^19:14Hezekiah took the letter²¹ from the messengers and read it.²² Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. ^19:15Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs!²³ You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky²⁴ and the earth. ^19:16Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God!²⁵^19:17It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. ^19:18They have burned the gods of the nations,²⁶ 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.²⁷^19:19Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

^19:20Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria.²⁸

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Footnotes

21 The has the plural, “letters,” but the final mem is probably dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular.
22 The has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”). The parallel passage in Isa 37:14 has the singular suffix.
23 This refers to the cherub images that were above the ark of the covenant.
24 Or “the heavens.”
25 Heb “Hear the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
26 Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
27 Heb “so they destroyed them.”
28 Heb “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in the parallel passage in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense, “because.”