¹³ Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,^(A) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!^{(B) 14} This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive^(C) you. He cannot deliver you! ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver^(D) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’^(E)

¹⁶ “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree^(F) and drink water from your own cistern,^{(G) 17} until I come and take you to a land like your own^(H)—a land of grain and new wine,^(I) a land of bread and vineyards.

¹⁸ “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?^(J) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?^(K) Have they rescued Samaria^(L) from my hand? ²⁰ Who of all the gods^(M) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”^(N)

²¹ But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”^(O)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(A)

37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes^(B) and put on sackcloth^(C) and went into the temple^(D) of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim^(E) the palace administrator, Shebna^(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^{(G) 3} They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress^(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth^(I) and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule^(J) the living God,^(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.^(L) Therefore pray^(M) for the remnant^(N) that still survives.”

Hezekiah’s Prayer^(A)

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter^(B) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple^(C) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed^(D) to the Lord:

Sennacherib’s Fall^(A)

²¹ Then Isaiah son of Amoz^(B) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

³³ “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

³⁶ Then the angel^(G) of the Lord went out and put to death^(H) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian^(I) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷ So Sennacherib^(J) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh^(K) and stayed there.

³⁸ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple^(L) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.^(M) And Esarhaddon^(N) his son succeeded him as king.^(O)