Isaiah 37
New American Standard Bible
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:
“She has shown contempt for you and derided you,
The (AF)virgin (AG)daughter of Zion;
The daughter of Jerusalem has (AH)shaken her head behind you!
23 Whom have you (AI)taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And [h]haughtily (AJ)raised your eyes?
Against the (AK)Holy One of Israel!
24 Through your servants you have taunted the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of (AL)Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall (AM)cedars and its choice junipers.
And I will come to its [i]highest peak, its thickest (AN)forest.
25 I dug wells and drank waters,
And (AO)with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the canals of [j]Egypt.’
26 (AP)Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it,
From ancient times I (AQ)planned it.
Now (AR)I have brought it about
That (AS)you would turn fortified cities into (AT)ruined heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were [k]powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame;
They were like the (AU)vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like (AV)grass on the housetops [l]that is scorched before it has grown.
28 But I (AW)know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
29 Because of your raging against Me
And because your (AX)complacency has come up to My ears,
I will put My (AY)hook in your nose
And My (AZ)bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back (BA)by the way that you came.
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.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:3 Lit give birth
- Isaiah 37:8 Lit he
- Isaiah 37:9 Or Ethiopia
- Isaiah 37:10 Lit Judah, saying
- Isaiah 37:14 Lit letters
- Isaiah 37:14 Lit Hezekiah spread
- Isaiah 37:20 As in DSS and 2 Kin 19:19; MT are the Lord
- Isaiah 37:23 Lit on high
- Isaiah 37:24 Lit farthest height
- Isaiah 37:25 Or the besieged place
- Isaiah 37:27 Lit short of hand
- Isaiah 37:27 As in DSS and 2 Kin 19:26; MT and as a terraced field
- Isaiah 37:30 Lit eating
- Isaiah 37:36 Lit them
- Isaiah 37:36 Lit dead bodies
- Isaiah 37:37 Lit went and returned
Isaiah 37
English Standard Version
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
37 (A)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet (B)Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a (C)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; (D)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 (E)It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for (F)the remnant that is left.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, (G)I will put a spirit in him, so that (H)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and (I)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (J)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (K)Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of (L)Cush,[a] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: (M)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 (N)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (O)Gozan, (P)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (Q)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, (R)enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; (S)you have made the heavens and the earth. 17 (T)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear (U)all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, (V)the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
(W)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (X)the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (Y)With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
(Z)to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all (AA)the streams (AB)of Egypt.
26 (AC)“‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted[b] before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 (AD)Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (AE)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah (AF)shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 (AG)For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. (AH)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or (AI)cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 (AJ)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for (AK)the sake of my servant David.”
36 (AL)And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at (AM)Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of (AN)Ararat, (AO)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:9 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field
Isaia 37
Conferenza Episcopale Italiana
37 Quando udì, il re Ezechia si stracciò le vesti, si ricoprì di sacco e andò nel tempio del Signore. 2 Quindi mandò Eliakìm il maggiordomo, Sebnà lo scrivano e gli anziani dei sacerdoti ricoperti di sacco dal profeta Isaia figlio di Amoz, 3 perché gli dicessero: «Così dice Ezechia: Giorno di angoscia, di castigo e di vergogna è questo, perché i figli sono arrivati fino al punto di nascere, ma manca la forza per partorire. 4 Spero che il Signore tuo Dio, udite le parole del gran coppiere che il re di Assiria suo signore ha mandato per insultare il Dio vivente lo voglia castigare per le parole che il Signore tuo Dio ha udito. Innalza ora una preghiera per quel resto che ancora rimane in vita».
5 Così andarono i ministri del re Ezechia da Isaia. 6 Disse loro Isaia: «Riferite al vostro padrone: Dice il Signore: Non temere per le parole che hai udite e con le quali i ministri del re di Assiria mi hanno ingiuriato. 7 Ecco io infonderò in lui uno spirito tale che egli, appena udrà una notizia, ritornerà nel suo paese e nel suo paese io lo farò cadere di spada».
Ritorno del gran coppiere
8 Ritornato il gran coppiere, trovò il re di Assiria che assaliva Libna. Egli, infatti, aveva udito che si era allontanato da Lachis.
Secondo racconto dell'intervento di Sennàcherib
9 Appena Sennàcherib sentì dire riguardo a Tiràka, re di Etiopia: «E' uscito per muoverti guerra»; inviò di nuovo messaggeri a Ezechia per dirgli: 10 «Direte così a Ezechia, re di Giuda: Non ti illuda il tuo Dio, in cui confidi, dicendoti: Gerusalemme non sarà consegnata nelle mani del re di Assiria; 11 ecco tu sai quanto hanno fatto i re di Assiria in tutti i paesi che hanno votato alla distruzione; soltanto tu ti salveresti? 12 Gli dei delle nazioni che i miei padri hanno devastate hanno forse salvato quelli di Gozan, di Carran, di Rezef e la gente di Eden in Telassàr? 13 Dove sono il re di Amat e il re di Arpad e il re della città di Sefarvàim, di Enà e di Ivvà?».
14 Ezechia prese la lettera dalla mano dei messaggeri, la lesse, quindi salì al tempio del Signore. Ezechia, spiegato lo scritto davanti al Signore, 15 lo pregò: 16 «Signore degli eserciti, Dio di Israele, che siedi sui cherubini, tu solo sei Dio per tutti i regni della terra; tu hai fatto i cieli e la terra. 17 Porgi, Signore, l'orecchio e ascolta; apri, Signore, gli occhi e guarda; ascolta tutte le parole che Sennàcherib ha mandato a dire per insultare il Dio vivente. 18 E' vero, Signore, i re di Assiria hanno devastato tutte le nazioni e i loro territori; 19 hanno gettato i loro dei nel fuoco; quelli però non erano dei, ma solo lavoro delle mani d'uomo, legno e pietra; perciò li hanno distrutti. 20 Ma ora, Signore nostro Dio, liberaci dalla sua mano perché sappiano tutti i regni della terra che tu sei il Signore, il solo Dio».
Intervento di Isaia
21 Allora Isaia, figlio di Amoz mandò a dire a Ezechia: «Così dice il Signore, Dio di Israele: Ho udito quanto hai chiesto nella tua preghiera riguardo a Sennàcherib re di Assiria. 22 Questa è la sentenza che il Signore ha pronunciato contro di lui:
Ti disprezza, ti deride
la vergine figlia di Sion.
Dietro a te scuote il capo
la figlia di Gerusalemme.
23 Chi hai insultato e schernito?
Contro chi hai alzato la voce
e hai elevato, superbo, gli occhi tuoi?
Contro il Santo di Israele!
24 Per mezzo dei tuoi ministri hai insultato il Signore
e hai detto: «Con la moltitudine dei miei carri
sono salito in cima ai monti,
sugli estremi gioghi del Libano,
ne ho reciso i cedri più alti,
i suoi cipressi migliori;
sono penetrato nel suo angolo più remoto,
nella sua foresta lussureggiante.
25 Io ho scavato e bevuto
acque straniere,
ho fatto inaridire con la pianta dei miei piedi
tutti i torrenti dell'Egitto».
26 Non l'hai forse sentito dire?
Da tempo ho preparato questo,
dai giorni antichi io l'ho progettato;
ora lo pongo in atto.
Era deciso che tu riducessi in mucchi di rovine
le fortezze;
27 i loro abitanti impotenti
erano spaventati e confusi,
erano come l'erba dei campi,
come tenera verzura,
come l'erba dei tetti,
bruciata dal vento d'oriente.
28 Io so quando ti alzi o ti metti a sedere,
io ti conosco sia che tu esca sia che rientri.
29 Poiché tu infuri contro di me e la tua insolenza
è salita ai miei orecchi,
ti metterò il mio anello nelle narici
e il mio morso alle labbra;
ti farò tornare per la strada per cui sei venuto.
Il segno di Ezechia
30 Questo ti serva da segno:
si mangerà quest'anno ciò che nascerà dai semi caduti,
nell'anno prossimo quanto crescerà da sé,
ma nel terzo anno seminerete e mieterete,
pianterete vigne e ne mangerete il frutto.
31 Ciò che scamperà della casa di Giuda
continuerà a mettere radici in basso
e a fruttificare in alto.
32 Poiché da Gerusalemme uscirà un resto,
dei superstiti dal monte Sion.
Questo farà lo zelo del Signore degli eserciti.
Oracolo sull'Assiria
33 Pertanto dice il Signore contro il re di Assiria:
Non entrerà in questa città
né vi lancerà una freccia,
non l'affronterà con gli scudi
né innalzerà contro di essa un terrapieno.
34 Ritornerà per la strada per cui è venuto;
non entrerà in questa città.
Oracolo del Signore:
35 Io proteggerò questa città e la salverò,
per riguardo a me stesso e al mio servo Davide.
Castigo di Sennàcherib
36 Ora l'angelo del Signore scese e percosse nell'accampamento degli Assiri centottantacinquemila uomini. Quando i superstiti si alzarono al mattino, ecco erano tutti cadaveri.
37 Sennàcherib re di Assiria levò le tende e partì; tornato a Ninive, rimase colà. 38 Ora, mentre egli era prostrato in venerazione nel tempio di Nisrok suo dio, i suoi figli Adram-Mèlech e Zarèzer lo uccisero di spada, mettendosi quindi al sicuro nel paese di Ararat.
Assarhàddon suo figlio regnò al suo posto.
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