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

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

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 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 bear.

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 Jehovah thy God doth hear the words of Rabshakeh 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 S o the 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 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 saith unto 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 some news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

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

And Rabshakeh turneth back and findeth the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he hath heard that he hath journeyed 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 heareth concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, `He hath come out to fight with thee;' and he heareth, and sendeth messengers unto 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 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 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?

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

Did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed -- Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who 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 the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'

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

15 A nd Hezekiah prayed to the Lord,

And Hezekiah prayeth unto Jehovah, 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

And now, Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth do know that Thou Jehovah, Thyself alone.'

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,

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 --

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 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.

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 reviled? And against whom lifted up the voice? Yea, thou dost lift up on high thine eyes 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 servants Thou hast reviled the Lord, and sayest: In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of hills, The sides of Lebanon, And I cut down the height of its cedars, The choice of its firs, And I enter the high place of its extremity, The forest of its 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 -- I have dug and drunk waters, And I dry up with the sole of my steps All floods of a bulwark.

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 from afar? -- it I did, From days of old -- that I formed it. Now, I have brought it in, And it is to make desolate, Ruinous heaps -- fenced cities,

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 are 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.

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

And thy sitting down, and thy going out, And thy coming in, I have known, And thy anger towards 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 of thy 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 I have caused thee to turn back In the way in which thou camest.

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

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 it hath continued -- the escaped Of the house of Judah that hath been left -- To take root beneath, And it hath made 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 from Jerusalem goeth forth a remnant, And an escape from mount Zion, The zeal of Jehovah of Hosts doth 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 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 shield, Nor doth he pour out against it a mount.

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

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

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

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

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.

And a messenger of Jehovah goeth out, and smiteth in the camp of Asshur a hundred and eighty and five thousand; and rise early in the morning, and lo, all of them dead corpses.

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

And journey, and go, and turn back doth Sennacherib king of Asshur, and dwelleth in 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 cometh to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons have smitten him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-Haddon his son reigneth in his stead.