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Isaiah 37

Jerusalem's Deliverance Foretold

 ⁵ When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. ⁷ Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.' "

 ⁸ When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

 ⁹ Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite ^[a] king of Egypt , was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰ "Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.' ¹¹ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"

Hezekiah's Prayer

 ¹⁸ "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. ¹⁹ They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. ²⁰ Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God. ^[b] "

Sennacherib's Fall

 ²³ Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed?
       Against whom have you raised your voice
       and lifted your eyes in pride?
       Against the Holy One of Israel!

 ²⁴ By your messengers
       you have heaped insults on the Lord.
       And you have said,
       'With my many chariots
       I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
       the utmost heights of Lebanon.
       I have cut down its tallest cedars,
       the choicest of its pines.
       I have reached its remotest heights,
       the finest of its forests.

 ²⁵ I have dug wells in foreign lands ^[c]
       and drunk the water there.
       With the soles of my feet
       I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.'

 ²⁶ "Have you not heard?
       Long ago I ordained it.
       In days of old I planned it;
       now I have brought it to pass,
       that you have turned fortified cities
       into piles of stone.

 ²⁷ Their people, drained of power,
       are dismayed and put to shame.
       They are like plants in the field,
       like tender green shoots,
       like grass sprouting on the roof,
       scorched ^[d] before it grows up.

 ²⁸ "But I know where you stay
       and when you come and go
       and how you rage against me.

 ²⁹ Because you rage against me
       and because your insolence has reached my ears,
       I will put my hook in your nose
       and my bit in your mouth,
       and I will make you return
       by the way you came.

 ³⁰ "This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah:
       "This year you will eat what grows by itself,
       and the second year what springs from that.
       But in the third year sow and reap,
       plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

 ³¹ Once more a remnant of the house of Judah
       will take root below and bear fruit above.

 ³² For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
       and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
       The zeal of the LORD Almighty
       will accomplish this.

 ³³ "Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria:
       "He will not enter this city
       or shoot an arrow here.
       He will not come before it with shield
       or build a siege ramp against it.

 ³⁴ By the way that he came he will return;
       he will not enter this city,"
       declares the LORD.

 ³⁵ "I will defend this city and save it,
       for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"

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

 ³⁸ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

Isaiah 38

Hezekiah's Illness

 ² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, ³ "Remember, O LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

 ⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: ⁵ "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶ And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.

 ⁷ " 'This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: ⁸ I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.' " So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.

 ⁹ A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

 ¹⁰ I said, "In the prime of my life
       must I go through the gates of death ^[e]
       and be robbed of the rest of my years?"

 ¹¹ I said, "I will not again see the LORD,
       the LORD, in the land of the living;
       no longer will I look on mankind,
       or be with those who now dwell in this world. ^[f]

 ¹² Like a shepherd's tent my house
       has been pulled down and taken from me.
       Like a weaver I have rolled up my life,
       and he has cut me off from the loom;
       day and night you made an end of me.

 ¹³ I waited patiently till dawn,
       but like a lion he broke all my bones;
       day and night you made an end of me.

 ¹⁴ I cried like a swift or thrush,
       I moaned like a mourning dove.
       My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.
       I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!"

 ¹⁵ But what can I say?
       He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.
       I will walk humbly all my years
       because of this anguish of my soul.

 ¹⁶ Lord, by such things men live;
       and my spirit finds life in them too.
       You restored me to health
       and let me live.

 ¹⁷ Surely it was for my benefit
       that I suffered such anguish.
       In your love you kept me
       from the pit of destruction;
       you have put all my sins
       behind your back.

 ¹⁸ For the grave ^[g] cannot praise you,
       death cannot sing your praise;
       those who go down to the pit
       cannot hope for your faithfulness.

 ¹⁹ The living, the living—they praise you,
       as I am doing today;
       fathers tell their children
       about your faithfulness.

 ²⁰ The LORD will save me,
       and we will sing with stringed instruments
       all the days of our lives
       in the temple of the LORD.

 ²¹ Isaiah had said, "Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover."

 ²² Hezekiah had asked, "What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD ?"

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Colossians 3

Rules for Holy Living

 ⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^{[b] 7}You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

 ¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 ¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Rules for Christian Households

 ¹⁹Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

 ²⁰Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

 ²¹Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

 ²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. ²⁵Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.