| Chapter
37 |
| 1 | And it
came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and
covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. |
| 2 | And he sent Eliakim, who was
over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests
covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. |
| 3 | And they said unto him, Thus saith
Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for
the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring
forth. |
| 4 | It may be the
LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his
master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which
the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that
is left. |
| 5 | So the
servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. |
| 6 | And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your
master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard,
wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. |
| 7 | Behold, I will send a blast upon
him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause
him to fall by the sword in his own land. |
| 8 | So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria
warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. |
| 9 | And he heard say concerning
Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he
heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, |
|
10 | Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah,
saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem
shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. |
| 11 | Behold, thou hast heard what the kings
of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be
delivered? |
| 12 | Have the
gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan,
and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar? |
| 13 | Where is the king of
Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena,
and Ivah? |
| 14 | And
Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and
Hezekiah went up unto the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. |
| 15 | And Hezekiah prayed unto
the LORD, saying, |
| 16 | O
LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the
God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven
and earth. |
| 17 | Incline
thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the
words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. |
| 18 | Of a truth, LORD, the kings of
Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, |
| 19 | 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. |
|
20 | Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all
the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only. |
| 21 | Then Isaiah the son of
Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas
thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria: |
| 22 | This is the word which the LORD hath
spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee,
and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at
thee. |
| 23 | Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and
lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. |
| 24 | By thy servants hast thou
reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come
up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down
the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter
into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. |
| 25 | I have digged, and drunk water; and
with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged
places. |
| 26 | Hast thou not
heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed
it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced
cities into ruinous heaps. |
| 27
| Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed
and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as
the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up. |
| 28 | But I know thy abode, and thy
going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. |
| 29 | Because thy rage against me, and thy
tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose,
and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou
camest. |
| 30 | And this
shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself;
and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow
ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. |
| 31 | And the remnant that is escaped of the
house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: |
| 32 | For out of Jerusalem shall go
forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD
of hosts shall do this. |
| 33 |
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not
come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields,
nor cast a bank against it. |
| 34
| By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not
come into this city, saith the LORD. |
|
35 | For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and
for my servant David's sake. |
| 36
| Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the
Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early
in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. |
|
37 | So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went
and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. |
|
38 | And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of
Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the
sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son
reigned in his stead. |
