Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 ^(A)Now when King Hezekiah heard the report, he ^(B)tore his clothes, ^(C)covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(D)covered with sackcloth, to ^(E)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them. ^4 (F)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(G)to taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(H)the remnant that is ^[a]left.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘The Lord says this: “Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^(I)servants of the king of Assyria ^(J)have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that ^(K)he will hear news and return to his own land. And ^(L)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(M)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left ^(N)Lachish. ⁹ When he heard them say about Tirhakah king of ^[b]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[c]Judah: ‘Do not ^(O)let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “^(P)Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? ^12 (Q)Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^(R)Gozan, ^(S)Haran, Rezeph, and ^(T)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (U)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

¹⁴ Then ^(V)Hezekiah took the ^[d]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[e]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, ^[f](W)enthroned above the cherubim, ^(X)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (Y)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; ^(Z)open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(AA)to taunt the living God. ¹⁷ It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, ¹⁸ and have ^[g]hurled their gods into the fire; ^(AB)for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, ^(AC)so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^(AD)Lord, are God.”

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

37 Now ^(A)when King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent ^(B)Eliakim, who was in charge of the household, with ^(C)Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to ^(D)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a ^(E)day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for ^(F)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to ^[a]deliver them. ⁴ Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to ^(G)taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(H)the remnant that is left.’”

⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘This is what the Lord says: “^(I)Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that he will ^(J)hear news and ^(K)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 ^(L)Libnah, for he had heard that ^[b]the king had left ^(M)Lachish. ⁹ Now he ^(N)heard them say regarding Tirhakah king of ^[c](O)Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” and when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[d]Judah: ‘^(P)Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” ^11 (Q)Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? ¹² Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: ^(R)Gozan, ^(S)Haran, 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 ^[e]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[f]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ “Lord of armies, God of Israel, ^(T)who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the ^(U)God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. ^(V)You made heaven and earth. ^17 (W)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and ^(X)listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to ^(Y)taunt the living God. ¹⁸ Truly, Lord, the ^(Z)kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands, ¹⁹ and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but only the ^(AA)work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have ^(AB)destroyed them. ²⁰ But now Lord, our God, ^(AC)save us from his hand, so that ^(AD)all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, ^[g]Lord, are God.”

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

⁹ After this ^(A)Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ^[a]besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: ‘On what are you trusting that you are staying in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹ Is Hezekiah not misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will save us from the ^[b]hand of the king of Assyria”? ^12 (B)Is it not the same Hezekiah who removed His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ^[c]Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall ^[d]burn incense”? ¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^(C)Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to save their land from my hand? ^14 (D)Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could save his people from my hand, that your God would be able to save you from my hand? ¹⁵ Now then, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ^(E)no god of any nation or kingdom was able to save his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God save you from my hand?’”

¹⁶ His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^(F)As the gods of the nations of the lands ^[e]have not saved their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not save His people from my hand.” ^18 (G)They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city. ¹⁹ They spoke ^[f]of the God of Jerusalem as they did against ^(H)the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of human hands.

God’s Answer through Isaiah

²⁰ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ^(A)I have heard you.’ ²¹ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

²⁹ ‘Then this shall be ^(P)the sign for you: ^[c]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what grows by itself, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ^30 (Q)The survivors that are left of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem will go a remnant, and survivors ^(R)out of Mount Zion. ^(S)The zeal of ^[d]the Lord will perform this.

³² ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: “^(T)He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield nor heap up an assault ramp against it. ^33 (U)By the way that he came, by ^[e]the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ³⁴ ‘^(V)For I will protect this city to save it for My own sake, and ^(W)for My servant David’s sake.’”

^35 (X)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of ^[f]the 185,000 were ^[g]dead. ³⁶ So ^(Y)Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^[h]returned home, and lived at ^(Z)Nineveh. ³⁷ Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[i](AA)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to ^(AB)the land of Ararat. And his son ^(AC)Esarhaddon became king in his place.

God Answers through Isaiah

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

³⁰ “Then this shall be the sign for you: ^[f]you will eat this year what ^(X)grows of itself, in the second year what grows from the same, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ³¹ The ^(Y)survivors that are ^(Z)left of the house of Judah will again ^(AA)take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³² For out of Jerusalem a ^(AB)remnant will go, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The ^(AC)zeal of the Lord of armies will perform this.”’

³³ “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, nor heap up an ^(AD)assault ramp against it. ^34 (AE)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares the Lord. ³⁵ ‘For I will ^(AF)protect this city to save it ^(AG)for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”

Assyrians Destroyed

³⁶ Then the ^(AH)angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of ^[g]the 185,000 were ^[h]dead. ³⁷ So Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^[i]returned home and lived in ^(AI)Nineveh. ³⁸ Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to the land of ^(AJ)Ararat. And his son ^(AK)Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

²⁰ But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and called out to heaven for help. ²¹ And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every warrior, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ^[a]in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with the sword. ²² So the Lord ^(A)saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and ^[b]guided them on every side. ²³ And ^(B)many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and valuable presents to Hezekiah king of Judah; so thereafter ^(C)he rose in the sight of all nations.