Isaiah 37
37
Hezekiah Tears His Clothes
1When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of Adonai.
2Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe and the senior kohanim, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz.
3Then they said to him: “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, rebuke and contempt. For children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength for giving birth.
4Perhaps Adonai your God, will hear the words of the Rab-shakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words which Adonai your God has heard. So offer prayer for the remnant that is left.”
5When the officials of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah,
6Isaiah said to them: “Thus you will say to your master, ‘Thus says Adonai: Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the boys of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
7Behold, I am putting a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor, and will return to his own country; then I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8Then the Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard he had withdrawn from Lachish.
9Now he had heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, saying: “He has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah saying:
10“Thus you will say to King Hezekiah of Judah, saying, 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.’
11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands—utterly destroying them—so will you be delivered?
12Have the gods of the nations delivered those my fathers destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the children of Eden who were in Telassar?
13Where is the king of Hamath, or the king of Arpad, or the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, or Ivvah?’”
14Then Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the House of Adonai and spread it before Adonai.
15Hezekiah prayed to Adonai saying:
16“Adonai-Tzva’ot, God of Israel, who is enthroned upon the cheruvim, You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
17Incline Your ear, Adonai, and hear! Open Your eyes, Adonai, and see! Listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who was sent to mock the living God.
18It is true, Adonai, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands,
19and have cast their gods into the fire—for they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them.
20Now, Adonai our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone are Adonai!”
Answered Prayer and Sennacherib’s Demise
21Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah saying, “Thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: ‘Because you prayed to Me about King Sennacherib of Assyria,
22this is the word that Adonai has spoken about him: “The virgin Daughter of Zion will despise you and mock you. The daughter of Jerusalem will shake her head at you.
23Whom did you taunt and blaspheme? Against whom did you raise your voice and haughtily lift up your eyes? Against the Holy One of Israel!
24Through your servants, you have blasphemed my Lord and said: ‘With my many chariots I have climbed to the heights of the mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon! I cut down its tall cedars and choice cypress trees. I have gone to its farthest peak, its thickest forest.
25I dug and drank water, and with the sole of my feet, I dried up all the streams of Egypt.’
26Have you not heard? I did it long ago! From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass— that you should turn fortified cities into heaps of rubble.
27Their inhabitants are weak handed, shattered and ashamed. They are like the grass of the field and green herb, like grass on roofs, scorched before it is grown up.
28But I know your sitting down, your going out and your coming in, and your raging against Me.
29Because your raging against Me and your arrogance reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose, and My bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way that you came.”
30So this shall be the sign to you: This year you will eat what grows by itself, in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year, you will sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will take root downward and bear fruit upward.
32For from Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot shall perform this.”
33Therefore thus says Adonai concerning the king of Assyria: “He will not come to the city, or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield, or throw up a siege-ramp against it.
34By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come into this city” —it is a declaration of Adonai.
35“For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.”
36Then the angel of Adonai went out and struck down 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When the men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37So King Sennacherib of Assyria withdrew, and returned home, and stayed in Nineveh.
38It also came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of his god Nisroch, that his sons Adrammelech and Sarezer struck him down with the sword, and escaped into the land of Ararat. Then his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.
Currently Selected:
Isaiah 37: TLV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
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.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Sign up to receive news and updates about the ESV: