Isaiah 37
1 And it cometh to pass, at the king Hezekiah's hearing, that he rendeth his garments, and covereth himself with sackcloth, and entereth the house of Jehovah,
When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the Lord's Temple.
2 and sendeth Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, unto Isaiah son of Amoz the prophet,
He sent Eliakim the palace manager, Shebna, the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to see the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
3 and they say unto him, 'Thus said Hezekiah, A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising, [is] this day; for come have sons unto the birth, and power there is not to bear.
They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble and of punishment. It's like when babies arrive at the entrance to the birth canal but there's no strength to deliver them.
4 'It may be Jehovah thy God doth hear the words of Rabshakeh with which the king of Asshur his lord hath sent him to reproach the living God, and hath decided concerning the words that Jehovah thy God hath heard, and thou hast lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.'
Maybe the Lord your God, hearing the message the army commander delivered on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria—a message sent to insult the living God—will punish him for his words. Please say a prayer for the remnant of us who still survive.”
5 And the servants of king Hezekiah come in unto Isaiah,
After Hezekiah's officials delivered his message to Isaiah,
6 and Isaiah saith unto them, 'Thus do ye say unto your lord, Thus said Jehovah, Be not afraid because of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.
Isaiah replied to them, “Tell your master, This is what the Lord says: Don't be frightened by the words that you have heard, the words used by the servants of the king of Assyria to blaspheme me.
7 Lo, I am giving in him a spirit, and he hath heard a report, and hath turned back unto his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.'
Look, I'm going to scare him—he'll hear a rumor, and he'll have to return to his own country. When he's there I'll have him killed by the sword.”
8 And Rabshakeh turneth back and findeth the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he hath heard that he hath journeyed from Lachish.
The Assyrian army commander left and went back to join the king of Assyria, having heard the king had left Lachish and was attacking Libnah.
9 And he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, 'He hath come out to fight with thee;' and he heareth, and sendeth messengers unto Hezekiah, saying,
Sennacherib had received a message about Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that said, “Watch out! He is coming to attack you.” So Sennacherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,
10 'Thus do ye speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God lift thee up in whom thou art trusting, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.
“Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Don't let your God, the one you're trusting in, fool you by saying that Jerusalem won't fall into the hands of the king of Assyria.
11 Lo, thou hast heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands — to devote them — and thou art delivered!
Look! You've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries they've invaded— they destroyed them completely! Do you really think you'll be saved?
12 Did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed — Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who [are] in Telassar?
Did the gods of the nations my forefathers destroyed save them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Telassar?
13 Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'
Where today is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”
14 And Hezekiah taketh the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and readeth them, and Hezekiah goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and Hezekiah spreadeth it before Jehovah.
Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Lord's Temple and opened it out before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayeth unto Jehovah, saying,
Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying,
16 'Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubs, Thou [art] God Himself — Thyself alone — to all kingdoms of the earth, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth.
“Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you who live above the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth, you are Creator of heaven and earth.
17 Incline, O Jehovah, Thine ear, and hear; open, O Jehovah, Thine eyes and see; and hear Thou all the words of Sennacherib that he hath sent to reproach the living God.
Please listen with your ears, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
18 'Truly, O Jehovah, kings of Asshur have laid waste all the lands and their land,
Yes, it's true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed these nations and their lands.
19 so as to put their gods into fire — for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone — and they destroy them.
They have thrown their gods into the fire because they are not really gods—they are just the work of human hands, made of wood and stone so they could destroy them.
20 And now, Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth do know that Thou [art] Jehovah, Thyself alone.'
Now, Lord our God, please save us from him, in order that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that only you, Lord, are God.”
21 And Isaiah son of Amoz sendeth unto Hezekiah, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed unto me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur —
Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you've prayed to me about Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
22 this [is] the word that Jehovah spake concerning him: Trampled on thee, laughed at thee, Hath the virgin daughter of Zion, Behind thee shaken the head hath the daughter of Jerusalem.
this is the word of the Lord condemning him: The virgin daughter of Zion scorns you and mocks you; the daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head as you run away.
23 Whom hast thou reproached and reviled? And against whom lifted up the voice? Yea, thou dost lift up on high thine eyes Against the Holy One of Israel.
Who have you been insulting and ridiculing? Who did you raise your voice against? Who did you look at with so proud eyes? It was against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By the hand of thy servants Thou hast reviled the Lord, and sayest: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its Carmel.
By your servants you have mocked the Lord. You said: ‘With my many chariots I have ascended to the high mountains, to the farthest peaks of Lebanon. I have chopped down its tallest cedars, the best of its cypress trees. I have reached its most distant heights, its deepest forests.
25 I — I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.
I have dug wells and drunk water in foreign lands. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers in Egypt.’”
26 Hast thou not heard from afar? — it I did, From days of old — that I formed it. Now, I have brought it in, And it is to make desolate, Ruinous heaps — fenced cities,
The Lord replies, “Haven't you heard? I decided it long ago; I planned it in the olden days. Now I am making sure it happens—that you are to knock down fortified towns into piles of rubble.
27 And their inhabitants are feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up. They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted corn, before it hath risen up.
Their people, powerless, are terrified and humiliated. They're like plants in a field, like soft green shoots, like grass that sprouts on the rooftop—scorched before it can even grow.
28 And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thy anger towards Me.
But I know you very well—where you live, when you come in, when you leave, and your furious anger against me.
29 Because of thy anger towards Me, And thy noise — it came up into Mine ears, I have put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And I have caused thee to turn back In the way in which thou camest.
Because of your furious anger against me, and because I know how you disrespect me, I'm going to put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will force you to return the same way you came.”
30 — And this to thee [is] the sign, Food of the year [is] self-sown grain, And in the second year the spontaneous growth, And in the third year, sow ye and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
“Hezekiah, this will be a sign to prove this is true: This year you'll eat what grows by itself. The second year you'll eat what grows from that. But in the third year you'll sow and reap, you'll plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31 And it hath continued — the escaped Of the house of Judah that hath been left — To take root beneath, And it hath made fruit upward.
The remnant that's left of Judah will revive again, sending roots below and bearing fruit above.
32 For from Jerusalem goeth forth a remnant, And an escape from mount Zion, The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts doth this.
For a remnant will come out of Jerusalem, and survivors will come from Mount Zion. The intense determination of the Lord will make sure this happens.
33 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, Concerning the king of Asshur: He doth not come in unto this city, Nor doth he shoot there an arrow, Nor doth he come before it [with] shield, Nor doth he pour out against it a mount.
This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He shall not enter this city or shoot an arrow at it. He shall not advance towards it with a shield, or build a siege ramp against it.
34 In the way that he came, in it he turneth back, And unto this city he doth not come in, An affirmation of Jehovah,
He shall return the same way he came, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord.
35 And I have covered over this city, To save it, for Mine own sake, And for the sake of David My servant.'
I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36 And a messenger of Jehovah goeth out, and smiteth in the camp of Asshur a hundred and eighty and five thousand; and [men] rise early in the morning, and lo, all of them [are] dead corpses.
Then the angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 of them. When the survivors woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by dead bodies.
37 And journey, and go, and turn back doth Sennacherib king of Asshur, and dwelleth in Nineveh.
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, gave up and left. He returned home to Nineveh and stayed there.
38 And it cometh to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons have smitten him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-Haddon his son reigneth in his stead.
While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword and then ran away to the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him as king.
