2 Kings 19
1 It came about that when King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahweh.
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 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, all covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet.
And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, “Hezekiah says, 'This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for the children have come to the time of birth, but there is no strength for them to be born.
And they said unto him, Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be that Yahweh your God will hear all the words of the chief commander, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Now lift up your prayer for the remnant that is still here.'”
It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD your God has heard: wherefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 and Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master: 'Yahweh says, “Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.
And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall all of you say to your master, Thus says the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Look, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear a certain report and go back to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”'”
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 Then the chief commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had gone away from Lachish.
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush and Egypt had mobilized to fight against him, so he sent messengers again to Hezekiah with a message:
And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he has come out to fight against you: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah, 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given over into the hand of the king of Assyria.”
Thus shall all of you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
11 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them completely. So will you be rescued?
Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shall you be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations rescued them, the nations that my fathers destroyed: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Tel Assar?
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 Thelasar?
13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'”
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 Hezekiah received this letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house of Yahweh and spread it before him.
And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 Then Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh and said, “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel, you who sit above the cherubim, you are God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.
And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwell between the cherubims, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
16 Turn your ear, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
LORD, bow down your ear, and hear: open, LORD, your eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which has sent him to reproach the living God.
17 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands.
Truthfully, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
18 They have put their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men's hands, just wood and stone. So the Assyrians have destroyed them.
And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
19 Now then, Yahweh our God, save us, I implore you, from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.”
Now therefore, O LORD our God, I plead to you, save you us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD God, even you only.
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel says, 'Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.
Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, That which you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
21 This is the word that Yahweh has spoken about him: “The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs you to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head at you.
This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
22 Whom have you defied and insulted? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? and against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
23 By your messengers you have defied the Lord, and have said, 'With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the highest elevations of Lebanon. I will cut down the tall cedars and the choice cypress trees there. I will enter into its farthest parts, its most fruitful forest.
By your messengers you have reproached the LORD, and have said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have dug wells and have drunk foreign waters. I dried up all the rivers of Egypt under the soles of my feet.'
I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
25 Have you not heard how I determined it long ago, and worked it out in ancient times? Now I am bringing it to pass. You are here to reduce impregnable cities into heaps of ruins.
Have you 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 you should be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 Their inhabitants, of little strength, are shattered and ashamed. They are plants in the field, green grass, the grass on the roof or in the field, burned before it has grown up.
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 house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
27 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.
But I know your abode, and your going out, and your coming in, and your rage against me.
28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose, and my bit in your mouth; I will turn you back the way you came.”
Because your rage against me and your tumult has come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
29 This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows wild, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year you must plant and harvest, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
And this shall be a sign unto you, All of you shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow all of you, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
30 The remnant of the house of Judah that survives will again take root and bear fruit.
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
31 For from Jerusalem a remnant will come out, from Mount Zion survivors will come. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.
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.
32 Therefore Yahweh says this about the king of Assyria: “He will not come into this city nor shoot an arrow here. Neither will he come before it with shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 The way by which he came will be the same way he will leave; he will not enter this city— this is Yahweh's declaration.”
By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, says the LORD.
34 For I will defend this city and rescue it, for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.'”
For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
35 It came about that night that the angel of Yahweh went out and attacked the camp of the Assyrians, putting to death 185,000 soldiers. When the men arose early in the morning, dead bodies lay everywhere.
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and stroke in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria left Israel and went home and stayed in Nineveh.
So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
37 Later, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisrok his god, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword. Then they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons stroke him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his position.
