Isaiah 37
37
1When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in grief, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Lord’s temple. 2Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and the leaders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
3They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day filled with misery, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a woman who is about to give birth but doesn’t have the strength to do it. 4The Lord your God may have heard the words of the field commander. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to defy the living God. The Lord your God may punish him because of the message that the Lord your God heard. Pray for the few people who are left.”
5So King Hezekiah’s men went to Isaiah. 6Isaiah answered them, “Say this to your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Don’t be afraid of the message that you heard when the Assyrian king’s assistants slandered me. 7I’m going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own country. I’ll have him assassinated in his own country.’ ”
8The field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. He had heard that the king left Lachish. 9Now, Sennacherib heard that King Tirhakah of Sudan was coming to fight him.
When he heard this, he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Don’t let the god whom you trust deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria. 11You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries, how they totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12Did the gods of the nations which my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’ ”
14Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers, read it, and went to the Lord’s temple. He spread it out in front of the Lord 15and prayed to the Lord, 16“Lord of Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned over the angels.#37:16 Or “cherubim.” You alone are God of the kingdoms of the world. You made heaven and earth. 17Turn your ear toward me, Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the entire message that Sennacherib sent to defy the living God. 18It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have leveled every country.#37:18 Dead Sea Scrolls, Greek; Masoretic Text “every country and their country.” 19They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren’t real gods. They’re only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. 20Now, Lord our God, rescue us from Assyria’s control so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are the Lord.”
Isaiah’s Prophecy against King Sennacherib of Assyria
(2 Kings 19:20–37)
21Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. 22This is the message that the Lord speaks to him,
‘My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you.
My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.
23Whom are you defying and slandering?
Against whom are you shouting?
Who are you looking at so arrogantly?
It is the Holy One of Israel!
24Through your servants you defy the Lord and say,
“With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains,
up the slopes of Lebanon.
I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses.
I’ll come to its most distant heights
and its most fertile forests.
25I’ll dig wells and drink water.
I’ll dry up all the streams of Egypt
with the trampling of my feet.”
26“ ‘Haven’t you heard? I did this long ago.
I planned it in the distant past.
Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
27Those who live in these cities are weak, discouraged, and ashamed.
They will be like plants in the field,
like fresh, green grass on the roofs,
dried up by the east wind.
28I know when you ⌞get up⌟ and sit down,
when you go out and come in,
and how you rage against me.
29Since you rage against me and your boasting has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bridle in your mouth.
I will make you go back the way you came.
30“ ‘And this will be a sign for you, Hezekiah: You will eat what grows by itself this year, and the next year you will eat what comes up by itself. But in the third year you will plant and harvest, plant vineyards, and eat what is produced. 31Those few people from the nation of Judah who escape will again take root and produce crops. 32Those few people will go out from Jerusalem, and those who escape will go out from Mount Zion. The Lord of Armies is determined to do this.’
33“This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will never come into this city,
shoot an arrow here,
hold a shield in front of it,
or put up dirt ramps to attack it.
34He will go back the way he came,
and he won’t come into this city,”
declares the Lord of Armies.
35“I will shield this city to rescue it for my sake
and for the sake of my servant David.”
36The Lord’s angel went out and killed 185,000 ⌞soldiers⌟ in the Assyrian camp. When the Judeans got up early in the morning, they saw all the corpses.
37Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left. He went home to Nineveh and stayed there. 38While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, assassinated him and escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.
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Isaiah 37: GW
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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.