Isaiah 37
37
Isaiah Prophesies That Jerusalem Will Be Saved
1When King Hezekiah heard what the field commander had said, he tore his clothes. He put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Then he went into the Lord’s temple. 2Hezekiah sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. He also sent the leading priests and Shebna the secretary to him. All of them were wearing rough clothing. 3They told Isaiah, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today we’re in great trouble. The Lord is warning us. He’s bringing shame on us. Sometimes babies come to the moment when they should be born. But their mothers aren’t strong enough to give birth to them. Today we are like those mothers. We aren’t strong enough to save ourselves. 4Perhaps the Lord your God will hear everything the field commander has said. His master, the king of Assyria, has sent him to make fun of the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will punish him for what he has heard him say. So pray for the remaining people who are still alive here.’ ”
5King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah. 6Then he said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The Lord says, “Do not be afraid of what you have heard. The officers who are under the king of Assyria have spoken evil things against me. 7Listen! I will send him news from his own country. It will make him want to return home. There I will have him cut down by a sword.” ’ ”
8The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. So the commander pulled his troops back from Jerusalem. He went to join the king. He found out that the king was fighting against Libnah.
9During that time Sennacherib received a report. He was told that Tirhakah was marching out to fight against him. Tirhakah was the king of Cush. When Sennacherib heard the report, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah with a letter. It said, 10“Tell Hezekiah, the king of Judah, ‘Don’t let the god you depend on trick you. He says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” But don’t believe him. 11I’m sure you have heard about what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries. They have destroyed them completely. So do you think you will be saved? 12The kings who ruled before me destroyed many nations. Did the gods of those nations save them? Did the gods of Gozan, Harran or Rezeph save them? What about the gods of the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13Where is the king of Hamath? Where is the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?’ ”
Hezekiah Prays to the Lord
14When Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, he read it. Then he went up to the Lord’s temple. There he spread the letter out in front of the Lord. 15Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. He said, 16“Lord who rules over all, you are the God of Israel. You sit on your throne between the cherubim. You alone are God over all the kingdoms on earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17Listen, Lord. Hear us. Open your eyes, Lord. Look at the trouble we’re in. Listen to what Sennacherib is saying. You are the living God. And he dares to make fun of you!
18“Lord, it’s true that the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed many nations and their lands. 19They have thrown the statues of the gods of those nations into the fire. And they have destroyed them. That’s because they weren’t really gods at all. They were nothing but statues made out of wood and stone. They were made by human hands. 20Lord our God, save us from the power of Sennacherib. Then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you are the only God.”
Sennacherib Falls From Power
21Isaiah sent a message to Hezekiah. Isaiah said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘You have prayed to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. 22So here is the message the Lord has spoken against him. The Lord is telling him,
“ ‘ “You will not win the battle over Zion.
Its people hate you and make fun of you.
The people of Jerusalem lift up their heads proudly
as you run away.
23Who have you laughed at?
Who have you spoken evil things against?
Who have you raised your voice against?
Who have you looked at so proudly?
You have done it against me.
I am the Holy One of Israel!
24Through your messengers
you have laughed at me again and again.
And you have said,
‘I have many chariots.
With them I have climbed to the tops of the mountains.
I’ve climbed the highest mountains in Lebanon.
I’ve cut down its tallest cedar trees.
I’ve cut down the best of its juniper trees.
I’ve reached its farthest mountains.
I’ve reached its finest forests.
25I’ve dug wells in other lands.
I’ve drunk the water from them.
I’ve walked through all the streams of Egypt.
I’ve dried up every one of them.’
26“ ‘ “But I, the Lord, say, ‘Haven’t you heard what I have done?
Long ago I arranged for you to do this.
In days of old I planned it.
Now I have made it happen.
You have turned cities with high walls
into piles of stone.
27Their people do not have any power left.
They are troubled and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field.
They are like new green plants.
They are like grass that grows on a roof.
It dries up before it is completely grown.
28“ ‘ “ ‘But I know where you are.
I know when you come and go.
I know how very angry you are with me.
29You roar against me and brag.
And I have heard your bragging.
So I will put my hook in your nose.
I will put my bit in your mouth.
And I will make you go home
by the same way you came.’ ” ’ ”
30The Lord said, “Hezekiah, here is a sign for you.
“This year you will eat what grows by itself.
Next year you will eat what grows from that.
But in the third year you will plant your crops and gather them in.
You will plant your grapevines and eat their fruit.
31The people of the kingdom of Judah who are still alive will be like plants.
Once more they will put down roots and produce fruit.
32Out of Jerusalem will come the people who remain.
Out of Mount Zion will come those who are still left alive.
My great love will make sure that happens.
I rule over all.
33“Here is a message from me about the king of Assyria. I say,
“ ‘He will not enter this city.
He will not even shoot an arrow at it.
He will not come near it with a shield.
He will not build a ramp in order to climb over its walls.
34By the way that he came he will go home.
He will not enter this city,’
announces the Lord.
35‘I will guard this city and save it.
I will do it for myself.
And I will do it for my servant David.’ ”
36Then the angel of the Lord went into the camp of the Assyrians. He put to death 185,000 soldiers there. The people of Jerusalem got up the next morning. They looked out and saw all the dead bodies. 37So Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, took the army tents down. Then he left. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.
38One day Sennacherib was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok. His sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with their swords. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. Esarhaddon became the next king after his father Sennacherib.
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Isaiah 37: NIrV
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Yeshayah (Isaiah) 37
37
1And it came to be, when Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of יהוה,
2and sent Elyaqim, who was over the household, and Sheḇnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Yeshayahu the prophet, the son of Amots.
3And they said to him, “Thus said Ḥizqiyahu, ‘This day is a day of distress and rebuke and scorn, for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring forth.
4It could be that יהוה your Elohim does hear the words of the Raḇshaqĕh, whom his master the sovereign of Ashshur has sent to reproach the living Elohim, and shall rebuke the words which יהוה your Elohim has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5So the servants of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu came to Yeshayahu,
6and Yeshayahu said to them, “Say this to your master, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the sovereign of Ashshur have reviled Me.
7“See, I am putting a spirit in him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
8And the Raḇshaqĕh returned and found the sovereign of Ashshur fighting against Liḇnah, for he had heard that he had left Laḵish.
9And he heard concerning Tirhaqah sovereign of Kush, “He has come out to fight with you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ḥizqiyahu, saying,
10“Speak to Ḥizqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying, ‘Do not let your Elohim in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Yerushalayim is not given into the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur.”
11See, you have heard what the sovereigns of Ashshur have done to all lands by putting them under the ban. And are you going to be delivered?
12Have the mighty ones of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Ḥaran and Retseph, and the sons of Ěḏen who were in Telassar?
13Where is the sovereign of Ḥamath, and the sovereign of Arpaḏ, and the sovereign of the city of Sepharwayim, Hĕna, and Iwwah?’ ”
14And Ḥizqiyahu received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Ḥizqiyahu went up to the House of יהוה, and spread it before יהוה.
15And Ḥizqiyahu prayed to יהוה, saying,
16“O יהוה of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, the One who dwells between the keruḇim, You are Elohim, You alone, of all the reigns of the earth. You have made the heavens and earth.
17“Incline Your ear, O יהוה, and hear. Open Your eyes, O יהוה, and see. And hear all the words of Sanḥĕriḇ, who has sent to reproach the living Elohim.
18“Truly, יהוה, the sovereigns of Ashshur have laid waste all the lands, and their land,
19and have put their mighty ones into the fire, for they were not mighty ones, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. And they destroyed them.
20“And now, O יהוה our Elohim, save us from his hand, so that all the reigns of the earth know that You are יהוה, You alone.”
21Then Yeshayahu son of Amots sent to Ḥizqiyahu, saying, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sanḥĕriḇ sovereign of Ashshur,
22this is the word which יהוה has spoken concerning him, “The maiden, the daughter of Tsiyon, has despised you, mocked you; the daughter of Yerushalayim has shaken her head behind you!
23“Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes in pride? Against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl!
24“By the hand of your servants you have reproached יהוה, and said, ‘With my many chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the limits of Leḇanon. And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. And I enter its farthest height, its thickest forest.
25I have dug and drunk water, and with the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of defence.’
26“Have you not heard long ago how I made it, from days of old, that I formed it? Now I have brought it about, that you should be for crushing walled cities into heaps of ruins.
27“And their inhabitants were powerless, they were overthrown and put to shame. They were as the grass of the field and as the green plant, as the grass on the house-tops and as grain blighted before it is grown.
28“But I know your sitting down, and your going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me.
29“Because your rage against Me and your pride have come up to My ears, I shall put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I shall turn you back by the way which you came.
30“And this shall be the sign for you: This year you eat such as grows of itself, and the second year what springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
31“And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Yehuḏah shall again take root downward, and be fruitful upward.
32“For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon – the ardour of יהוה of hosts does this.
33“Therefore thus said יהוה concerning the sovereign of Ashshur, ‘He does not come into this city, nor does he shoot an arrow there, nor does he come before it with shield, nor does he build a siege mound against it.
34By the way that he came, by the same he turns back. And into this city he does not come,’ declares יהוה.
35And I shall defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant Dawiḏ.’ ”
36And a messenger of יהוה went out, and struck in the camp of Ashshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose early in the morning, and saw all of them, dead bodies.
37And Sanḥĕriḇ the sovereign of Ashshur broke camp and went away, and turned back, and remained at Ninewĕh.
38And it came to be, as he was bowing himself in the house of Nisroḵ his mighty one, that his sons Aḏrammeleḵ and Shar’etser struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Ěsarḥaddon reigned in his place.
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