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. 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) 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.

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Hezekiah Asks God to Help(A)

37 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes [C a sign of mourning or distress; 36:22] and put on ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth; C also a sign of mourning]. Then he went into the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. Hezekiah sent Eliakim [22:20], ·the palace manager [L who was over the house], and Shebna [22:15], the ·royal secretary [scribe], and the ·older [or senior; leading; L elders of the] priests to Isaiah. They were all wearing ·rough cloth [burlap; sackcloth] when they came to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. They told Isaiah, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of ·sorrow [distress; trouble] and ·punishment [insults; rebuke] and ·disgrace [rejection], as when a child ·should [is ready to] be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it.

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