Isaiah 37
37
XXXVII
1And 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 Jehovah. 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 distress, and of rebuke, and of contumely: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4It may be that Jehovah, thy God, will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Jehovah, thy God, hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is yet left.
5And the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6And Isaiah said unto them: Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith Jehovah: Be not afraid because of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7Behold, I will bring a tremour upon 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.
8So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyriah warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9And he heard say concerning Tirhakah, king of Cush, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying: 10Thus shall ye speak unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, 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 these lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered those, whom my father have destroyed? as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Henah, and of Ivah?
14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and he went up unto the house of Jehovah, and Hezekiah spread it before Jehovah. 15And Hezekiah prayed unto Jehovah, saying: 16O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, who dwellest between the Cherubims, Thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou hast made the heavens, and the earth. Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; 17open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God. 18In truth, O Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations, and their lands; 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. 20And now, O Jehovah, our God! save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, even thou only.
21Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent unto Hezekiah, saying: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Whereas thou hast prayed unto me, concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria: 22This is the word which Jehovah hath spoken against him:
The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee, she hath laughed thee to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23Whom hast thou reproached, and blasphemed;
And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice?
And hast lifted up thine eyes on high?
Even against the Holy One of Israel.
24By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said:
By the multitude of my chariots have I ascended
The height of the mountains, the sides of Lebanon;
And I will cut down his tallest cedars, his choicest fir-trees;
And I will enter into his extreme height, into the forests of his fruitful field.
25I have digged, and drunk water;
And with, the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
26Hast thou not heard, that, from of old, I had disposed it?
And that, from ancient times, I had formed it?
Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27Therefore were their inhabitants of small power,
They were dismayed and confounded:
They were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb,
As the grass of the house-tops; and as the corn blasted before it be grown up.
28But thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, have I known;
And thy rage against me.
29Because thy rage against me, and thy insolence,
Is come up into mine ears;
Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips;
And I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest.
30And this shall be a sign unto thee:
Eat this year that which groweth up of itself,
And the second year that which groweth up of the same;
And in the third year sow ye, and reap,
And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31And the escaped of the house of Judah, which remain,
Shall again strike root downward, and bear fruit upward.
32For from Jerusalem shall go forth the remnant,
And they that have escaped from mount Zion:
The zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall do this.
33Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria:
He shall not come into this city,
Nor shall he shoot an arrow there;
Nor shall he present a shield before it,
Nor shall he cast up a mound against it.
34By the way through which he came, by the same shall he return;
And into this city shall he not come, saith Jehovah.
35And I will protect this city to deliver it,
For mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
36Then an angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and five thousand men; and when man arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 37Then 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, 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: TEG
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Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 37
37
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help
1 # For ver. 1-38, see 2 Kgs. 19 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore 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 secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet #See ch. 1:1Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a #[ch. 22:5] day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; #[ch. 13:8; Hos. 13:13]children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4#[ver. 28, 29] It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for #ch. 1:9the remnant that is left.’”
5When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7Behold, #[ch. 19:14] I will put a spirit in him, so that #ver. 9 he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and #ver. 38I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against #Josh. 10:31Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left #Josh. 10:31Lachish. 9Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of #ch. 18:1, 2; 20:5Cush,#37:9 Probably Nubia “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: #[ch. 36:14]‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12#ch. 36:18, 19 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, #2 Kgs. 17:6 Gozan, #Gen. 11:31, 32Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13#[See ver. 12 above]Where 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?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance
14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, #Ex. 25:22; Ezek. 10:1 enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; #Acts 4:24; [Jer. 10:11]you have made heaven and earth. 17#[2 Chr. 6:40] Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear #2 Chr. 32:19all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18Truly, O Lord, #[ch. 10:13, 14]the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 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 were destroyed. 20So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Sennacherib’s Fall
21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
# [Mic. 4:13]; See ch. 1:8 the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23“‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against #ch. 10:17the Holy One of Israel!
24By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, #[ch. 8:7, 8] With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
# [ch. 14:8] to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all #[ch. 19:6] the streams #[ch. 20:4]of Egypt.
26 # [ch. 10:5, 15; 25:1, 2] “‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted#37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field before it is grown.
28“‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 # [ch. 10:12] Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and #ver. 34I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30“And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah #ch. 27:6shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32#[ch. 14:32] For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. #See ch. 9:7The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or #[Hab. 1:10; Luke 19:43]cast up a siege mound against it. 34By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35#ch. 31:5; 38:6 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for #[ch. 29:1]the sake of my servant David.”
36 # ch. 17:14; 30:31; 31:8; [ch. 10:33; 14:25; 29:5] And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at #Gen. 10:11; Jonah 1:2; 3:3; 4:11Nineveh. 38And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of #Gen. 8:4 Ararat, #Ezra 4:2Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
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