1And when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the Temple of the LORD. 2And he sent Eliakim, Shebna, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, the prophet, son of Amoz. 3And they told him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of trouble, of rebuke, and blasphemy; as when a child has come to the time of birth, but there is not enough strength to bring it out. 4It may be the LORD your God will hear all those words of the Rabshakeh, that the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to reproach the living God; and will rebuke him for the words which the LORD your God has heard; therefore, pray for those who are still left.’” 5So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6And Isaiah told them, “You shall say to this your master, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Be not afraid of what you have heard, the words with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7Listen, I will send a rumor to him, and he hears it, he and shall want to return to his own land; where I will cause him to die by the sword.”’” 8So the Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah (a fortified city in Judah); for he had heard that his king had withdrawn from Lachish. 9And when King Sennacherib heard the report that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia (Cush), was marching out to fight against him, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, to say: 10“Tell Hezekiah, king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in Whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem shall not be captured by the king of Assyria.” 11Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands - utterly destroying them. And shall you escape? 12Have the gods of the other nations saved any of them that my fathers have destroyed - Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the descendants of Eden who were in Thelassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’” 14And Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, and read it; and then went into the Temple of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, “O LORD God of Israel, Who dwells between the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth. 16LORD, incline Your ear, and hear; and open Your eyes, LORD, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, that he has sent to reproach the living God. 17Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have indeed destroyed nations and their lands, 18And have thrown their gods into the fire; for they were not real gods, but the work of men's hands - wood and stone. Therefore, they have destroyed them. 19Now, therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech You, save us from Sennacherib, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You, You only, are the LORD God.” 20Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent this message to Hezekiah, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘What you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard. 21This is the word that the LORD has spoken regarding him: “The virgin the daughter of Zion despises you, and mocks you (Sennacherib); the daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head at you as you flee. 22Whom have you insulted and blasphemed? And against Whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. 23By your messengers (the Rabshakeh and his associates), you have mocked and offended the LORD, and you have said, ‘With my many chariots I (Sennacherib, king of Assyria) have ascended the height of the mountains, to the heights of Lebanon, and will cut down its tallest cedars; and its choice fir trees; and I will enter its most remote borders, and the forest of its Carmel. 24I have dug wells and drunk in many foreign lands, and with the sole of my feet I have dried up all the rivers of besieged places’. 25Have you not heard long ago how I (the LORD) have ordained it, and of ancient times that I have planned it? And now I have brought it to pass, that you should be able to turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26That is why their inhabitants were of so little power, dismayed and confounded; they were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass sprouting on the housetops, and scorched before it grows up. 27But I know where you are. And I know when you come and go; and how you have raged against Me. 28Because your rage against Me and your insolence has reached My ears, I will put My hook back in your nose, and My bit in your mouths, and I will turn you back by the way that you came. 29“And this shall be a sign to you, Hezekiah, you shall eat this year what grows by itself, and in the second year what sprouts from the same; but in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruits. 30“And the remnant of the kingdom of Judah shall once again put its roots down, and bear fruit above. 31For out of Jerusalem survivors shall go forth and escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this. 32“Therefore, thus says the LORD regarding the king of Assyria, ‘He (Sennacherib) shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor march outside of it with shield, nor cast a siege mound against it. 33He shall return the same way that he came, and shall never enter this city’, says the LORD. 34‘For I will defend this city and save it, for My Own sake, and for My servant, David's sake’”’”. 35And that night, the Angel of the LORD went out, and killed a hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the others arose early in the morning, they found dead bodies everywhere. 36So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, broke camp, withdrew, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there. 37And then one day, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, killed Sennacherib with the sword; and fled into the land of Ararat (Armenia). Then Esar-haddon, another of his sons, reigned in his stead. Reader-Friendly Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2024 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |