Isaiah 37
37
1When Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the Lord's Temple. 2He sent Eliakim the palace manager, Shebna, the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to see the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz. 3They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble and of punishment. It's like when babies arrive at the entrance to the birth canal but there's no strength to deliver them. 4Maybe the Lord your God, hearing the message the army commander delivered on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria—a message sent to insult the living God—will punish him for his words. Please say a prayer for the remnant of us who still survive.”
5After Hezekiah's officials delivered his message to Isaiah, 6Isaiah replied to them, “Tell your master, This is what the Lord says: Don't be frightened by the words that you have heard, the words used by the servants of the king of Assyria to blaspheme me. 7Look, I'm going to scare him—he'll hear a rumor, and he'll have to return to his own country. When he's there I'll have him killed by the sword.”
8The Assyrian army commander left and went back to join the king of Assyria, having heard the king had left Lachish and was attacking Libnah.
9Sennacherib had received a message about Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, that said, “Watch out! He is coming to attack you.” So Sennacherib sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Don't let your God, the one you're trusting in, fool you by saying that Jerusalem won't fall into the hands of the king of Assyria. 11Look! You've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries they've invaded#37:11. “They've invaded”: implied.— they destroyed them completely! Do you really think you'll be saved? 12Did the gods of the nations my forefathers destroyed save them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who lived in Telassar? 13Where today is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
14Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Lord's Temple and opened it out before the Lord. 15Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, 16“Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you who live above the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth, you are Creator of heaven and earth. 17Please listen with your ears, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
18Yes, it's true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed these nations and their lands. 19They have thrown their gods into the fire because they are not really gods—they are just the work of human hands, made of wood and stone so they could destroy them. 20Now, Lord our God, please save us from him, in order that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that only you, Lord, are God.”
21Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you've prayed to me about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 22this is the word of the Lord condemning him: The virgin daughter of Zion scorns you and mocks you; the daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head as you run away. 23Who have you been insulting and ridiculing? Who did you raise your voice against? Who did you look at with so proud eyes? It was against the Holy One of Israel! 24By your servants you have mocked the Lord. You said: ‘With my many chariots I have ascended to the high mountains, to the farthest peaks of Lebanon. I have chopped down its tallest cedars, the best of its cypress trees. I have reached its most distant heights, its deepest forests. 25I have dug wells and drunk water in foreign lands. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers in Egypt.’”
26The Lord replies,#37:26. “The Lord replies”: supplied for clarity. “Haven't you heard? I decided it long ago; I planned it in the olden days. Now I am making sure it happens—that you are to knock down fortified towns into piles of rubble. 27Their people, powerless, are terrified and humiliated. They're like plants in a field, like soft green shoots, like grass that sprouts on the rooftop—scorched before it can even grow.
28But I know you very well—where you live, when you come in, when you leave, and your furious anger against me. 29Because of your furious anger against me, and because I know how you disrespect me, I'm going to put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will force you to return the same way you came.
30Hezekiah, this will be a sign to prove this is true:#37:30. “To prove this is true”: implied. This year you'll eat what grows by itself. The second year you'll eat what grows from that. But in the third year you'll sow and reap, you'll plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31The remnant that's left of Judah will revive again, sending roots below and bearing fruit above. 32For a remnant will come out of Jerusalem, and survivors will come from Mount Zion. The intense determination of the Lord will make sure this happens. 33This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: He shall not enter this city or shoot an arrow at it. He shall not advance towards it with a shield, or build a siege ramp against it. 34He shall return the same way he came, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord. 35I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36Then the angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 of them. When the survivors woke up in the morning, they were surrounded by dead bodies. 37Sennacherib, king of Assyria, gave up and left. He returned home to Nineveh and stayed there. 38While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword and then ran away to the land of Ararat. His son Esar-haddon succeeded him as king.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Isaiah 37
37
Hezekiah Consults Isaiah
1And this happened: When King Hezekiah heard, he tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the temple#Or “house” of Yahweh. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of#Literally “over” the palace,#Or “house” and Shebna the secretary, and the elders of the priests covered#Literally “covering themselves” with sackcloth to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet. 3And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the cervical opening, and there is no strength to give birth. 4Maybe Yahweh your God heard the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God, and he will rebuke the words that Yahweh your God hears. And you must lift up a prayer for the benefit of the remnant that is found.’ ”
5When#Or “And” the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “You must say this to your master: ‘Thus says Yahweh: “You must not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7Look! I am about to put#Literally “give” a spirit in him so that#Or “and” he shall hear a rumor and he shall return to his land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land.” ’ ”
8And Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had left from Lachish. 9Now#Or “And” he#That is, the king heard concerning Tirhakah the king of Cush, saying, “He has set out to fight against#Or “with” you.”
When#Or “And” he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“You shall say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust in him deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you—shall you be delivered? 12Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors#Literally “fathers” destroyed deliver them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or#Or “and” Ivvah?’ ”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read#Or “called” it. Then#Or “And” he went up to the temple#Or “house” of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out before the presence#Literally “face” of Yahweh. 15And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 16“Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel who is enthroned on#Literally “sitting” the cherubim, you are the one, God by yourself, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you are the one who made the heavens and the earth. 17Yahweh, extend your ear and hear! Yahweh, open your eyes and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God! 18Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the lands#The parallel text in 2 Kings has “nations” and their land, 19to set#Literally “give” their gods in the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone, and they destroyed them. 20So#Or “And” now, Yahweh, our God, save us from his hand so that#Or “and” all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, you alone!”
God’s Answer
21And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to me concerning#Literally “to” Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 22this is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:
She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion;
she shakes her head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem.
23Whom have you taunted and blasphemed,
and against whom have you raised up your voice and lifted your eyes upward?
To the holy one of Israel!
24By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord,
and you have said, “With my many chariots,#Hebrew “chariot”
I myself have gone up the height of the mountains,
to the remote areas of Lebanon.
And I cut off its tall cedars,#Literally “the height of its cedars”
the choicest of its junipers.
And I came to the height of its limit,
the forest of its orchard.#Or “Carmel”
25I myself dug and drank waters,
and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet.”
26Have you not heard from a long time ago?#Literally “distant” I have made it
from days of primeval time, and I formed it.
Now I have brought it about,
and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones.
27And their inhabitants are weak;#Literally “short of hand”
they are dismayed, and they are ashamed;
they have become like plants#Hebrew “plant” of the field,
and like greens of grass,
like grass on#Or “of” the roofs
and a cultivated field before#Literally “before the face of” the standing grain.
28And I know your sitting down and your going out,
and your coming in, and your raging against#Literally “to” me.
29Because you were enraged against#Literally “to” me,
and your noise#Or “complacency” has come up to#Literally “in” my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bridle on your lips,
and I will turn you back on the way by which you came.
30And this shall be the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plants#Hebrew “plant” this#Literally “the” year, and in the second year self-seeded plants,#Hebrew “plant” and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall grow#Literally “add” roots#Hebrew “root” downwards and make fruit upwards.
32For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem
and survivors#Hebrew “survivor” from mountain Zion.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.’
33Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning#Or “to” the king of Assyria:
‘He shall not come to this city,
and he shall not shoot an arrow there,
and he shall not meet it with a shield,
and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her.
34He shall return by the way that he came,
and he shall not come to this city,’
declares#Literally “declaration of” Yahweh.
35‘And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’ ”
Sennacherib’s Defeat
36And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When#Or “And” they rose in the morning, look! All of them were dead corpses. 37Then#Or “And” Sennacherib king of Assyria left, went, and returned and lived at Nineveh. 38And this happened: he was bowing in worship in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they themselves escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-haddon his son reigned as king in his place.
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