The Second Book of the Kings

⭑ Literal Standard Version :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 19 -

(Isaiah 37:1–7)

And it comes to pass, at King Hezekiah’s hearing, that he tears his garments, and covers himself with sackcloth, and enters the house of YHWH,

and sends Eliakim, who [is] over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elderly of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz,

and they say to him, “Thus said Hezekiah: This day [is] a day of distress, and rebuke, and despising; for sons have come to the birth, and there is not power to bring forth.

It may be your God YHWH hears all the words of the chief of the butlers with which the king of Asshur his lord has sent him to reproach the living God, and has decided concerning the words that your God YHWH has heard, and you have lifted up prayer for the remnant that is found.”

And the servants of King Hezekiah come to Isaiah,

and Isaiah says to them, “Thus you say to your lord, Thus said YHWH: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Asshur have reviled Me.

Behold, I am giving a spirit in him, and he has heard a report, and has turned back to his land, and I have caused him to fall by the sword in his land.”

Sennacherib’s Blasphemous Letter

(Isaiah 37:8–13)

And the chief of the butlers turns back and finds the king of Asshur fighting against Libnah, for he has heard that he has journeyed from Lachish.

And he hears concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, saying, “Behold, he has come out to fight with you”; and he turns and sends messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

“Thus you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not let your God in whom you are trusting lift you up, saying, Jerusalem is not given into the hand of the king of Asshur.

Behold, you have heard that which the kings of Asshur have done to all the lands—to devote them; and are you delivered?

Did the gods of the nations deliver them whom my fathers destroyed—Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the sons of Eden, who [are] in Thelassar?

Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

(Isaiah 37:14–20)

And Hezekiah takes the letters out of the hand of the messengers and reads them, and goes up to the house of YHWH, and Hezekiah spreads it before YHWH.

And Hezekiah prays before YHWH and says, “O YHWH, God of Israel, inhabiting the cherubim, You [are] God Himself—You alone—to all the kingdoms of the earth: You have made the heavens and the earth.

Incline, O YHWH, Your ear, and hear; open, O YHWH, Your eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib with which he has sent him to reproach the living God.

Truly, O YHWH, kings of Asshur have laid waste the nations and their land,

and have put their gods into fire, for they [are] no gods, but work of the hands of man, wood and stone, and destroy them.

And now, O our God YHWH, please save us out of his hand, and all kingdoms of the earth know that You [are] YHWH God—You alone.”

Sennacherib’s Fall Prophesied

(Isaiah 37:21–35)

And Isaiah son of Amoz sends to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Asshur I have heard;

this [is] the word that YHWH spoke concerning him: Trampled on you—laughed at you || Has the virgin daughter of Zion; Shaken the head behind you || Has the daughter of Jerusalem!

Whom have you reproached and reviled? And against whom lifted up a voice? Indeed, you lift up your eyes on high—Against the Holy One of Israel!

By the hand of your messengers || You have reproached the Lord, and say, || In the multitude of my chariots I have come up to a high place of mountains—The sides of Lebanon, || And I cut down the height of its cedars, || The choice of its firs, || And I enter the lodging of its extremity, || The forest of its Carmel.

I have dug, and drunk strange waters, || And I dry up with the sole of my steps || All floods of a bulwark.

Have you not heard from afar [that] I made it, || From days of old that I formed it? Now I have brought it in, || And it becomes a desolation, || Ruinous heaps [are] fortified cities,

And their inhabitants [are] feeble-handed, || They were broken down, and are dried up, || They have been the herb of the field, || And the greenness of the tender grass, || Grass of the roofs, || And blasted grain—before it has risen up!

And your sitting down, and your going out, || And your coming in, I have known, || And your anger toward Me;

Because of your anger toward Me, || And your noise—it came up into My ears, || I have put My hook in your nose, || And My bridle in your lips, || And have caused you to turn back || In the way in which you came.

And this [is] the sign to you, || Food of the year [is] the spontaneous growth, || And in the second year the self-produced, || And in the third year you sow, and reap, || And plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.

And it has continued—The escaped of the house of Judah || That has been left—to take root beneath, || And has made fruit upward.

For a remnant goes out from Jerusalem, || And an escape from Mount Zion; The zeal of YHWH [of Hosts] does this.

Therefore, thus said YHWH, || Concerning the king of Asshur: 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 pour out a mound against it.

In the way that he comes in—In it he turns back, || And to this city he does not come in, || A declaration of YHWH—

And I have covered over this city, || To save it for My own sake, || And for the sake of My servant David.”

Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians

(2 Chronicles 32:20–23; Isaiah 37:36–38)

And it comes to pass, in that night, that a messenger of YHWH goes out, and strikes one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of Asshur, and they rise early in the morning, and behold, all of them [are] dead corpses.

And Sennacherib king of Asshur journeys, and goes, and turns back, and dwells in Nineveh;

and it comes to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of his god Nisroch, and [his sons] Adramelech and Sharezar have struck him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and his son Esar-Haddon reigns in his stead.

(Isaiah 37:1–7)

When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the LORD’s house.

He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘Today is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

It may be the LORD your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to defy 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.’”

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘The LORD says, “Don’t be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib’s Blasphemous Letter

(Isaiah 37:8–13)

So Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah; for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.

When he heard it said of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying,

“Tell Hezekiah king of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Will you be delivered?

Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?

Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

(Isaiah 37:14–20)

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD.

Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, “LORD, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Incline your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God.

Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands,

and 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.

Now therefore, LORD our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are God alone.”

Sennacherib’s Fall Prophesied

(Isaiah 37:21–35)

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you.

This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.

Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel!

By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.

I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.”

Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops and like grain blasted before it has grown up.

But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.

Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’

“This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that; and in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. The LORD’s zeal will perform this.

“Therefore the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.

He will return the same way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says the LORD.

‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’”

Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians

(2 Chronicles 32:20–23; Isaiah 37:36–38)

That night, the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went home, and lived at Nineveh.

As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.