Isaiah 37

When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

KJV 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.

He sent Eliakim, who was over the palace, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all covered in sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz.

KJV 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.

They said to him, 'This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace. Children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

KJV And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.

Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. Lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.'

KJV It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.

When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,

KJV So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Isaiah said to them, 'Say this to your master: This is what the LORD says — Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

KJV And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

I am about to put a spirit in him so that he hears a rumor and returns to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.'

KJV Behold, I will send a blast upon 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.

The Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that Sennacherib had moved on from Lachish.

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

He heard it said concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, 'He has come out to fight against you.' When he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

KJV 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,

'Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.

KJV Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

You have surely heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And will you be delivered?

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

Did the gods of the nations deliver those my fathers destroyed — Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?

KJV Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

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

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

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

KJV And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

Hezekiah prayed to the LORD, saying:

KJV And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,

'O LORD of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim — You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

KJV O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear. Open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to mock the living God.

KJV Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

It is true, LORD — the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,

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

and have thrown their gods into the fire — for they were not gods at all, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they destroyed them.

KJV 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.

Now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are the LORD.'

KJV 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.

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah: 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says — Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,

KJV 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:

this is the word the LORD has spoken against him: She despises you, she laughs you to scorn — the virgin daughter of Zion! Behind your back she shakes her head — the daughter of Jerusalem!

KJV This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

Whom have you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

KJV 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.

Through your servants you mocked the Lord, and you said: 'With my many chariots I have ascended the mountain heights, the remote peaks of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses. I reached its farthest height, its densest forest.

KJV By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I 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.

I dug wells and drank foreign waters. With the sole of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt.'

KJV I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

Have you not heard? Long ago I planned it. In days of old I designed it. Now I have brought it to pass — that you should crush fortified cities into heaps of rubble.

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

Their inhabitants, shorn of strength, were dismayed and put to shame. They were like plants of the field, like tender green shoots, like grass on the rooftops, scorched before it can grow.

KJV Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

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

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

Because your raging against Me and your arrogance have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way you came.

KJV Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

This will be the sign for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

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

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

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

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go forth, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

KJV For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not advance against it with shields or build a siege ramp against it.

KJV 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.

By the way he came, he will return, and he will not enter this city — declares the LORD.

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

For I will defend this city and save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.'

KJV For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

The angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the Assyrian camp. When the survivors rose early in the morning, there were dead bodies everywhere.

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

Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp, departed, and returned to Nineveh, where he stayed.

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

As he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon reigned in his place.

KJV 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 Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.