Isaiah 37
37
Isaiah’s Message of Deliverance
(2 Kings 19:1–7)
1On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz 3to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them. 4Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
5So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
Sennacherib’s Blasphemous Letter
(2 Kings 19:8–13)
8When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush:#37:9 That is, the upper Nile region “He has set out to fight against you.”
On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah:
‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction.#37:11 Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. Will you then be spared? 12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar? 13Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
(2 Kings 19:14–19)
14So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:
16“O Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 17Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
18Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these countries and their lands. 19They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
20And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God.#37:20 DSS (see also 2 Kings 19:19); MT You alone are the Lord”
Sennacherib’s Fall Prophesied
(2 Kings 19:20–34)
21Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises you and mocks you;
the Daughter of Jerusalem
shakes her head behind you.
23Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24Through your servants you have taunted the Lord,
and you have said:
“With my many chariots
I have ascended
to the heights of the mountains,
to the remote peaks of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the finest of its cypresses.#37:24 Or pines or junipers or firs
I have reached its farthest heights,
the densest of its forests.
25I have dug wells
and drunk foreign #37:25 DSS (see also 2 Kings 19:24); MT does not include foreign. waters.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained it;
in days of old I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
that you should crush fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
27Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power,
are dismayed and ashamed.
They are like plants in the field,
tender green shoots,
grass on the rooftops,
scorched #37:27 DSS, some MT manuscripts, and some LXX manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most MT manuscripts on the rooftops and terraced fields before it is grown.
28But I know your sitting down,
your going out and coming in,
and your raging against Me.
29Because your rage and arrogance against Me
have reached My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
and My bit in your mouth;
I will send you back
the way you came.’
30And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah:
This year you will eat
what grows on its own,
and in the second year
what springs from the same.
But in the third year you will sow and reap;
you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
31And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah
will again take root below
and bear fruit above.
32For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem,
and survivors from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the Lord of Hosts
will accomplish this.
33So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow into it.
He will not come before it with a shield
or build up a siege ramp against it.
34He will go back the way he came,
and he will not enter this city,’
declares the Lord.
35‘I will defend this city
and save it
for My own sake
and for the sake of My servant David.’”
Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians
(2 Kings 19:35–37; 2 Chronicles 32:20–23)
36Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up #37:36 Hebrew When they got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
37So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 38One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.
Isaiah 37
37
1When King Hezekiah heard it, he rent 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, clothed with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4It may be that the Lord your God heard the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the 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 servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor, and return to his own land; and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’ ”
8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “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: ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely 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, destroying them utterly. And shall you be delivered? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations which my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where 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 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, who art enthroned above the cherubim, thou art the God, thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 17Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear; open thy eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18Of a truth, O Lord, 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 thou alone art the Lord.”
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—
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 haughtily lifted your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I came to its remotest height,
its densest forest.
25I dug wells
and drank waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.
26“ ‘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 With 2 Kings 19.26: Heb field before it is grown.
28“ ‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29Because you have raged against me
and your arrogance has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30“And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same; then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward; 32for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish 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 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, says the Lord. 35For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
36And the angel of the Lord went forth, and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went home and dwelt at Nineveh. 38And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, slew him with the sword, and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
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