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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Isaiah 37: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Yeshayah (Isaiah) 37
37
1And it came to be, when Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the House of יהוה,
2and sent Elyaqim, who was over the household, and Sheḇnah the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Yeshayahu the prophet, the son of Amots.
3And they said to him, “Thus said Ḥizqiyahu, ‘This day is a day of distress and rebuke and scorn, for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring forth.
4It could be that יהוה your Elohim does hear the words of the Raḇshaqĕh, whom his master the sovereign of Ashshur has sent to reproach the living Elohim, and shall rebuke the words which יהוה your Elohim has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5So the servants of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu came to Yeshayahu,
6and Yeshayahu said to them, “Say this to your master, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the sovereign of Ashshur have reviled Me.
7“See, I am putting a spirit in him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
8And the Raḇshaqĕh returned and found the sovereign of Ashshur fighting against Liḇnah, for he had heard that he had left Laḵish.
9And he heard concerning Tirhaqah sovereign of Kush, “He has come out to fight with you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ḥizqiyahu, saying,
10“Speak to Ḥizqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying, ‘Do not let your Elohim in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Yerushalayim is not given into the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur.”
11See, you have heard what the sovereigns of Ashshur have done to all lands by putting them under the ban. And are you going to be delivered?
12Have the mighty ones of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Ḥaran and Retseph, and the sons of Ěḏen who were in Telassar?
13Where is the sovereign of Ḥamath, and the sovereign of Arpaḏ, and the sovereign of the city of Sepharwayim, Hĕna, and Iwwah?’ ”
14And Ḥizqiyahu received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. And Ḥizqiyahu went up to the House of יהוה, and spread it before יהוה.
15And Ḥizqiyahu prayed to יהוה, saying,
16“O יהוה of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, the One who dwells between the keruḇim, You are Elohim, You alone, of all the reigns of the earth. You have made the heavens and earth.
17“Incline Your ear, O יהוה, and hear. Open Your eyes, O יהוה, and see. And hear all the words of Sanḥĕriḇ, who has sent to reproach the living Elohim.
18“Truly, יהוה, the sovereigns of Ashshur have laid waste all the lands, and their land,
19and have put their mighty ones into the fire, for they were not mighty ones, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. And they destroyed them.
20“And now, O יהוה our Elohim, save us from his hand, so that all the reigns of the earth know that You are יהוה, You alone.”
21Then Yeshayahu son of Amots sent to Ḥizqiyahu, saying, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sanḥĕriḇ sovereign of Ashshur,
22this is the word which יהוה has spoken concerning him, “The maiden, the daughter of Tsiyon, has despised you, mocked you; the daughter of Yerushalayim has shaken her head behind you!
23“Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes in pride? Against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl!
24“By the hand of your servants you have reproached יהוה, and said, ‘With my many chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the limits of Leḇanon. And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. And I enter its farthest height, its thickest forest.
25I have dug and drunk water, and with the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of defence.’
26“Have you not heard long ago how I made it, from days of old, that I formed it? Now I have brought it about, that you should be for crushing walled cities into heaps of ruins.
27“And their inhabitants were powerless, they were overthrown and put to shame. They were as the grass of the field and as the green plant, as the grass on the house-tops and as grain blighted before it is grown.
28“But I know your sitting down, and your going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me.
29“Because your rage against Me and your pride have come up to My ears, I shall put My hook in your nose and My bridle in your lips, and I shall turn you back by the way which you came.
30“And this shall be the sign for you: This year you eat such as grows of itself, and the second year what springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
31“And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Yehuḏah shall again take root downward, and be fruitful upward.
32“For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon – the ardour of יהוה of hosts does this.
33“Therefore thus said יהוה concerning the sovereign of Ashshur, ‘He does not come into this city, nor does he shoot an arrow there, nor does he come before it with shield, nor does he build a siege mound against it.
34By the way that he came, by the same he turns back. And into this city he does not come,’ declares יהוה.
35And I shall defend this city, to save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant Dawiḏ.’ ”
36And a messenger of יהוה went out, and struck in the camp of Ashshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose early in the morning, and saw all of them, dead bodies.
37And Sanḥĕriḇ the sovereign of Ashshur broke camp and went away, and turned back, and remained at Ninewĕh.
38And it came to be, as he was bowing himself in the house of Nisroḵ his mighty one, that his sons Aḏrammeleḵ and Shar’etser struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Ěsarḥaddon reigned in his place.
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