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 it cometh to pass, at king Hezekiah's hearing, that he rendeth his garments, and covereth himself with sackcloth, and entereth the house of Jehovah,

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 sendeth Eliakim, who over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, 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.

and they say unto him, `Thus said Hezekiah -- A day of distress, and rebuke, and despising this day; for come have sons unto the birth, and power there is not to bring forth.

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.’”

`It may be Jehovah thy God doth hear all the words of the chief of the butlers with which the king of Asshur his lord hath sent him to reproach the living God, and hath decided concerning the words that Jehovah thy God hath heard, and thou hast lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.'

5 T he servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

And the servants of king Hezekiah come in unto 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 saith to them, `Thus do ye say unto your lord: Thus said Jehovah, Be not afraid because of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled 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

Lo, I am giving in him a spirit, and he hath heard a report, and hath turned back to his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.'

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

And the chief of the butlers turneth back and findeth the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he hath heard that he hath journeyed 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 he heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, `Lo, he hath come out to fight with thee;' and he turneth and sendeth messengers 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 do ye speak unto Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God lift thee up in whom thou art trusting, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.

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

Lo, thou hast heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands -- to devote them; and thou art 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.

did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed -- Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who in Thelassar?

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

Where the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'

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 taketh the letters out of the hand of the messengers, and readeth them, and goeth up to the house of Jehovah, and Hezekiah spreadeth it before Jehovah.

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 prayeth before Jehovah, and saith, `O Jehovah, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubs, Thou God Himself -- Thyself alone -- to all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou hast made the heavens and the 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 Jehovah, Thine ear, and hear; open, O Jehovah, Thine eyes, and see; and hear Thou the words of Sennacherib with which he hath sent him to reproach the living God.

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

`Truly, O Jehovah, kings of Asshur have laid waste the nations, and their land,

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 put their gods into fire, for they no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone, and destroy 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

And now, O Jehovah our God, save us, we pray Thee, out of his hand, and know do all kingdoms of the earth that Thou Jehovah God -- Thyself alone.'

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.’

And Isaiah son of Amoz sendeth unto Hezekiah, saying, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed unto Me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur 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 the word that Jehovah spake concerning him: `Trampled on thee -- laughed at thee, Hath the virgin daughter of Zion Behind thee shaken the head -- Hath the 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 reviled? And against whom lifted up a voice? Yea, thou dost lift up on high thine eyes -- 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 sayest: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of mountains -- The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the lodging of its extremity, The forest of its 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 digged, and drunk strange waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.

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 not heard from afar, it I made, From days of old that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, And it becometh a desolation, Ruinous heaps fenced cities,

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.

And their inhabitants feeble-handed, They were broken down, and are dried up, They have been the herb of the field, And the greenness of the tender grass, Grass of the roofs, And blasted corn -- before it hath risen up!

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

And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thine anger towards 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 of thine anger towards Me, And thy noise -- it came up into Mine ears, I have put My hook in thy nose, And My bridle in thy lips, And have caused thee to turn back, In the way in which thou camest.

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 to thee the sign, Food of the year the spontaneous growth, And in the second year the self-produced, And in the third year sow ye, and reap, And plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.

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

And it hath continued -- The escaped of the house of Judah That hath been left -- to take root beneath, And hath made 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 from Jerusalem goeth out a remnant, And an escape from mount Zion; The zeal of Jehovah doth 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 said Jehovah, Concerning the king of Asshur: He doth not come in unto this city, Nor doth he shoot there an arrow, Nor doth he come before it with shield. Nor doth he pour out against it a mount.

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

In the way that he cometh in -- In it he turneth back, And unto this city he doth not come in, The affirmation of Jehovah --

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

And I have covered over this city, To save it, for Mine own sake, And for the sake of David My servant.'

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 cometh to pass, in that night, that a messenger of Jehovah goeth out, and smiteth in the camp of Asshur a hundred eighty and five thousand, and they rise early in the morning, and lo, all of them dead corpses.

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

And Sennacherib king of Asshur journeyeth, and goeth, and turneth back, and dwelleth in 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 cometh to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adramelech and Sharezar have smitten him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-Haddon his son reigneth in his stead.