1 W hen King Hezekiah heard about it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with cloth made from hair. Then he went into the house of the Lord.

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

2 H e sent Eliakim who was the head of the house, Shebna the writer, and the head religious leaders, to the man of God Isaiah the son of Amoz. They were covered with cloth made from hair.

And 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,

3 A nd they said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of trouble, sharp words, and shame. For children have come to be born, but there is no strength to give birth to them.

to 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.

4 I t might be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his ruler the king of Assyria has sent to make fun of the living God. And the Lord your God might speak sharp words against what He has heard. So pray for those who are left of the Lord’s people.’”

Peradventure, 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.

5 T he servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

So the slaves of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 A nd Isaiah said to them, “Tell your ruler, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard spoken against Me by the servants of the king of Assyria.

And 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.

7 S ee, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a made-up story and he will return to his own land. And I will have him killed by the sword in his own land.”’” Assyrians Talk of Taking Jerusalem Again

Behold, 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.

8 R abshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. For he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

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

9 T he king of Assyria was told, “See, King Tirhakah of Cush has come out to fight against you.” So he sent men again to Hezekiah, saying,

And 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,

10 “ Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in Whom you trust lie to you by saying that Jerusalem will not be given into the power of the king of Assyria.

Thus 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.

11 Y ou have heard how the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the lands. And will you be saved?

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

12 D id the gods of those nations which my fathers destroyed save them? Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar, were destroyed.

Peradventure 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?

13 W here are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, the city of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?’”

Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

14 H ezekiah took the letter from the hand of the men from Assyria, and read it. Then he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread the letter out before the Lord.

And 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.

15 H ezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord the God of Israel, You sit on Your throne above the cherubim. You are the God, and You alone, of all the nations of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

And 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.

16 T urn Your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has spoken against the living God.

Incline, 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.

17 O Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands.

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

18 T hey have thrown their gods into the fire. For they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, made from wood and stone. So 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 or stone; therefore, they have destroyed them.

19 N ow, O Lord our God, I beg You to save us from his power. Then all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are God, O Lord.” Isaiah’s Word to the King

Now, 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.

20 I saiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have heard your prayer to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.’

¶ 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.

21 T his is the Word that the Lord has spoken against him: ‘She has hated you and made fun of you, the young 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: 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.

22 W hom have you spoken against? Against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

Whom 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.

23 Y ou have spoken against the Lord through the men you have sent. You have said, “With my many war-wagons I have come up to the tops of the mountains, to the farthest parts of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedar trees and its best cypress trees. I went to its highest place, where its trees are close together.

By 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.

24 I dug wells and drank the water of other lands. I dried up all the rivers of Egypt with the bottom of my feet.”

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.

25 ’ Have you not heard that I planned this long ago? From times long ago I planned it. Now I have made it happen, that you should destroy strong cities.

Hast 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.

26 T hat is why those who lived there did not have much strength. They were troubled and put to shame. They were like the plants of the field and the green grass. They were like grass on the roofs, killed by the sun before it is grown.

Therefore 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.

27 B ut I know when you sit down, go out, and come in. And I know how you speak in anger against Me.

But I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me.

28 Y ou have spoken against Me in your anger and pride, and I have heard it. So I will put My hook in your nose, and My bit in your mouth. And I will have you return by the way you came.

Because 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.

29 ’ This will be the special thing for you to see: This year you will eat what grows of itself. In the second year you will eat what grows of the same. Then in the third year, you will plant seeds and gather food. You will plant vines and eat their fruit.

And 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.

30 A nd those who are left of the family of Judah will again take root and give fruit.

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

31 F or those who are left will go out of Jerusalem. Those who are still alive will go out of Mount Zion. This will be done by the power of the Lord.

For 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.

32 S o this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there. He will not come to it with a battle-covering or build a wall around it.

Therefore, 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.

33 H e will return by the way he came. He will not come to this city, says the Lord.

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

34 F or I will help this city and save it, because of My honor, and because of My servant David.’” Sennacherib’s Death

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

35 T hat night the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185, 000 men among the Assyrian tents. When those left alive got up early in the morning, they saw all the dead bodies.

¶ 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.

36 T hen King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.

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

37 A s he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword. Then they ran away to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

And 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.