1
And it came to pass when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
2
And he sent Eliakim the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, clothed with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3
And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah: This day [is] a day of tribulation and rebuke and provocation; for the children have come to the birth, but the mother has no strength.
4
Perhaps 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 to revile Him with the words which the Lord your God has heard; and you shall offer [your] prayer for the remnant that is found.
5
So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6
And Isaiah said to them, Thus shall you say to your master, Thus says the Lord: Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, wherewith the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed [Me].
7
Behold, I shall send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a report, and shall return to his own land; and I will overthrow him with the sword in his own land.
8
So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he heard that he [had] departed from Lachish.
9
And he heard concerning Tirhakah king of the Ethiopians, saying, Behold, he has come forth to fight with you. And he returned, and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10
Let not your God on whom you trust encourage you, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
11
Behold, you have heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done in all the lands, to waste them utterly-and shall you be delivered?
12
Have any of the gods of the [other] nations delivered them, whom my fathers destroyed: Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?
13
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad? And where is the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and Ivah?
14
And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And he went up to the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it before the Lord,
15
and said, O Lord God of Israel, that dwells over the cherubim, You are the only God in all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth.
16
Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear: open Your eyes and see, O Lord; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.
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For truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have wasted the nations,
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and have cast their gods into the fire: because they are no gods, but the works of men's hands, wood and stone; and they have destroyed them.
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And now, O Lord our God, deliver us out of his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth shall know that You alone [are] the Lord God.
20
And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: I have heard your prayer to Me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians.
21
This [is] the word which the Lord has spoken against him; The virgin daughter of Zion has made light of you, and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
22
Whom have you reproached, and whom have you reviled? And against whom have you lifted up your voice, and raised your eyes on high? [Is it] [not] against the Holy One of Israel?
23
By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, and have said, I will go up with the multitude of my chariots, to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I have cut down the height of his cedar, [and] his choice cypresses; and I have come into the midst of the forest and of Carmel.
24
I have refreshed [myself], and have drunk strange waters, and I have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers of the fortified places.
25
I have brought about [the matter], I have brought it to a conclusion; and it has come to the destruction of the bands of warlike prisoners, [even of] strong cities.
26
And they that dwelt in them were weak in hand, they quaked and were confounded, they became [as] grass of the field, or [as] the green herb, the grass [growing on] houses, and that which is trodden down by him that stands [upon it].
27
But I know your sitting down and your going forth, and your rage against Me.
28
Because you were angry against Me, and your fierceness has come up into My ears, therefore will I put My hooks in your nostrils, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way in which you came.
29
And this shall be a sign to you: eat this year the things that grow of themselves, and in the second year the things which spring up. And in the third year [let there be] sowing and reaping, and planting of vineyards, and eat their fruits.
30
And he shall increase him that has escaped of the house of Judah, and the remnant [shall strike] the root beneath, and it shall produce fruit above.
31
For from Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and he that escapes from Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
32
[Is it] not so? Thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not enter into this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, neither shall a shield come against it, neither shall he heap a mound against it.
33
By the way in which he comes, by it shall he return, and he shall not enter into this city, says the Lord.
34
And I will defend this city as with a shield, for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.
35
And it came to pass at night that the Angel of the Lord went forth, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they rose early in the morning, and behold, [these were] all dead corpses.
36
And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departed, and went and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh.
37
And it came to pass, while he was worshipping in the house of Nisrosh his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
