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Isaiah 37
New English Translation

37 When King Hezekiah heard this,[a] he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests,[b] clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: 3 “This is what Hezekiah says:[c] ‘This is a day of distress, insults,[d] and humiliation,[e] as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.[f] 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God.[g] When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said.[h] So pray for this remnant that remains.’”[i]

5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard—these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me.[j] 7 Look, I will take control of his mind;[k] he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down[l] with a sword in his own land.”’”

8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.[m] 9 The king[n] heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia[o] was marching out to fight him.[p] He again sent[q] messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands.[r] Do you really think you will be rescued?[s] 12 Were the nations whom my predecessors[t] destroyed—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar—rescued by their gods?[u] 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad or the kings of Lair,[v] Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

14 Hezekiah took the letter[w] from the messengers and read it.[x] Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: 16 “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim![y] You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky[z] and the earth. 17 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God![aa] 18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations[ab] and their lands. 19 They have burned the gods of the nations,[ac] for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.[ad] 20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”[ae]

21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘As to what you have prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria,[af] 22 this is what the Lord says about him:[ag]

“‘The virgin daughter Zion[ah]
despises you—she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.[ai]
23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?

At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly?[aj]
At the Holy One of Israel![ak]
24 Through your messengers you taunted the Lord,[al]
“With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its remotest regions,[am]
its thickest woods.
25 I dug wells
and drank water.[an]
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.”’
26 [ao] Certainly you must have heard![ap]

Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned[aq] it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.[ar]
27 Their residents are powerless;[as]
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation.[at]
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops[au]
when it is scorched by the east wind.[av]
28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me.[aw]
29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,[ax]
I will put my hook in your nose,[ay]
and my bit between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.’

30 [az] “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth:[ba] This year you will eat what grows wild,[bb] and next year[bc] what grows on its own. But the year after that[bd] you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce.[be] 31 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit.[bf]

32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The zeal of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[bg] will accomplish this.
33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

“‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here.[bh]
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors,[bi]
nor will he build siege works against it.
34 He will go back the way he came—
he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
35 I will shield this city and rescue it
for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”[bj]

36 The angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 troops[bk] in the Assyrian camp. When they[bl] got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses![bm] 37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh.[bn] 38 One day,[bo] as he was worshiping[bp] in the temple of his god Nisroch,[bq] his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword.[br] They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:1 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
  2. Isaiah 37:2 tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”
  3. Isaiah 37:3 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).
  4. Isaiah 37:3 tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”
  5. Isaiah 37:3 tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”
  6. Isaiah 37:3 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
  7. Isaiah 37:4 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
  8. Isaiah 37:4 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
  9. Isaiah 37:4 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
  10. Isaiah 37:6 tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
  11. Isaiah 37:7 tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.
  12. Isaiah 37:7 tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”
  13. Isaiah 37:8 tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
  14. Isaiah 37:9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  15. Isaiah 37:9 tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”
  16. Isaiah 37:9 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”
  17. Isaiah 37:9 tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”
  18. Isaiah 37:11 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
  19. Isaiah 37:11 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
  20. Isaiah 37:12 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “forefathers”; NCV “ancestors.”
  21. Isaiah 37:12 tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”
  22. Isaiah 37:13 sn Lair was a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.
  23. Isaiah 37:14 tc The Hebrew text has the plural, “letters.” The final mem (ם) may be dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular. If so, one still has to deal with the yod that is part of the plural ending. J. N. Oswalt refers to various commentators who have suggested ways to understand the plural form (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:652).
  24. Isaiah 37:14 tn In the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:14 the verb has the plural suffix, “them,” but this may reflect a later harmonization to the preceding textual reading of “letters.”
  25. Isaiah 37:16 sn The cherubim (singular “cherub”) refer to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.
  26. Isaiah 37:16 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
  27. Isaiah 37:17 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
  28. Isaiah 37:18 tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”
  29. Isaiah 37:19 tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
  30. Isaiah 37:19 tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).
  31. Isaiah 37:20 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”
  32. Isaiah 37:21 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 includes a verb, “What you have prayed … I have heard.”
  33. Isaiah 37:22 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
  34. Isaiah 37:22 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquered it.
  35. Isaiah 37:22 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
  36. Isaiah 37:23 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
  37. Isaiah 37:23 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
  38. Isaiah 37:24 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
  39. Isaiah 37:24 tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”
  40. Isaiah 37:25 tc The Hebrew text has simply, “I dug and drank water.” But the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:24 has “foreign waters.” זָרִים (zarim, “foreign”) may have accidentally dropped out of the Isaianic text by homoioteleuton (cf. NCV, NIV, NLT). Note that the preceding word, מַיִם (mayim, “water) also ends in mem (ם). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has “foreign waters” for this line. However, in several other passages the 1QIsaa scroll harmonizes with 2 Kgs 19 against the MT (Isa 36:5; 37:9, 20). Since the addition of “foreign” to this text in Isaiah by a later scribe would be more likely than its deletion, the MT reading should be accepted.
  41. Isaiah 37:26 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
  42. Isaiah 37:26 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
  43. Isaiah 37:26 tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).
  44. Isaiah 37:26 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tehi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
  45. Isaiah 37:27 tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”
  46. Isaiah 37:27 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
  47. Isaiah 37:27 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
  48. Isaiah 37:27 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah, “standing grain”) to קָדִים (qadim, “east wind”) with the support of 1Q Isaa; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.
  49. Isaiah 37:28 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in and how you have raged against me.” Several scholars have suggested that this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line). However, most English translations include the statement in question at the end of v. 28 and the beginning of v. 29. Interestingly, the LXX does not have this clause at the end of v. 28 and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not have it at the beginning of v. 29. In light of this ambiguous manuscript evidence, it appears best to retain the clause in both verses.
  50. Isaiah 37:29 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (shaʾananekha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (sheʾonekha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT, and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).
  51. Isaiah 37:29 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
  52. Isaiah 37:30 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends, and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).
  53. Isaiah 37:30 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (ʾot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
  54. Isaiah 37:30 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
  55. Isaiah 37:30 tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).
  56. Isaiah 37:30 tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).
  57. Isaiah 37:30 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.
  58. Isaiah 37:31 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
  59. Isaiah 37:32 tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people that prompts him to protect and restore them.
  60. Isaiah 37:33 tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.
  61. Isaiah 37:33 tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).
  62. Isaiah 37:35 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
  63. Isaiah 37:36 tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
  64. Isaiah 37:36 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
  65. Isaiah 37:36 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”
  66. Isaiah 37:37 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
  67. Isaiah 37:38 sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681 b.c.
  68. Isaiah 37:38 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
  69. Isaiah 37:38 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a textual variation of Nusku, the Mesopotamian god of light and fire. Other proposals have tried to relate the name to Ashur, the chief god of the Assyria, or to Ninurta, the Assyrian god of war.
  70. Isaiah 37:38 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.
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Isaiah 37
New International Version

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)

37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes(B) and put on sackcloth(C) and went into the temple(D) of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(E) the palace administrator, Shebna(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(G) 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth(I) and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 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(J) the living God,(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.(L) Therefore pray(M) for the remnant(N) that still survives.”

5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(O) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(P) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(Q) I will make him want(R) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down(S) with the sword.’”

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

9 Now Sennacherib(V) received a report(W) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a](X) 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(Y) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(Z) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(AA) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(AB) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(AC) Rezeph and the people of Eden(AD) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(AE) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(AF) Hena and Ivvah?”(AG)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(AH)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(AI) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(AJ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(AK) to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(AL) between the cherubim,(AM) you alone are God(AN) over all the kingdoms(AO) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(AP) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(AQ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(AR) listen to all the words Sennacherib(AS) has sent to ridicule(AT) the living God.(AU)

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(AV) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(AW) and destroyed them,(AX) for they were not gods(AY) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AZ) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BA) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(BB) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[b](BC)”

Sennacherib’s Fall(BD)

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(BE) 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(BF) Zion(BG)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(BH) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(BI)
    Against whom have you raised your voice(BJ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(BK)
    Against the Holy One(BL) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(BM)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(BN) of Lebanon.(BO)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(BP)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[c]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up(BQ) all the streams of Egypt.(BR)’

26 “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained(BS) it.
In days of old I planned(BT) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(BU)
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(BV) sprouting on the roof,(BW)
    scorched[d] before it grows up.

28 “But I know where you are
    and when you come and go(BX)
    and how you rage(BY) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence(BZ) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(CA) in your nose(CB)
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.(CC)

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

“This year(CE) you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(CF) sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(CG) and eat their fruit.(CH)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(CI) below and bear fruit(CJ) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(CK)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(CL)
The zeal(CM) 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(CN)
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp(CO) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(CP)
    he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(CQ) this city and save it,
    for my sake(CR) and for the sake of David(CS) my servant!”

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

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

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  2. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
  3. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
  4. 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
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Isaiah 37
King James Version

37 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 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, 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 blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord 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 unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, 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 send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and 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 was departed from Lachish.

9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with 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, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,

16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, 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 Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

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 Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the 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 reproached 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 reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced 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 corn blasted before it be grown up.

28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, 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 a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and 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 they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

33 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 shields, nor cast a bank against it.

34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.

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

36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

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 Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

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