Isaiah 37
37
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.
2And 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.
3And 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.
4It 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.
5So the slaves of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6And 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.
7Behold, 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¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9And 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,
10Thus 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.
11Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered?
12Have 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?
13Where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arphad and the king of the city of Sepharvaim Hena, and Ivah?
14And 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.
15And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16O 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.
17Incline 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.
18Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries
19and 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.
20Now 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¶ 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:
22This 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?
23Whom 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.
24By 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 borderand the forest of his Carmel.
25I have dug and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet shall I dry up all the rivers of sustenance.
26Hast 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.
27And 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.
28I have understood thy state, thy going out and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29Because 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.
30And 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.
31And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward:
32For 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.
33Therefore 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.
34By the way that he came, by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
35For I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my slave David’s sake.
36Then 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.
37So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh.
38And 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.
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Isaiah 37: JUB
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International
Isaiah 37
37
Hezekiah Asks Isaiah for Advice
(2 Kings 19.1-13)
1As soon as Hezekiah heard the news, he tore off his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. Then he went into the temple of the Lord. 2He told Prime Minister Eliakim, Assistant Prime Minister Shebna, and the senior priests to dress in sackcloth and tell me:
3Isaiah, these are difficult and disgraceful times. Our nation is like a woman too weak to give birth, when it's time for her baby to be born. 4Please pray for those of us who are left alive. The king of Assyria sent his army commander to insult the living God. Perhaps the Lord heard what he said and will do something, if you will pray.
5When these leaders came to me, 6I told them that the Lord had this message for Hezekiah:
I am the Lord. Don't worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. 7I will upset him with rumors about what's happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death.
8Meanwhile the commander of the Assyrian forces heard that his king had left the town of Lachish and was now attacking Libnah. So he went there.
9About this same time, the king of Assyria learned that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia#37.9 Ethiopia: See the note at 11.11. was on his way to attack him. Then the king of Assyria sent some messengers with this note for Hezekiah:
10Don't trust your God or be fooled by his promise to defend Jerusalem against me. 11You have heard how we Assyrian kings have completely wiped out other nations. What makes you feel so safe? 12The Assyrian kings before me destroyed the towns of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and everyone from Eden who lived in Telassar. What good did their gods do them? 13The kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah have all disappeared.
Hezekiah Prays
(2 Kings 19.14-19)
14After Hezekiah had read the note from the king of Assyria, he took it to the temple and spread it out for the Lord to see. 15Then he prayed:
16 #
Ex 25.22. Lord God All-Powerful of Israel, your throne is above the winged creatures.#37.16 winged creatures: Two winged creatures made of gold were on the top of the sacred chest and were symbols of the Lord's throne on earth (see Exodus 25.18; 2 Samuel 6.2). You created the heavens and the earth, and you alone rule the kingdoms of this world. 17Just look and see how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God.
18It is true, our Lord, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts. 19They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshiped. 20But you are our Lord and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only Lord.
Isaiah Gives the Lord's Answer to Hezekiah
(2 Kings 19.20-34)
21-22I went to Hezekiah and told him that the Lord God of Israel had said:
Hezekiah, you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.#37.21,22 Hezekiah, you prayed … Assyria: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. Now this is what I say to that king:
The people of Jerusalem
hate and make fun of you;
they laugh behind your back.
23Sennacherib, you cursed,
shouted and sneered at me,
the holy One of Israel.
24You let your officials
insult me, the Lord.
And here is what you
have said about yourself,
“I led my chariots
to the highest heights
of Lebanon's mountains.
I went deep into its forest,
cutting down the best cedar
and cypress trees.
25I dried up every stream
in the land of Egypt,
and I drank water
from wells I had dug.”
26Sennacherib, now listen
to me, the Lord.
I planned all of this long ago.
And you don't even know
that I alone am the one
who decided that you
would do these things.
I let you make ruins
of fortified cities.
27Their people became weak,
terribly confused.
They were like wild flowers
or like tender young grass
growing on a flat roof
or like a field of grain
before it matures.#37.27 tender young grass … matures: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and some Hebrew manuscripts “tender young grass, growing on a flat roof and scorched by the heat.” Many of the houses had roofs made of packed earth. Grass would sometimes grow on the roof, but would die quickly because of the sun and hot winds.
28I know all about you,
even how fiercely angry
you are with me.
29I have seen your pride
and the tremendous hatred
you have for me.
Now I will put a hook
in your nose,
a bit in your mouth,#37.29 I will put … your mouth: This is how the Assyrians treated their prisoners, and now the Lord will treat Sennacherib the same way.
then I will send you back
to where you came from.
30Hezekiah, I will tell you what's going to happen. This year you will eat crops that grow on their own, and the next year you will eat whatever springs up where those crops grew. But the third year, you will plant grain and vineyards, and you will eat what you harvest. 31Those who survive in Judah will be like a vine that puts down deep roots and bears fruit. 32I, the Lord All-Powerful, will see to it that some who live in Jerusalem will survive.
33I promise that the king of Assyria won't get into Jerusalem, or shoot an arrow into the city, or even surround it and prepare to attack. 34As surely as I am the Lord, he will return by the way he came and will never enter Jerusalem. 35I will protect it for the sake of my own honor and because of the promise I made to my servant David.
The Death of King Sennacherib
(2 Kings 19.35-37)
36The Lord sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed 185,000 of them all in one night. The next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies. 37After this, King Sennacherib went back to Assyria and lived in the city of Nineveh. 38One day he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, when his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed him with their swords. They escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esarhaddon became king.#37.38 Esarhaddon became king: He ruled Assyria 681–669 b.c.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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