2 Kings 19:21–34

²¹This is what the Lord has said against Sennacherib:

‘The people of Jerusalem

hate you and make fun of you.

The people of Jerusalem

laugh at you as you run away.

²²You have insulted me and spoken against me;

you have raised your voice against me.

You have a proud look on your face,

which is against me, the Holy One of Israel.

²³You have sent your messengers to insult the Lord.

You have said, “With my many chariots

I have gone to the tops of the mountains,

to the highest mountains of Lebanon.

I have cut down its tallest cedars

and its best pine trees.

I have gone to its farthest places

and to its best forests.

²⁴I have dug wells in foreign countries

and drunk water there.

By the soles of my feet,

I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”

²⁵“ ‘King of Assyria, surely you have heard.

Long ago I, the Lord, planned these things.

Long ago I designed them,

and now I have made them happen.

I allowed you to turn those strong, walled cities

into piles of rocks.

²⁶The people in those cities were weak;

they were frightened and put to shame.

They were like grass in the field,

like tender, young grass,

like grass on the housetop

that is burned by the wind before it can grow.

²⁷“ ‘I know when you rest,

when you come and go,

and how you rage against me.

²⁸Because you rage against me,

and because I have heard your proud words,

I will put my hook in your nose

and my bit in your mouth.

Then I will force you to leave my country

the same way you came.’

²⁹“Then the Lord said, ‘Hezekiah, I will give you this sign:

This year you will eat the grain that grows wild,

and the second year you will eat what grows wild from that.

But in the third year, plant grain and harvest it.

Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

³⁰Some of the people in the family of Judah

will escape.

Like plants that take root,

they will grow strong and have many children.

³¹A few people will come out of Jerusalem alive;

a few from Mount Zion will live.

The strong love of the Lord All-Powerful

will make this happen.’

³²“So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city

or even shoot an arrow here.

He will not fight against it with shields

or build a ramp to attack the city walls.

³³He will return to his country the same way he came,

and he will not enter this city,’

says the Lord.

³⁴‘I will defend and save this city

for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’ ”