Isaiah 37
37
CHAPTER 37
1And it was done, when king Hezekiah had heard, he rent his clothes, and he was wrapped in a sackcloth, and entered into the house of the Lord.
2And he sent Eliakim, that was on the house, and Shebna, the scribe, and the elder men of priests, covered with sackcloths, to Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amoz.
3And they said to him, Hezekiah saith these things, A day of tribulation, and of anguish, and of chastising, and of blasphemy is this day; for children came unto childbearing, and strength of childbearing is not.
4Therefore raise thou [up] prayer for the remnants that be found, if in any manner thy Lord God [or the Lord thy God] hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyrians, his lord, sent, for to blaspheme [the] living God, and to despise by the words, which thy Lord God heard.
5And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah;
6and Isaiah said to them, Ye shall say these things to your lord, The Lord saith these things, Dread thou not of the face of [the] words which thou heardest, by which the servants of the king of Assyrians blasphemed me.
7Lo! I shall give to him a spirit, and he shall hear a messenger; and he shall turn again to his land, and I shall make him to fall down by sword in his land.
8Forsooth Rabshakeh turned again, and found the king of Assyrians fighting against Libnah; for he had heard, that the king was gone from Lachish.
9And the king heard messengers saying of Tirhakah, king of Ethiopians, He is gone out to fight against thee. And when he had heard this thing, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, and said,
10Ye shall say, speaking these things to Hezekiah, king of Judah, Thy God deceive not thee, in whom thou trustest, and sayest, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyrians.
11Lo! thou heardest all things which the kings of Assyrians did to all lands which they destroyed; and mayest thou be delivered?
12Whether the gods of folks delivered them, which my fathers destroyed; Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, that were in Telassar?
13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and of Ivah?
14And Hezekiah took the books from the hand of the messengers, and read them; and he went up into the house of the Lord, and spreaded abroad them before the Lord;
15and prayed to the Lord, and said,
16Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that sittest on cherubim, thou art God alone of all the realms of [the] earth; thou madest heaven and earth.
17Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear; Lord, open thine eyes, and see; and hear thou all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent for to blaspheme living God.
18For verily, Lord, the kings of Assyrians made lands desert, and the countries of them,
19and gave the gods of them to fire; for they were not gods, but the works of men’s hands, wood and stones; and they all-brake those gods.
20And now, our Lord God, save thou us from the hand of him; and all [the] realms of earth know, that thou art the Lord God alone.
21And Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, and said, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, For which things thou prayedest me of Sennacherib, the king of Assyrians,
22this is the word which the Lord spake on him, Thou virgin, the daughter of Zion, he despised thee, he scorned thee; thou virgin, the daughter of Jerusalem, he moved his head after thee.
23Whom despisest thou, and whom blasphemedest thou? and on whom raisedest thou thy voice, and raisedest the highness of thine eyes? To the Holy of Israel.
24By the hand of thy servants thou despisedest the Lord, and saidest, In the multitude of my carts, I ascended [or went up] on the highnesses of hills, on the yokes of Lebanon; and I shall cut down the high things of cedars thereof, and the chosen beeches thereof; and I shall enter into the highness of the top thereof, into the forest of Carmel thereof.
25I digged, and drank water; and I made dry with the step of my foot all the strands [or rivers] of [the] fields.
26Whether thou, Sennacherib, heardest not what things I did some-time? From eld days I formed that thing, and now I have brought; and it is made into the drawing up by the root of little hills fighting together, and of strong cities.
27The dwellers of those cities trembled together with hand made short, and be ashamed; they be made as hay of the field, and as the grass of [the] pasture, and as herb of house roofs, either ridges, that dried up before that it waxed ripe.
28I knew thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thine entering, and thy strong vengeance against me.
29When thou were wroth against me, thy pride ascended [or went up] into mine ears; therefore I shall set a ring in thy nostrils, and a bridle in thy lips; and I shall lead thee into the way, by which thou camest.
30Forsooth to thee, Hezekiah, this shall be a sign; eat thou in this year those things that grow by their free will, and in the second year eat thou apples; but in the third year, sow ye, and reap ye, and plant ye vineries [or vines], and eat ye the fruit of them.
31And that that is saved of the house of Judah, and that, that is left, shall send [the] root beneath, and shall make fruit above;
32for why remnants shall go out of Jerusalem, and salvation from the hill of Zion; the fervent love of the Lord of hosts shall do this thing.
33Therefore the Lord saith these things of the king of Assyrians, He shall not enter into this city, and he shall not shoot there an arrow; and a shield shall not occupy it, and he shall not send [an heap of] earth in the compass thereof.
34In the way in which he came, he shall turn again by it; and he shall not enter into this city, saith the Lord.
35And I shall defend this city, that I save it, for me, and for David, my servant.
36Forsooth the angel of the Lord went out, and killed an hundred thousand and fourscore and five thousand in the tents of Assyrians; and they rose early, and lo! all men were [the] carrions of dead men.
37And Sennacherib went out of Judah, and went away. And Sennach-erib, the king of Assyrians, turned again, and dwelled in Nineveh.
38And it was done, when he worshipped Nisroch, his god, in the temple, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, killed him with sword, and fled into the land of Ararat, that is, Armenia; and Esarhaddon, his son, reigned for him.
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Isaiah 37: WBMS
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Wycliffe’s Bible with Modern Spelling ©2017
Wycliffe’s Apocrypha ©2013, 2015
Wycliffe’s Bible © 2012, 2015
Wycliffe’s New Testament ©2001, 2011
Wycliffe’s Old Testament ©2001, 2010
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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