20 Ahaz rested with his ancestors(A) and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David, and his son Hezekiah became king in his place.

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20 Ahaz rested(A) with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. And Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.

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He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles.(A) He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses made,(B) for until then the Israelites were burning incense to it. It was called Nehushtan.[a]

Hezekiah relied on the Lord God of Israel;(C) not one of the kings of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.(D) He remained faithful to the Lord(E) and did not turn from following him but kept the commands the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Lord was with him, and wherever he went he prospered.(F) He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.(G) He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders,(H) from watchtower(I) to fortified city.

Review of Israel’s Fall

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Assyria’s King Shalmaneser marched against Samaria and besieged it.(J) 10 The Assyrians captured it at the end of three years. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Israel’s King Hoshea, Samaria was captured. 11 The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah, along the Habor (Gozan’s river), and in the cities of the Medes,(K) 12 because they did not listen to the Lord their God but violated his covenant—all he had commanded Moses the servant of the Lord. They did not listen, and they did not obey.(L)

Sennacherib’s Invasion

13 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Assyria’s King Sennacherib attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(M) 14 So King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish:(N) “I have done wrong;(O) withdraw from me. Whatever you demand from me, I will pay.” The king of Assyria demanded eleven tons[b] of silver and one ton[c] of gold from King Hezekiah of Judah. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver found in the Lord’s temple and in the treasuries of the king’s palace.

16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the Lord’s sanctuary and from the doorposts he had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria.(P)

17 Then the king of Assyria sent the field marshal,(Q) the chief of staff, and his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.(R) They advanced and came to Jerusalem, and[d] they took their position by the aqueduct of the upper pool, by the road to the Launderer’s Field.(S) 18 They called for the king, but Eliakim(T) son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebnah(U) the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to them.(V)

The Royal Spokesman’s Speech

19 Then(W) the royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: ‘What are you relying on?[e](X) 20 You think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on so that you have rebelled against me?(Y) 21 Now look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff(Z) that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it.(AA) This is what Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him. 22 Suppose you say to me, “We rely on the Lord our God.” Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed,(AB) saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem”?’

23 “So now, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them! 24 How then can you drive back a single officer(AC) among the least of my master’s servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Now, have I attacked this place to destroy it without the Lord’s approval?(AD) The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, Shebnah, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(AE) since we understand it. Don’t speak with us in Hebrew[f] within earshot of the people on the wall.”

27 But the royal spokesman said to them, “Has my master sent me to speak these words only to your master and to you? Hasn’t he also sent me to the men who sit on the wall, destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?” (AF)

28 The royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. 29 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah deceive(AG) you; he can’t rescue you from my power.(AH) 30 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the Lord by saying, “Certainly the Lord will rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”’(AI)

31 “Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: ‘Make peace[g] with me and surrender to me. Then each of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree,(AJ) and each may drink water from his own cistern 32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey(AK)—so that you may live(AL) and not die. But don’t listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” 33 Has any of the gods of the nations ever rescued(AM) his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?[h] Have they rescued Samaria from my power?(AN) 35 Who among all the gods of the lands has rescued his land from my power? So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” (AO)

36 But the people kept silent; they did not answer him at all, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.” 37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian,(AP) came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn(AQ) and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel

19 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,(AR) and went into the Lord’s temple.(AS) He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,(AT) and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth,(AU) to the prophet Isaiah(AV) son of Amoz. 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,(AW) but there is no strength to deliver them. Perhaps the Lord your God(AX) will hear(AY) all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke(AZ) him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”(BA)

So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The Lord says this: Don’t be afraid(BB) because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants(BC) have blasphemed(BD) me. I am about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land,(BE) where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”(BF)

Sennacherib’s Departing Threat

When(BG) the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,(BH) he left and found him fighting against Libnah.(BI) 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,(BJ) deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.(BK) 11 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(BL) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—nations such as Gozan,(BM) Haran,(BN) Rezeph, and the Edenites(BO) in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of[i] Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’” (BP)

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah took(BQ) the letter(BR) from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord.(BS) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord:

Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(BT) you are God—you alone—of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.(BU) 16 Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see.(BV) Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(BW) 17 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.(BX) 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands—wood and stone.(BY) 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.(BZ)

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then(CA) Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer(CB) to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’(CC) 21 This is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

Virgin Daughter Zion(CD)
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head behind your back.(CE)
22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed?(CF)
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!(CG)
23 You have mocked the Lord[j] through[k] your messengers.(CH)
You have said, ‘With my many chariots(CI)
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(CJ)
with the soles of my feet.’

25 Have you not heard?(CK)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass,(CL)
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,(CM)
blasted by the east wind.[l]

27 But I know your sitting down,(CN)
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(CO)
and my bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.

29 “This will be the sign(CP) 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(CQ) 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.(CR) The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.(CS)

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.(CT)
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.”(CU)

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!(CV) 36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(CW)

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech(CX) and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(CY) Then his son Esar-haddon(CZ) became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 In those days(DA) Hezekiah became terminally ill.(DB) The prophet Isaiah(DC) son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”(DD)

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall(DE) and prayed to the Lord, “Please, Lord, remember(DF) how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you.”[m](DG) And Hezekiah wept bitterly.(DH)

Isaiah had not yet gone out of the inner courtyard when the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader(DI) of my people, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer;(DJ) I have seen your tears. Look, I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the Lord’s temple. I will add fifteen years to your life. I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”(DK)

Then Isaiah said, “Bring a lump of pressed figs.” So they brought it and applied it to his infected skin, and he recovered.(DL)

Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What is the sign(DM) that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the Lord’s temple on the third day?”

Isaiah said, “This is the sign(DN) to you from the Lord that he will do what he has promised: Should the shadow go ahead ten steps or go back ten steps?”

10 Then Hezekiah answered, “It’s easy for the shadow to lengthen ten steps. No, let the shadow go back ten steps.” 11 So the prophet Isaiah called out to the Lord, and he brought the shadow[n] back the ten steps it had descended on the stairway of Ahaz.[o](DO)

Hezekiah’s Folly

12 At that time(DP) Merodach-baladan[p] son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick. 13 Hezekiah listened to the letters and showed the envoys his whole treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(DQ)

14 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “Where did these men come from and what did they say to you?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came from a distant country, from Babylon.”

15 Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’(DR) says the Lord. 18 ‘Some of your descendants—who come from you, whom you father—will be taken away,(DS) and they will become eunuchs[q] in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”(DT)

19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,”(DU) for he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security during my lifetime?”

Hezekiah’s Death

20 The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, along with all his might and how he made the pool(DV) and the tunnel and brought water into the city,(DW) are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.(DX) 21 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.(DY)

Judah’s King Manasseh

21 Manasseh(DZ) was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.(EA) He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight,(EB) imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.(EC) He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed(ED) and reestablished the altars for Baal. He made an Asherah,(EE) as King Ahab of Israel had done;(EF) he also bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky(EG) and served them.

Footnotes

  1. 18:4 = A Bronze Thing
  2. 18:14 Lit 300 talents
  3. 18:14 Lit 30 talents
  4. 18:17 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads and came and
  5. 18:19 Lit ‘What is this trust which you trust
  6. 18:26 Lit Judahite, also in v. 28
  7. 18:31 Lit a blessing
  8. 18:34 Some LXX mss, Old Lat read Sepharvaim? Where are the gods of the land of Samaria?
  9. 19:13 Or king of Lair,
  10. 19:23 Many mss read Lord
  11. 19:23 Lit by the hand of
  12. 19:26 DSS; MT reads blasted before standing grain; Is 37:27
  13. 20:3 Lit what is good in your eyes
  14. 20:11 Lit shadow on the steps
  15. 20:11 Tg, Vg; DSS read on the steps of Ahaz’s roof chamber; Is 38:8
  16. 20:12 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Tg, some Vg mss, Is 39:1; other Hb mss read Berodach-baladan
  17. 20:18 Or court officials

He removed(A) the high places,(B) smashed the sacred stones(C) and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake(D) Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.[a])

Hezekiah trusted(E) in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast(F) to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful(G) in whatever he undertook. He rebelled(H) against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city,(I) he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.

In King Hezekiah’s fourth year,(J) which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 10 At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel. 11 The king(K) of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.(L) 12 This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant(M)—all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded.(N) They neither listened to the commands(O) nor carried them out.

13 In the fourteenth year(P) of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah(Q) and captured them. 14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:(R) “I have done wrong.(S) Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents[b] of silver and thirty talents[c] of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave(T) him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

16 At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors(U) and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(V)(W)

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(X) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,(Y) on the road to the Washerman’s Field. 18 They called for the king; and Eliakim(Z) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna(AA) the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.

19 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence(AB) of yours? 20 You say you have the counsel and the might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me? 21 Look, I know you are depending on Egypt,(AC) that splintered reed of a staff,(AD) which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 22 But if you say to me, “We are depending on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem”?

23 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them! 24 How can you repulse one officer(AE) of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt for chariots and horsemen[d]? 25 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this place without word from the Lord?(AF) The Lord himself told me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

26 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and Shebna and Joah said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(AG) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

27 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

28 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! 29 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(AH) you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. 30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(AI) and drink water from your own cistern,(AJ) 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life(AK) and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god(AL) of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath(AM) and Arpad?(AN) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(AO)

36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”

37 Then Eliakim(AP) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(AQ) and told him what the field commander had said.

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(AR)

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(AS) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim(AT) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(AU) all wearing sackcloth,(AV) to the prophet Isaiah(AW) son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(AX) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(AY) the living God, and that he will rebuke(AZ) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(BA) that still survives.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(BB) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(BC) me. Listen! When he hears a certain report,(BD) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(BE)’”

When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(BF) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(BG)

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[e] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(BH) on deceive(BI) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver(BJ) them—the gods of Gozan,(BK) Harran,(BL) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(BM)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(BN)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(BO) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(BP) you alone(BQ) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(BR) Lord, and hear;(BS) open your eyes,(BT) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(BU) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(BV) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BW) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(BX) of the earth may know(BY) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(BZ)(CA)

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(CB) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(CC) him:

“‘Virgin Daughter(CD) Zion
    despises(CE) you and mocks(CF) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(CG) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(CH)
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One(CI) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(CJ)
    “With my many chariots(CK)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(CL) its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 “‘Have you not heard?(CM)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(CN) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(CO)
26 Their people, drained of power,(CP)
    are dismayed(CQ) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,(CR)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched(CS) before it grows up.

27 “‘But I know(CT) where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(CU) in your nose
    and my bit(CV) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(CW)
    by the way you came.’

29 “This will be the sign(CX) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(CY)
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(CZ) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(DA) of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(DB) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(DC)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(DD)

“The zeal(DE) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“‘He will not enter this city
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(DF)
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(DG) this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David(DH) my servant.’”

35 That night the angel of the Lord(DI) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(DJ) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(DK) He returned to Nineveh(DL) and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(DM) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(DN) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(DO) And Esarhaddon(DP) his son succeeded him as king.

Hezekiah’s Illness(DQ)

20 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember,(DR) Lord, how I have walked(DS) before you faithfully(DT) and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard(DU) your prayer and seen your tears;(DV) I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(DW) this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil,(DX) and he recovered.

Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”

Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord’s sign(DY) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”

10 “It is a simple(DZ) matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”

11 Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back(EA) the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

Envoys From Babylon(EB)(EC)

12 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. 13 Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”

15 The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.(ED) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. 18 And some of your descendants,(EE) your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”(EF)

19 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”

20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool(EG) and the tunnel(EH) by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

Manasseh King of Judah(EI)(EJ)

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.(EK) He did evil(EL) in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices(EM) of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places(EN) his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal(EO) and made an Asherah pole,(EP) as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts(EQ) and worshiped them.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 18:4 Nehushtan sounds like the Hebrew for both bronze and snake.
  2. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 11 tons or about 10 metric tons
  3. 2 Kings 18:14 That is, about 1 ton or about 1 metric ton
  4. 2 Kings 18:24 Or charioteers
  5. 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region

Sennacherib’s Invasion

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,(A) King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Then the king of Assyria sent his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish(B) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to Launderer’s Field.(C) Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,(D) and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to him.

The royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on? You[a] think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me?(E) Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff(F) that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.(G) Suppose you say to me, ‘We rely on the Lord our God.’ Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You are to worship at this altar’?(H)

“Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them! How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master’s servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?(I) 10 Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s approval? The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(J) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew[b] within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”

12 But the royal spokesman replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”

13 Then the royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew:

Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: “Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you,(K) for he cannot rescue you. 15 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will certainly rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’”

16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace[c] with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree(L) and drink water from his own cistern 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’(M) Has any one of the gods of the nations(N) rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(O) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my power?(P) 20 Who among all the gods of these lands ever rescued his land from my power? So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?”

21 But they kept silent; they didn’t say anything, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.”(Q) 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel

37 When King Hezekiah heard their report,(R) he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,(S) and went to the Lord’s temple. He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace.(T) It is as if children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.(U) Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God,(V) and will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”(W)

So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The Lord says this: Don’t be afraid(X) because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants have blasphemed me.(Y) I am about to put a spirit(Z) in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”(AA)

Sennacherib’s Letter

When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,(AB) he left and found him fighting against Libnah.(AC) The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush,(AD) “He has set out to fight against you.” So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you(AE) by promising that Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 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(AF) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—Gozan,(AG) Haran,(AH) Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of[d] Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.(AI) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed(AJ) to the Lord:

16 Lord of Armies, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(AK) you are God(AL)—you alone(AM)—of all the kingdoms of the earth.(AN) You made the heavens and the earth.(AO) 17 Listen closely, Lord, and hear;(AP) open your eyes, Lord, and see.(AQ) Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(AR) 18 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods(AS) but made from wood and stone(AT) by human hands.(AU) So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God[e](AV)—you alone.(AW)

God’s Answer through Isaiah

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

Virgin Daughter Zion(AX)
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head(AY)
behind your back.
23 Who is it you have mocked(AZ) and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?(BA)
Against the Holy One of Israel!(BB)
24 You have mocked the Lord through your servants.
You have said, “With my many chariots(BC)
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 distant heights,
its densest forest.
25 I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands.[f]
I dried up all the streams of Egypt
with the soles of my feet.”(BD)

26 Have you not heard?(BE)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.(BF)
I have now brought it to pass,
and you have crushed fortified cities(BG)
into piles of rubble.
27 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind.[g]

28 But I know your sitting down,
your going out and your coming in,(BH)
and your raging against me.
29 Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,(BI)
I will put my hook in your nose(BJ)
and my bit in your mouth;(BK)
I will make you go back
the way you came.

30 “‘This will be the sign for you:(BL) 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. 31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root(BM) downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant(BN) will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.’(BO)

33 “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.
34 He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

35 I will defend this city and rescue it
for my sake(BP)
and for the sake of my servant David.”(BQ)

Defeat and Death of Sennacherib

36 Then(BR) the angel of the Lord(BS) 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! 37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(BT)

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(BU) Then his son Esar-haddon(BV) became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

38 In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill.(BW) The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order,(BX) for you are about to die; you will not recover.’”[h]

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He said, “Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly,(BY) and have done what pleases you.”(BZ) And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add fifteen years to your life.[i](CA) And I will rescue you and this city from the grasp of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city.(CB) This is the sign to you(CC) from the Lord that he will do what he has promised: I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on the stairway of Ahaz go back by ten steps.’”(CD) So the sun’s shadow[j] went back the ten steps it had descended.

A poem by King Hezekiah of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

10 I said: In the prime[k] of my life(CE)
I must go to the gates of Sheol;(CF)
I am deprived of the rest of my years.
11 I said: I will never see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;(CG)
I will not look on humanity any longer
with the inhabitants of what is passing away.[l]
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd’s tent.(CH)
I have rolled up my life like a weaver;(CI)
he cuts me off from the loom.(CJ)
By nightfall[m] you make an end of me.(CK)
13 I thought until the morning:
He will break all my bones like a lion.
By nightfall you make an end of me.
14 I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.(CL)
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.(CM)

15 What can I say?
He has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk along slowly all my years(CN)
because of the bitterness of my soul.(CO)
16 Lord, by such things people live,(CP)
and in every one of them my spirit finds life;
you have restored me to health(CQ)
and let me live.(CR)
17 Indeed, it was for my own well-being
that I had such intense bitterness;(CS)
but your love has delivered me
from the Pit of destruction,(CT)
for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.(CU)
18 For Sheol cannot thank you;
Death cannot praise you.(CV)
Those who go down to the Pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, only the living can thank you,
as I do today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.(CW)
20 The Lord is ready to save me;
we will play stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
at the house of the Lord.(CX)

21 Now Isaiah(CY) had said, “Let them take a lump of pressed figs and apply it to his infected skin, so that he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah had asked, “What is the sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”

Hezekiah’s Folly

39 At that time(CZ) Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. Hezekiah was pleased with the letters, and he showed the envoys his treasure house—the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil—and all his armory, and everything that was found in his treasuries.(DA) There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.(DB)

Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say, and where did they come to you from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.”

Isaiah asked, “What have they seen in your palace?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my palace. There isn’t anything in my treasuries that I didn’t show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of Armies:(DC) ‘Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.(DD) ‘Some of your descendants—who come from you, whom you father—will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good,” for he thought: There will be peace and security during my lifetime.(DE)

Footnotes

  1. 36:5 Many Hb mss, DSS, 2Kg 18:20; MT reads I
  2. 36:11 Lit Judahite, also in v. 13
  3. 36:16 Lit a blessing
  4. 37:13 Or king of Lair,
  5. 37:20 are God supplied for clarity; see v. 16
  6. 37:25 DSS, 2Kg 19:24; MT omits in foreign lands
  7. 37:27 DSS; MT reads rooftops, field before standing grain
  8. 38:1 Lit live
  9. 38:5 Lit days, also in v. 10
  10. 38:8 Lit And the sun
  11. 38:10 Lit quiet
  12. 38:11 Some Hb mss, Tg read of the world
  13. 38:12 Lit From day until night, also in v. 13

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(A)

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s(B) reign, Sennacherib(C) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(D) Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish(E) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,(F) Eliakim(G) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,(H) Shebna(I) the secretary,(J) and Joah(K) son of Asaph the recorder(L) went out to him.

The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:

“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(M) against me? Look, I know you are depending(N) on Egypt,(O) that splintered reed(P) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. But if you say to me, “We are depending(Q) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(R) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(S)

“‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses(T)—if you can put riders on them! How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(U) for chariots(V) and horsemen[a]?(W) 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told(X) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah(Y) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(Z) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?(AA)

13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,(AB) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!(AC) 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(AD) you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(AE) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(AF)

16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(AG) and drink water from your own cistern,(AH) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(AI)—a land of grain and new wine,(AJ) a land of bread and vineyards.

18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(AK) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(AL) Have they rescued Samaria(AM) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(AN) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(AO)

21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”(AP)

22 Then Eliakim(AQ) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder(AR) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(AS) and told him what the field commander had said.

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(AT)

37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes(AU) and put on sackcloth(AV) and went into the temple(AW) of the Lord. He sent Eliakim(AX) the palace administrator, Shebna(AY) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(AZ) They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress(BA) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth(BB) and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(BC) the living God,(BD) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.(BE) Therefore pray(BF) for the remnant(BG) that still survives.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(BH) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(BI) me. Listen! When he hears a certain report,(BJ) I will make him want(BK) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down(BL) with the sword.’”

When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(BM) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(BN)

Now Sennacherib(BO) received a report(BP) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[b](BQ) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(BR) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(BS) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(BT) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(BU) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(BV) Rezeph and the people of Eden(BW) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(BX) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(BY) Hena and Ivvah?”(BZ)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(CA)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(CB) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(CC) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(CD) to the Lord: 16 Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(CE) between the cherubim,(CF) you alone are God(CG) over all the kingdoms(CH) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(CI) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(CJ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(CK) listen to all the words Sennacherib(CL) has sent to ridicule(CM) the living God.(CN)

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(CO) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(CP) and destroyed them,(CQ) for they were not gods(CR) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(CS) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(CT) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(CU) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[c](CV)

Sennacherib’s Fall(CW)

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(CX) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter(CY) Zion(CZ)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(DA) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(DB)
    Against whom have you raised your voice(DC)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(DD)
    Against the Holy One(DE) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(DF)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(DG) of Lebanon.(DH)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(DI)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[d]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up(DJ) all the streams of Egypt.(DK)

26 “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained(DL) it.
In days of old I planned(DM) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(DN)
27 Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass(DO) sprouting on the roof,(DP)
    scorched[e] before it grows up.

28 “But I know where you are
    and when you come and go(DQ)
    and how you rage(DR) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence(DS) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(DT) in your nose(DU)
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.(DV)

30 “This will be the sign(DW) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year(DX) you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(DY) sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(DZ) and eat their fruit.(EA)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(EB) below and bear fruit(EC) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(ED)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(EE)
The zeal(EF) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city(EG)
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp(EH) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(EI)
    he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(EJ) this city and save it,
    for my sake(EK) and for the sake of David(EL) my servant!”

36 Then the angel(EM) of the Lord went out and put to death(EN) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(EO) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(EP) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(EQ) and stayed there.

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(ER) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(ES) And Esarhaddon(ET) his son succeeded him as king.(EU)

Hezekiah’s Illness(EV)

38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz(EW) went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order,(EX) because you are going to die; you will not recover.”(EY)

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked(EZ) before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion(FA) and have done what is good in your eyes.(FB)” And Hezekiah wept(FC) bitterly.

Then the word(FD) of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David,(FE) says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears;(FF) I will add fifteen years(FG) to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(FH) this city.

“‘This is the Lord’s sign(FI) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.(FJ)

A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the prime of my life(FK)
    must I go through the gates of death(FL)
    and be robbed of the rest of my years?(FM)
11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself(FN)
    in the land of the living;(FO)
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
    or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent(FP) my house
    has been pulled down(FQ) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled(FR) up my life,
    and he has cut me off from the loom;(FS)
    day and night(FT) you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently(FU) till dawn,
    but like a lion he broke(FV) all my bones;(FW)
    day and night(FX) you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
    I moaned like a mourning dove.(FY)
My eyes grew weak(FZ) as I looked to the heavens.
    I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”(GA)

15 But what can I say?(GB)
    He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.(GC)
I will walk humbly(GD) all my years
    because of this anguish of my soul.(GE)
16 Lord, by such things people live;
    and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
    and let me live.(GF)
17 Surely it was for my benefit(GG)
    that I suffered such anguish.(GH)
In your love you kept me
    from the pit(GI) of destruction;
you have put all my sins(GJ)
    behind your back.(GK)
18 For the grave(GL) cannot praise you,
    death cannot sing your praise;(GM)
those who go down to the pit(GN)
    cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise(GO) you,
    as I am doing today;
parents tell their children(GP)
    about your faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,
    and we will sing(GQ) with stringed instruments(GR)
all the days of our lives(GS)
    in the temple(GT) of the Lord.

21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign(GU) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”

Envoys From Babylon(GV)

39 At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon(GW) sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys(GX) gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold,(GY) the spices, the fine olive oil—his entire armory and everything found among his treasures.(GZ) There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,(HA)” Hezekiah replied. “They came to me from Babylon.”

The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word(HB) of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon.(HC) Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.(HD)

“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,(HE)” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.(HF)

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers
  2. Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  3. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
  4. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
  5. Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields