Isaiah 37
37
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help
1And when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the [royal] household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. 4It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’ ”
5So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6Isaiah said to them, “You shall say the following to your master: ‘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 blasphemed Me. 7Listen carefully, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
8So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah], for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9And Sennacherib king of Assyria, heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush (Ethiopia), “He has come out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“You shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11Listen carefully, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, utterly destroying them. So will you be rescued? 12Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed rescue them—#The place-names in this verse are all found on the Assyrian monuments. For further information, see E.S. Schrader, Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, and his comments on 2 Kin 19:12.Gozan, Haran [of Mesopotamia], Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, [the king of] Hena, or [the king of] Ivvah?’ ”
Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple
14Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, 16“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt and defy the living God. 18It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands, 19and have cast the gods [of those peoples] into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. 20Now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know and fully realize that You alone, Lord, are #So DSS and 2 Kin 19:19; MT omits God.God.”
God Answers through Isaiah
21Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “For the Lord, the God of Israel says this, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“She has shown contempt for you and mocked you,
The Virgin Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem);
She has shaken her head behind you,
The Daughter of Jerusalem!
23Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;
And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.
25I dug wells and drank [foreign] waters,
And with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the canals [of the Nile] of Egypt.’
26Have you not heard [says the God of Israel]
That I did it long ago,
That I planned it in ancient times?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
27Therefore their inhabitants had little power,
They were terrorized and shamed;
They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation,
Like grass on the housetops and like a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.
28But I know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life],
And your raging against Me.
29Because your raging against Me
And your arrogance has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your #Lit lips.mouth,
And I will turn you back by the way you came.
30“This shall be the sign [of these things] to you [Hezekiah]: you are to eat this year #Called “second growth,” this ordinarily referred to uncultivated produce that grew during the Sabbath year (when sowing was forbidden) from seed that fell outside the boundaries of the field the preceding year.what grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same, and in the third year you are to sow and harvest, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant and from Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” ’
33“Therefore, the Lord says this concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with shield, or raise an assault ramp against it. 34By the way that he came, by the same way he will return, and he will not come into this city,’ declares the Lord. 35‘For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’ ”
Assyrians Destroyed
36And the #See note Gen 16:7.angel of the Lord went out and #This is the fulfillment of the prophecy made in Is 31:8, 9. See also 10:33, 34; 14:25; 17:14; 30:31.struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the [surviving] men got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead. 37So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and lived at Nineveh. 38It came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat [in Armenia]. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
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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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