Isaiah
37:1 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.
37:2 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.
37:3 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.
37:4 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.
37:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
37:6 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.
37:7 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.
37:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against
Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
37:9 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,
37:10 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.
37:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands
by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
37:12 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?
37:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the
city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
37:14 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.
37:15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
37:16 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.
37:17 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.
37:18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations,
and their countries,
37:19 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.
37:20 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.
37:21 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:
37:22 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.
37:23 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.
37:24 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.
37:25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I
dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
37:26 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.
37:27 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.
37:28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage
against me.
37:29 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.
37:30 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.
37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take
root downward, and bear fruit upward:
37:32 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.
37:33 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.
37:34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come
into this city, saith the LORD.
37:35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my
servant David's sake.
37:36 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.
37:37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and
dwelt at Nineveh.
37:38 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.
