Isaiah 37:1-7 ▼

1 As soon as Hezekiah the king heard this, he tore his clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and went into the LORD's Temple.

2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all wearing sackcloth, to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah.

3 |Here is what Hezekiah says,| they told him. |This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them.

4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city.|

5 That's why King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah.

6 |Here is what to tell your master,| Isaiah told them. |This is what the LORD says: 'Don't be afraid of the words you've heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me.

7 Watch this! I'm going to place an attitude within him, so that when he hears a certain report, he'll return to his own country. Then I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own land.|