Isaiah 37:1–38

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold

37:1–13pp—2Ki 19:1–13

37When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes^l and put on sackcloth^m and went into the templeⁿ of the Lord. ²He sent Eliakim^o the palace administrator, Shebna^p the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^{q 3}They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress^r and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth^s and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule^t the living God,^u and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.^v Therefore pray^w for the remnant^x that still survives.”

⁵When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid^y of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed^z me. ⁷Listen! When he hears a certain report,^a I will make him want^b to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down^c with the sword.’ ”

⁸When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,^d he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.^e

⁹Now Sennacherib^f received a report^g that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,^ah was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰“Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceiveⁱ you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’^{j 11}Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?^{k 12}Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors^l deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,^m Rezeph and the people of Edenⁿ who were in Tel Assar? ¹³Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?^o Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,^p Hena and Ivvah?”^q

Hezekiah’s Prayer

37:14–20pp—2Ki 19:14–19

¹⁴Hezekiah received the letter^r from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple^s of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed^t to the Lord: ¹⁶“Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned^u between the cherubim,^v you alone are God^w over all the kingdoms^x of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.^{y 17}Give ear, Lord, and hear;^z open your eyes, Lord, and see;^a listen to all the words Sennacherib^b has sent to ridicule^c the living God.^d

¹⁸“It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.^{e 19}They have thrown their gods into the fire^f and destroyed them,^g for they were not gods^h but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.^{i 20}Now, Lord our God, deliver^j us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth^k may know that you, Lord, are the only God.^bl”

Sennacherib’s Fall

37:21–38pp—2Ki 19:20–37; 2Ch 32:20–21

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz^m sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²²this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughterⁿ Zion^o

despises and mocks you.

Daughter Jerusalem

tosses her head^p as you flee.

²³Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?^q

Against whom have you raised your voice^r

and lifted your eyes in pride?^s

Against the Holy One^t of Israel!

²⁴By your messengers

you have ridiculed the Lord.

And you have said,

‘With my many chariots^u

I have ascended the heights of the mountains,

the utmost heights^v of Lebanon.^w

I have cut down its tallest cedars,

the choicest of its junipers.^x

I have reached its remotest heights,

the finest of its forests.

²⁵I have dug wells in foreign lands^c

and drunk the water there.

With the soles of my feet

I have dried up^y all the streams of Egypt.^z’

²⁶“Have you not heard?

Long ago I ordained^a it.

In days of old I planned^b it;

now I have brought it to pass,

that you have turned fortified cities

into piles of stone.^c

²⁷Their people, drained of power,

are dismayed and put to shame.

They are like plants in the field,

like tender green shoots,

like grass^d sprouting on the roof,^e

scorched^d before it grows up.

²⁸“But I know where you are

and when you come and go^f

and how you rage^g against me.

²⁹Because you rage against me

and because your insolence^h has reached my ears,

I will put my hookⁱ in your nose^j

and my bit in your mouth,

and I will make you return

by the way you came.^k

³⁰“This will be the sign^l for you, Hezekiah:

“This year^m you will eat what grows by itself,

and the second year what springs from that.

But in the third yearⁿ sow and reap,

plant vineyards^o and eat their fruit.^p

³¹Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah

will take root^q below and bear fruit^r above.

³²For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,^s

and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.^t

The zeal^u of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this.

³³“Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city^v

or shoot an arrow here.

He will not come before it with shield

or build a siege ramp^w against it.

³⁴By the way that he came he will return;^x

he will not enter this city,”

declares the Lord.

³⁵“I will defend^y this city and save it,

for my sake^z and for the sake of David^a my servant!”

³⁶Then the angel^b of the Lord went out and put to death^c a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian^d camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷So Sennacherib^e king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh^f and stayed there.

³⁸One day, while he was worshiping in the temple^g of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.^h And Esarhaddonⁱ his son succeeded him as king.^j