¹⁴Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord's house, and spread it before the Lord.

¹⁵Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying,

¹⁶"Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

¹⁷Turn your ear, Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, Lord, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God.

¹⁸Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land,

¹⁹and 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.

²⁰Now therefore, Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord, even you only."

²¹Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,

²²this is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

²³Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

²⁴By your servants, have you defied the Lord, and have said, "With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice fir trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field.

²⁵I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt."

²⁶Have you not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it in ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to destroy fortified cities, turning them into ruinous heaps.

²⁷Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.

²⁸But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.

²⁹Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.

³⁰This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

³¹The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

³²For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go forth, and survivors will escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.'

³³Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, 'He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

³⁴By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come to this city,' says the Lord.

³⁵'For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"

³⁶The angel of the Lord went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

³⁷So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there.

³⁸It happened, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.