8 And Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had left from Lachish. 9 Nowh hei heard concerning Tirhakah the king of Cush, saying, “He has set out to fight againstj you.”

Whenk he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “You shall say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust in him deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you—shall you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that my ⌊predecessors⌋l destroyed deliver them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, orm Ivvah?’ ”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he readn it. Theno he went up to the templep of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out before the ⌊presence⌋q of Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 16 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel ⌊who is enthroned on⌋r the cherubim, you are the one, God by yourself, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you are the one who made the heavens and the earth. 17 Yahweh, extend your ear and hear! Yahweh, open your eyes and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God! 18 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the landss and their land, 19 to ⌊set⌋t their gods in the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone, and they destroyed them. 20 Sou now, Yahweh, our God, save us from his hand so thatv all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, you alone!”

God’s Answer

21 And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to me ⌊concerning⌋w Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:

She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion;

she shakes her head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem.

23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed,

and against whom have you raised up your voice and lifted your eyes upward?

To the holy one of Israel!

24 By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord,

and you have said, “With my many chariots,x

I myself have gone up the height of the mountains,

to the remote areas of Lebanon.

And I cut off ⌊its tall cedars⌋,y

the choicest of its junipers.

And I came to the height of its limit,

the forest of its orchard.z

25 I myself dug and drank waters,

and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet.”

26 Have you not heard from ⌊a long time ago⌋?a I have made it

from days of primeval time, and I formed it.

Now I have brought it about,

and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones.

27 And their inhabitants are ⌊weak⌋;b

they are dismayed, and they are ashamed;

they have become like plantsc of the field,

and like greens of grass,

like grass ond the roofs

and a cultivated field ⌊before⌋e the standing grain.

28 And I know your sitting down and your going out,

and your coming in, and your raging ⌊against⌋f me.

29 Because you were enraged ⌊against⌋g me,

and your noiseh has come up toi my ears,

I will put my hook in your nose

and my bridle on your lips,

and I will turn you back

on the way by which you came.

30 And this shall be the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plantsj thisk year, and in the second year self-seeded plants,l and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall ⌊grow⌋m rootsn downwards and make fruit upwards.

32 For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem

and survivorso from mountain Zion.

The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.’

33 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerningp the king of Assyria:

‘He shall not come to this city,

and he shall not shoot an arrow there,

and he shall not meet it with a shield,

and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her.

34 He shall return by the way that he came,

and he shall not come to this city,’

⌊declares⌋q Yahweh.

35 ‘And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’ ”