1 When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s house. 2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, "Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be Yahweh your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, 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. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’"
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this: ‘Yahweh says, "Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Behold, 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."’"
8 So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9 When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, "Behold, he has come out to fight against you," he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 "Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’"
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh’s house, and spread it before Yahweh. 15 Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God. 17 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 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. 19 Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone."
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you. 21 This is the word that Yahweh 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. 22 Whom 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! 23 By your messengers, you have 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, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. 24 I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet." 25 Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26 Therefore 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 grain blasted before it has grown up. 27 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. 28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will 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.’
29 "This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that; and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. Yahweh’s zeal will perform this.
32 "Therefore Yahweh says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 33 He will return the same way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says Yahweh. 34 ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’"
35 That night, Yahweh’s angel went out and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went home, and lived at Nineveh. 37 As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
1 And when King Hezekiah heard [it], he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.
2 And he 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,
3 to say unto him, Thus hath Hezekiah said, This day [is] a day of trouble and of rebuke and blasphemy, for the sons are come to the place of breaking forth, and she that gives birth has no strength.
4 Peradventure, the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to reproach the living God and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God has heard; therefore, 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 hath the LORD said, Do not be afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumour and shall return to 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 had departed from Lachish.
9 And when he heard it said of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee; he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou dost trust deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered 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 Peradventure have the gods of the Gentiles delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, [as] Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who [were] in Thelasar?
13 Where [is] the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, saying, O LORD God of Israel, who dwellest [above] the cherubim, thou alone art the God unto all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
16 Incline, O LORD, thy ear and hear; open, O LORD, thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
17 Of a truth, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the Gentiles and their lands
18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they [were] not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood or stone; therefore, they have destroyed them.
19 Now, therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save us now out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone [art] the LORD God.
20 Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said, [That] which thou hast prayed to me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21 This [is] the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: Has he despised thee? Has he laughed thee to scorn, O virgin daughter of Zion? He has moved his head behind thy back, O daughter of Jerusalem.
22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Against the Holy [One] of Israel.
23 By the hand of thy messengers, thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof [and] the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the habitation of his borders [and into] the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have dug and drunk the waters of others, and with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the rivers of defended places.
25 Hast thou never heard that from a long time [ago] I made her, [and] from ancient times I have formed her? Now I have made her come, and it shall be to lay waste fenced cities [into] ruinous heaps.
26 Therefore their inhabitants' hands were too short; dismayed and confounded, they shall be [as] the grass of the field and [as] the green herb, [as] the hay on the housetops, that is dried up before it comes to maturity.
27 But I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me.
28 Because thou hast raged against me and thy tumult has come up into my ears, therefore, I will put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou didst come.
29 And this [shall be] a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year such things as grow [again] of themselves; and in the third year ye shall sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
30 And that which has escaped, that which is left of the house of Judah, shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and deliverance out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the LORD of the hosts shall do this.
32 Therefore, thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with shield nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not enter into this city, saith the LORD.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.
35 And it came to pass that night that the angel of the LORD went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand [men]; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, the corpses of the dead.
36 So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 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 fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.: