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

When King Hezekiah heard it, he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.

2 T hen 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.

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

3 T hey 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.

They said to him, Hezekiah says: This is a day of distress, of rebuke and chastisement, and blasphemous and insolent insult; for children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.

4 P erhaps 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.’”

It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria has sent to mock, reproach, insult, and defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. So raise your prayer for the remnant that is left.

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

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 I saiah 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.

Isaiah said to them, Say to your master, Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled and blasphemed Me.

7 B ehold, 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

Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country.

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

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

9 W hen 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,

And Sennacherib king of Assyria heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He has come to make war against you. And when he heard it, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

10 “ 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.”

Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: Let not your God on Whom you rely deceive you by saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

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

Behold, you have heard what the Assyrian kings have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. And shall you be delivered?

12 D id 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?

Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my ancestors have destroyed, as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people 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, and of Hena and Ivvah?’” Hezekiah’s Prayer

Where are the kings of Hamath, of Arpad, of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?

14 T hen 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.

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And he went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.

15 H ezekiah 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.

And Hezekiah prayed: O Lord, the God of Israel, Who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.

16 I ncline 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.

Lord, bow down Your ear and hear; Lord, open Your eyes and see; hear the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to mock, reproach, insult, and defy the living God.

17 T ruly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands

It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste 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 and stone. So they have destroyed them.

And have cast the gods of those peoples 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, 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

Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech You, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and understand that You, O Lord, are God alone.

20 T hen 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.’

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

21 T his 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!

This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion has despised you and laughed you to scorn; the Daughter of Jerusalem has wagged her head behind you.

22 ‘ 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!

Whom have you mocked and reviled and insulted and blasphemed? Against Whom have you raised your voice and haughtily lifted your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!

23 ‘ 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.

By your messengers you have mocked, reproached, insulted, and defied the Lord, and have said, With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedar trees and its choicest cypress trees. I entered its most distant retreat, its densest forest.

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

I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the streams of Egypt.

25 ‘ 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.

Have you not heard how I ordained long ago what now I have brought to pass? I planned it in olden times, that you should lay waste fortified cities, making them ruinous heaps.

26 ‘ 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.

That is why their inhabitants had little power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were like plants of the field, the green herb, the grass on the housetops, blasted before it is grown up.

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

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

28 ‘ 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.

Because your raging against Me and your arrogance and careless ease have come 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 you came, O king of Assyria.

29 ‘ 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.

And this shall be the sign to you: you shall eat this year what grows of itself, also in the second year what springs up voluntarily. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

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

And the remnant that has survived of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

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

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

32 ‘ 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.

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow here or come before it with shield or cast up a siege mound against it.

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

By the way that he came, by that way shall he return, and he shall not come into this city, says the Lord.

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

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

35 T hen 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.

And it all came to pass, for that night the Angel of the Lord went forth and slew 185, 000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when arose early in the morning, behold, all these were dead bodies.

36 S o Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.

37 I t 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.

And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Armenia or Ararat. Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.