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

¶ And it came to pass when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.

2 T hen he sent Eliakim, the head of the house, and Shebna the writer, and the head religious leaders, covered with cloth made from hair, to Isaiah the man of God, the son of Amoz.

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

3 T hey said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of trouble, pain, and shame. For children have come to birth, and there is no strength for them to be born.

And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of blasphemy, for the sons are come to the breaking of the water, and there is no strength in her who is to bring them forth.

4 I t may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his leader the king of Assyria has sent to try to bring shame upon the living God. The Lord your God may speak sharp words against what He has heard. So say a prayer for those who are left of His people.’”

It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to blaspheme the living God and to reprove with the words which the LORD thy God has heard; therefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is still left.

5 S o the 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 king, ‘This is what the Lord says. “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have spoken against Me.

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Do not be afraid of the words that 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 some news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Behold, that I am sending a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumour and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

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

9 N ow the king had heard them say about King Tirhakah of Cush, “He has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent men to Hezekiah, saying,

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10 “ Tell Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in Whom you trust fool you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let thy God, in whom thou dost trust, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 S ee, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands. They have destroyed them all. So will you be kept from trouble?

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 have destroyed take them out of trouble? Did they save Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?

Have the gods of the Gentiles delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden which were in Telassar?

13 W here is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’” Hezekiah’s Prayer

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

14 T hen Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the men from Assyria, and read it. He went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.

And Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers and read them; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD and spread them before the LORD.

15 A nd Hezekiah prayed to the Lord,

And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

16 “ O Lord of All, the God of Israel, Who sits on the throne above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the nations of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

O LORD of the hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made the heavens and earth.

17 L isten, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to speak against the living God.

Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who has sent his messengers to blaspheme the living God.

18 I t is true, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands.

Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries

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

and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.

20 N ow, O Lord our God, take us out of his hand, that all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are the Lord.” The Word of the Lord to the King

Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.

21 T hen Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

22 t his is the word the Lord has spoken against him: “She has hated you and made fun of you, the young daughter of Zion who has never had a man! She has shaken her head behind you, the people of Jerusalem!

This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him, Has he despised thee? Has he laughed thee to scorn O virgin daughter of Zion? Has he shaken his head behind thy back O daughter of Jerusalem?

23 W hom have you put to shame and spoken against? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted up 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? even against the Holy One of Israel.

24 T hrough your servants you have spoken against the Lord. You have said, ‘I came up to the high mountains with my many war-wagons, to the farthest parts of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedar trees and its best cypress trees. I came to its highest mountain top, and to the place that has the most trees.

By the hand of thy slaves thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots I shall come up to the height of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the height of his border and the forest of his Carmel.

25 I dug wells in strange lands and drank water there. With the bottom of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.’

I have dug and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet shall I dry up all the rivers of sustenance.

26 H ave you not heard that I planned this long ago? From days of old I planned it. Now I have made it happen, that you should turn strong cities built for battles into waste lands.

Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, that thou should be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

27 S o their people did not have any more strength. They were troubled and put to shame. They were like the grass of the field and like the green plant. They were like grass on the housetops, dried up before it is grown.

And their inhabitants, of little strength, dismayed and confounded shall be as the grass of the field and as the green shrub as the grass on the housetops, that before it comes to maturity it is dried up.

28 B ut I know your sitting down, and your going out and your coming in, and your anger against Me.

I have understood thy state, thy going out and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

29 B ecause of your anger against Me, and because I have heard of your pride, I will put My hook in your nose, and My bit in your mouth. And I will make you return the way you came.

Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is 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.

30 “ This will be the special thing for you to see: You will eat this year what grows of itself. In the second year you will eat what grows up from the same. Then in the third year you will plant and gather. You will plant grape-fields and eat their fruit.

And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as grows of itself; and the second year that which springs of the same: and in the third year ye shall sow and shall reap and shall plant vineyards and shall eat the fruit thereof.

31 A nd those who are left of the family of Judah will again have their roots grow down and grow their fruit above.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward:

32 F or My people who are left will go out from Jerusalem and from Mount Zion. This will be done by the work of the Lord of All.”’”

For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and from Mount Zion shall come an escape; the zeal of the LORD of the hosts shall do this.

33 S o the Lord says about the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with a battle-covering, or build a battle-wall against 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 shields, nor cast a bank against it.

34 H e will return by the same way he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says the Lord.

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

35 ‘ For I will fight for this city to save it for My own good, and for the good of My servant David.’”

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

36 T hen the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185, 000 men in the Assyrian camp. And when men got up early in the morning, they saw all these dead bodies.

Then the angel of the LORD went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

37 S o Sennacherib king of Assyria left and returned home, and lived at Nineveh.

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

38 W hen he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons 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 they escaped into the land of Ararat and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.