2 Kings 19:21-28
New English Translation
21 This is what the Lord says about him:[a]
“‘“The virgin daughter Zion[b]
despises you, she makes fun of you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you.[c]
22 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted,[d]
and looked so arrogantly?[e]
At the Holy One of Israel![f]
23 Through your messengers you taunted the Sovereign Master,[g]
‘With my many chariots[h]
I climbed up the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions,[i]
its thickest woods.
24 I dug wells and drank
water in foreign lands.[j]
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
25 [k] Certainly you must have heard![l]
Long ago I worked it out.
In ancient times I planned[m] it;
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins.[n]
26 Their residents are powerless,[o]
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field,
or green vegetation.[p]
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops[q]
when it is scorched by the east wind.[r]
27 I know where you live
and everything you do.[s]
28 Because you rage against me,
and the uproar you create has reached my ears,[t]
I will put my hook in your nose,[u]
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back the way
you came.”
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 19:21 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
- 2 Kings 19:21 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
- 2 Kings 19:21 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
- 2 Kings 19:22 tn Heb “have you raised a voice.”
- 2 Kings 19:22 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?”
- 2 Kings 19:22 sn This divine title pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.
- 2 Kings 19:23 tn The word is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay), “lord,” but some Hebrew mss have יְהוָה (yehvah), “Lord.”
- 2 Kings 19:23 tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has בְּרֶכֶב (berekhev), but this must be dittographic (note the following רִכְבִּי [rikhbi], “my chariots”). The marginal reading (Qere) בְּרֹב (berov), “with many,” is supported by many Hebrew mss and ancient versions, as well as the parallel passage in Isa 37:24.
- 2 Kings 19:23 tn Heb “the lodging place of its extremity.”
- 2 Kings 19:24 tn Heb “I dug and drank foreign waters.”
- 2 Kings 19:25 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
- 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.
- 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “formed.”
- 2 Kings 19:25 tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְּהִי (tehi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.
- 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “short of hand.”
- 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
- 2 Kings 19:26 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
- 2 Kings 19:26 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah), “standing grain,” to קָדִים (qadim), “east wind” (with the support of 1Q Isaa in Isa 37:27).
- 2 Kings 19:27 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in.” The MT also has here, “and how you have raged against me.” However, this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line).
- 2 Kings 19:28 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (shaʾananekha), “your complacency,” is emended to שַׁאֲוַנְךְ (shaʾavanekha), “your uproar.” See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38.
- 2 Kings 19:28 sn The word picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
2 Kings 19:21-28
King James Version
21 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the 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 reproached 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 reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
25 Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced 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 house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will 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.
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2 Kings 19:21-28
English Standard Version
21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“She despises you, she scorns you—
(A)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she (B)wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
22 “Whom have you (C)mocked and (D)reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (E)the Holy One of Israel!
23 (F)By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (G)‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of (H)Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest lodging place,
its most (I)fruitful forest.
24 I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams (J)of Egypt.’
25 “Have you not heard
that (K)I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what (L)now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
into heaps of ruins,
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become (M)like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown.
27 “But I know your sitting down
(N)and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will (O)put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (P)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.
列王纪下 19:21-28
Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Simplified)
21 耶和华论他这样说：‘锡安的处女藐视你，嗤笑你，耶路撒冷的女子向你摇头。 22 你辱骂谁，亵渎谁？扬起声来，高举眼目攻击谁呢？乃是攻击以色列的圣者！ 23 你借你的使者辱骂主，并说：“我率领许多战车上山顶，到黎巴嫩极深之处，我要砍伐其中高大的香柏树和佳美的松树，我必上极高之处，进入肥田的树林。 24 我已经在外邦挖井喝水，我必用脚掌踏干埃及的一切河。”’
25 “耶和华说：‘我早先所做的，古时所立的，就是现在借你使坚固城荒废，变为乱堆，这事你岂没有听见吗？ 26 所以其中的居民力量甚小，惊惶羞愧，他们像野草，像青菜，如房顶上的草，又如未长成而枯干的禾稼。 27 你坐下，你出去，你进来，你向我发烈怒，我都知道。 28 因你向我发烈怒，又因你狂傲的话达到我耳中，我就要用钩子钩上你的鼻子，把嚼环放在你口里，使你从你来的路转回去。’
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