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.”

God Answers through Isaiah

²¹ Then ^(AE)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: ^[m]you will eat this year what ^(BB)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 ^(BC)survivors that are ^(BD)left of the house of Judah will again ^(BE)take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³² For out of Jerusalem a ^(BF)remnant will go, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The ^(BG)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 ^(BH)assault ramp against it. ^34 (BI)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 ^(BJ)protect this city to save it ^(BK)for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”

Assyrians Destroyed

³⁶ Then the ^(BL)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 ^[n]the 185,000 were ^[o]dead. ³⁷ So Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and ^[p]returned home and lived in ^(BM)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 ^(BN)Ararat. And his son ^(BO)Esarhaddon became king in his place.