Isaiah 37

Hezekiah Asks God to Help

1 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes and put on rough cloth to show how sad he was. Then he went into the Temple of the Lord.2 Hezekiah sent Eliakim, the palace manager, and Shebna, the royal secretary, and the older priests to Isaiah. They were all wearing rough cloth when they came to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.3 They told Isaiah, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of sorrow and punishment and disgrace, as when a child should be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it.

4 The king of Assyria sent his field commander to make fun of the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear what the commander said and will punish him for it. So pray for the few of us who are left alive.”
5 When Hezekiah’s officers came to Isaiah,6 he said to them, “Tell your master this: The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid of what you have heard. Don’t be frightened by the words the servants of the king of Assyria have spoken against me.

7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a report that will make him return to his own country, and I will cause him to die by the sword there.’ ”

8 The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. When he went back, he found the king fighting against the city of Libnah.
9 The king received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was coming to attack him. When the king of Assyria heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,10 “Tell Hezekiah king of Judah: Don’t be fooled by the god you trust. Don’t believe him when he says Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.11 You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done. They have completely defeated every country, so do not think you will be saved.12 Did the gods of those people save them? My ancestors destroyed them, defeating the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar.

13 Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah Prays to the Lord

14 When Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Temple of the Lord. He spread the letter out before the Lord15 and prayed to the Lord:16 “Lord All-Powerful, you are the God of Israel, whose throne is between the gold creatures with wings, only you are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

17 Hear, Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to all the words Sennacherib has said to insult the living God.
18 “It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these countries and their lands.19 They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire, but they were only wood and rock statues that people made. So the kings have destroyed them.

20 Now, Lord our God, save us from the king’s power so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

The Lord Answers Hezekiah

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah that said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘You prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.

22 So this is what the Lord has said against Sennacherib:
The people of Jerusalem hate you and make fun of you;
the people of Jerusalem laugh at you as you run away.

23 You have insulted me and spoken against me; you have raised your voice against me.
You have a proud look on your face, which is against me, the Holy One of Israel!

24 You have sent your messengers to insult the Lord. You have said, “With my many chariots
I have gone to the tops of the mountains, to the highest mountains of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars and its best pine trees.
I have gone to its greatest heights and its best forests.

25 I have dug wells in foreign countries and drunk water there.
By the soles of my feet, I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”

26 “ ‘King of Assyria, surely you have heard. Long ago I, the Lord, planned these things.
Long ago I designed them, and now I have made them happen.
I allowed you to turn those strong, walled cities into piles of rocks.

27 The people in those cities were weak; they were frightened and put to shame.
They were like grass in the field, like tender, young grass,
like grass on the housetop that is burned by the wind before it can grow.

28 “ ‘I know when you rest, when you come and go, and how you rage against me.

29 Because you rage against me, and because I have heard your proud words,
I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth.
Then I will force you to leave my country the same way you came.’

30 “Then the Lord said, ‘Hezekiah, I will give you this sign:
This year you will eat the grain that grows wild, and the second year you will eat what grows wild from that.
But in the third year, plant grain and harvest it. Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

31 Some of the people in the family of Judah will escape.
Like plants that take root, they will grow strong and have many children.

32 A few people will come out of Jerusalem alive; a few from Mount Zion will live.
The strong love of the Lord All-Powerful will make this happen.’

33 “So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city or even shoot an arrow here.
He will not fight against it with shields or build a ramp to attack the city walls.

34 He will return to his country the same way he came, and he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.

35 ‘I will defend and save this city for my sake and for David, my servant.’ ”
36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead bodies.

37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria left and went back to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 One day as Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.

Isaiah 37

1 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 Jehovah.2 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 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 It may be Jehovah thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall return unto his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.9 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 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 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden that were in Telassar?13 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 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah.15 And Hezekiah prayed unto Jehovah, saying,16 O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.17 Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to defy the living God.18 Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries, and their land,19 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 Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, even thou only.21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria,22 this is the word which Jehovah 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 hast thou defied 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 By thy servants hast thou defied 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 its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field;25 I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.26 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 it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.27 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 grain before it is grown up.28 But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me.29 Because of thy raging against me, and because 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 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 the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.33 Therefore thus saith Jehovah 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 up a mound against it.34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah.35 For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.36 And the angel of Jehovah 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, these were all dead bodies.37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.38 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.