Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
1 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, 19:1 1Kg 21:27; 2Kg 18:37; Ps 69:11 and went into the Lord’s temple. 19:1 2Ch 32:20; Is 37:12 He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, 19:2 2Kg 18:26,37 and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth, 19:2 2Sm 3:31 to the prophet Isaiah 19:2 Is 1:1; 2:1 son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, "This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, 19:3 Hs 13:13 but there is no strength to deliver them. 4 Perhaps the Lord your God 19:4 1Sm 17:26; 2Kg 18:35 will hear 19:4 Jos 14:12; 2Sm 16:12 all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke 19:4 Ps 50:21 him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’ " 19:4 2Kg 19:30; Is 1:9
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6 who said to them, "Tell your master, ‘The Lord says this: Don’t be afraid 19:6 Is 37:6 because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants 19:6 2Kg 18:17 have blasphemed 19:6 2Kg 18:22–25,30,35 me. 7 I am about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, 19:7 2Kg 7:6 where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’ " 19:7 2Kg 19:35–37
Sennacherib’s Departing Threat
8 When 19:8–13 Is 37:8–13 the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish, 19:8 2Kg 18:14 he left and found him fighting against Libnah. 19:8 Jos 10:299 The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, "Look, he has set out to fight against you." So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, 19:10 2Kg 18:5 deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. 19:10 2Kg 18:29–3011 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: They completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations 19:12 2Kg 18:33,35 that my predecessors destroyed rescue them — nations such as Gozan, 19:12 2Kg 17:6 Haran, 19:12 Gn 11:31 Rezeph, and the Edenites 19:12 Is 37:12 in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of 19:13 Or king of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ’ " 19:13 2Kg 18:34
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah took 19:14–19 Is 37:14–20 the letter 19:14 2Kg 5:7 from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord. 19:14 Is 37:1415 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord:
Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, 19:15 Ex 25:22 you are God — you alone — of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 19:15 Gn 1:1; 2Kg 5:15; Is 44:616 Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. 19:16 1Kg 8:28–29; Ps 115:4–6; Dn 9:18 Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God. 19:16 2Kg 19:4; Ps 31:2; Is 37:1717 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands. 19:17 2Kg 18:3418 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands — wood and stone. 19:18 Is 44:9–20; Jr 10:3–5; Ac 17:29 So they have destroyed them. 19 Now, Lord our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God — you alone. 19:19 1Kg 8:42–43; Is 43:10–11
God’s Answer through Isaiah
20 Then 19:20–34 Is 37:21–35 Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer 19:20 2Kg 20:5 to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’ 19:20 Is 37:2121 This is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
Virgin Daughter Zion 19:21 Jr 14:17; Lm 2:13
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head behind your back. 19:21 Ps 22:7–8; 109:25; Mt 27:39
22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? 19:22 2Kg 19:4,6
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel! 19:22 Is 5:24; 30:11–15; Jr 51:5
23 You have mocked the Lord 19:23 Many mss read Lord through 19:23 Lit by the hand of your messengers. 19:23 2Kg 18:17; 19:4
You have said, ‘With my many chariots 19:23 Ps 20:7; Jr 50:37
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its farthest outpost,
its densest forest.
24 I dug wells
and drank water in foreign lands.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt 19:24 Is 19:6
with the soles of my feet.’
25 Have you not heard? 19:25 Is 40:21; 45:7
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass, 19:25 Is 10:5
and you have crushed fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops, 19:26 Ps 129:6
blasted by the east wind. 19:26 DSS; MT reads blasted before standing grain; Is 37:27
27 But I know your sitting down, 19:27 Ps 139:1–2
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against me.
28 Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose 19:28 Ezk 19:9; 29:4; 38:4
and my bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.
29 "This will be the sign 19:29 Ex 3:14; 2Kg 20:8–9; Is 7:14 for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant 19:30 2Kg 19:4; 2Ch 32:22–23 of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors, from Mount Zion. 19:31 Is 10:20 The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this. 19:31 Is 9:7
32 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow here,
come before it with a shield,
or build up a siege ramp against it. 19:32 Is 8:7–10
33 He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
34 I will defend this city and rescue it
for my sake and for the sake of my servant David." 19:34 1Kg 11:12–13; 2Kg 20:6; Is 31:5
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning — there were all the dead bodies! 19:35 2Ch 32:21; Is 37:3636 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh. 19:36 Jnh 1:2
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech 19:37 2Kg 17:31 and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. 19:37 Gn 8:4; Jr 51:27 Then his son Esar-haddon 19:37 Gn 10:11; Ezr 4:2 became king in his place.