1 ¶ And when King Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.

And when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord.

2 A nd he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz,

Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 t o say unto him, Thus hath Hezekiah said, This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and blasphemy, for the sons are come to the place of breaking forth, and she that gives birth has no strength.

They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver.

4 P eradventure, the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to reproach the living God and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God has heard; therefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.

Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

5 S o the slaves of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 A nd Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus hath the LORD said, Do not be afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

7 B ehold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumour and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’” Sennacherib Defies God

8 ¶ So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

9 A nd when he heard it said of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee; he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying,

10 T hus shall ye speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou dost trust deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

“Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, “ Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

11 B ehold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared?

12 P eradventure have the gods of the Gentiles delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who were in Thelasar?

Did the gods of those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

13 W here is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’” Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 A nd Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.

Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.

15 A nd Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, saying, O LORD God of Israel, who dwellest above the cherubim, thou alone art the God unto all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

16 I ncline, O LORD, thy ear and hear; open, O LORD, thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God.

17 O f a truth, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the Gentiles and their lands

Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands

18 a nd have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood or stone; therefore, they have destroyed them.

and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.

19 N ow, therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save us now out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone art the LORD God.

Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.” God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 ¶ Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus hath the LORD God of Israel said, That which thou hast prayed to me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard you.’

21 T his is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: Has he despised thee? Has he laughed thee to scorn, O virgin daughter of Zion? He has moved his head behind thy back, O daughter of Jerusalem.

This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem!

22 W hom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.

‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you raised your voice, And haughtily lifted up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!

23 B y the hand of thy messengers, thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the habitation of his borders and into the forest of his Carmel.

‘ Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And you have said, “With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains, To the remotest parts of Lebanon; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses. And I entered its farthest lodging place, its thickest forest.

24 I have dug and drunk the waters of others, and with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the rivers of defended places.

“I dug wells and drank foreign waters, And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of Egypt.”

25 H ast thou never heard that from a long time ago I made her, and from ancient times I have formed her? Now I have made her come, and it shall be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.

‘ Have you not heard? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, That you should turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

26 T herefore their inhabitants’ hands were too short; dismayed and confounded, they shall be as the grass of the field and as the green herb, as the hay on the housetops, that is dried up before it comes to maturity.

‘Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength, They were dismayed and put to shame; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb, As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

27 B ut I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me.

‘But I know your sitting down, And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me.

28 B ecause thou hast raged against me and thy tumult has come up into my ears, therefore, I will put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou didst come.

‘Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came.

29 A nd this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year such things as grow again of themselves; and in the third year ye shall sow and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.

‘Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.

30 A nd that which has escaped, that which is left of the house of Judah, shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

31 F or out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and deliverance out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the LORD of the hosts shall do this.

For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The zeal of the Lord will perform this.

32 T herefore, thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with shield nor cast a bank against it.

‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “ He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it.

33 B y the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not enter into this city, saith the LORD.

By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord.

34 F or I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake and for my slave David’s sake.

‘ For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

35 ¶ And it came to pass that night that the angel of the LORD went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand men; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, the corpses of the dead.

Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185, 000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead.

36 S o Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.

37 A nd it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, smote him with the sword and fled into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.

It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.