| 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
Jehovah. 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 contumely; for
the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
4 It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the
king of Assyria his master hath sent to defy the living God, and will rebuke
the words which Jehovah 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 to your master,
Thus saith Jehovah, 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 put a spirit in him, and he shall hear tidings, and shall
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
when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to
fight against thee, he sent messengers again unto 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, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of
Eden that were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king
of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and
read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before
Jehovah. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the
God of Israel, that sittest above the cherubim, thou art the God,
even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and
earth. 16 Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O
Jehovah, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent
him to defy the living God. 17 Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria
have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 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. 19 Now therefore, O Jehovah our
God, save thou us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of
the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith
Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. 21 This is the
word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion
hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath
shaken her head at thee. 22 Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and
against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high?
even against the Holy One of Israel. 23 By thy messengers thou
hast defied the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots am I
come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon;
and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees
thereof; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his
fruitful field. 24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the
sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.
25 Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of
ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay
waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26 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 grain blasted before it is grown up. 27 But I know thy sitting down,
and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me.
28 Because of thy raging against me, and because thine arrogancy 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.
29 And this shall be the sign unto thee: Ye shall eat this year that which
groweth of itself, and in 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. 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah
shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of
Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall
escape: the zeal of Jehovah shall perform this. 32 Therefore thus saith
Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor
shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast
up a mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he
return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah. 34 For I will
defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's
sake.
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of Jehovah went forth,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and
dwelt at Nineveh. 37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the
house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the
sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son
reigned in his stead.
Genesis - Public
Domain
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