Sennacherib Comes Up Against Judah

^13 (A)Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ¹⁴ Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “^(B)I have done wrong. Turn away from me; whatever penalty you give to me I will bear.” So the king of Assyria set a penalty on Hezekiah king of Judah ^[a]three hundred talents of silver and ^[b]thirty talents of gold. ^15 (C)Thus Hezekiah gave him all the silver which was found in the house of Yahweh and in the treasuries of the king’s house. ¹⁶ At that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of Yahweh and from the doorposts, which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(D)Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(E)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^[c]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ Then they called to the king, and ^(F)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(G)Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^(H)What is this trust that you have?

³⁷ Then ^(A)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(B)with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Sennacherib Invades Judah

36 ^(A)Now it happened in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that ^(B)Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and seized them. ² And the ^(C)king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a heavy military force. And he stood by the ^(D)conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the ^[a]fuller’s field. ³ Then ^(E)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(F)Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

⁴ Then ^(G)Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this trust that you have? ⁵ I say, ‘Your counsel and might for the war are only ^[b]empty words.’ Now in whom do you trust, that ^(H)you have rebelled against me? ⁶ Behold, you trust in the ^(I)staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[c]hand and pierce it. ^(J)So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ⁷ But if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ is it not He ^(K)whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’? ⁸ So now, ^[d]come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them. ⁹ How then can you ^[e]turn away one ^[f]official of the least of my master’s servants and ^(L)trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ¹⁰ So now, have I come up ^[g]without the approval of Yahweh against this land to make it a ruin? ^(M)Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land and make it a ruin.’”’”

¹¹ Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in ^(N)Aramaic, for we ^[h]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[i](O)Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ¹² But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

¹³ Then Rabshakeh stood and ^(P)cried with a loud voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ¹⁴ Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah ^(Q)deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; ¹⁵ and do not let Hezekiah make you ^(R)trust in Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹⁶ Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘^[j]Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his ^(S)vine and each of his fig tree, and drink each of the ^(T)waters of his own cistern, ¹⁷ until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ¹⁸ Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, “^(U)Yahweh will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of ^(V)Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of ^(W)Sepharvaim? And when have they ^(X)delivered Samaria from my hand? ²⁰ Who among all the ^(Y)gods of these lands ^[k]have delivered their land from my hand, that ^(Z)Yahweh would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

²¹ But they were silent and ^(AA)answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ²² Then ^(AB)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(AC)Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

37 Now it happened that ^(AD)when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. ² Then he sent ^(AE)Eliakim, who was over the household with ^(AF)Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to ^(AG)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a ^(AH)day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for ^(AI)children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. ⁴ Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to ^[l](AJ)reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for ^(AK)the remnant that is left.’”

⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “^(AL)Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will ^(AM)hear a report and ^(AN)return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(AO)Libnah, for he had heard that ^[m]the king had set out from ^(AP)Lachish. ⁹ Then he ^(AQ)heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ^[n](AR)Ethiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” So he heard it and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[o]Judah, ‘^(AS)Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ^11 (AT)Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, devoting them to destruction. So will you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of ^[p]those nations, which my fathers have brought to ruin, deliver them, even ^(AU)Gozan and ^(AV)Haran and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple

¹⁴ Then Hezekiah took the ^[q]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of Yahweh and ^[r]spread it out before Yahweh. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh saying, ¹⁶ “O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ^(AW)who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the ^(AX)God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. ^(AY)You have made heaven and earth. ^17 (AZ)Incline Your ear, O Yahweh, and hear; open Your eyes, O Yahweh, and see; and ^(BA)listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to ^[s](BB)reproach the living God. ¹⁸ Truly, O Yahweh, the ^(BC)kings of Assyria have laid waste to all the countries and their lands ¹⁹ and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the ^(BD)work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have ^(BE)destroyed them. ²⁰ But now, O Yahweh our God, ^(BF)save us from his hand that ^(BG)all the kingdoms of the earth may know that ^[t]You are Yahweh, You alone.”

Yahweh’s Answer Through Isaiah

²¹ Then ^(BH)Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word that Yahweh has spoken against him:

³⁰ “Then this shall be the sign for you: ^[ab]you will eat this year what ^(CE)grows of its own accord, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³¹ And the ^(CF)surviving ^(CG)remnant of the house of Judah will again ^(CH)take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³² For out of Jerusalem will go forth a ^(CI)remnant and out of Mount Zion ^[ac]survivors. The ^(CJ)zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.”’

³³ “Therefore, thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a ^(CK)siege ramp against it. ^34 (CL)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares Yahweh. ³⁵ ‘Indeed I will ^(CM)defend this city to save it ^(CN)for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

The Defeat and Death of Sennacherib

³⁶ Then the ^(CO)angel of Yahweh went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And ^[ad]the men arose early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies. ³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria set out and ^[ae]returned home and lived at ^(CP)Nineveh. ³⁸ Now it happened that as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of ^(CQ)Ararat. And ^(CR)Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.