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希西家闻之而忧

19 希西家王听见,就撕裂衣服,披上麻布,进了耶和华的殿。 使家宰以利亚敬和书记舍伯那并祭司中的长老都披上麻布,去见亚摩斯的儿子先知以赛亚 对他说:“希西家如此说:今日是急难、责罚、凌辱的日子,就如妇人将要生产婴孩,却没有力量生产。 或者耶和华你的神听见拉伯沙基的一切话,就是他主人亚述王打发他来辱骂永生神的话,耶和华你的神听见这话就发斥责。故此,求你为余剩的民扬声祷告。”

以赛亚之慰词

希西家王的臣仆就去见以赛亚 以赛亚对他们说:“要这样对你们的主人说:‘耶和华如此说:你听见亚述王的仆人亵渎我的话,不要惧怕。 我必惊动[a]他的心,他要听见风声,就归回本地,我必使他在那里倒在刀下。’”

拉伯沙基回去,正遇见亚述王攻打立拿,原来他早听见亚述王拔营离开拉吉 亚述王听见人论古实特哈加说:“他出来要与你争战。”于是亚述王又打发使者去见希西家,吩咐他们说: 10 “你们对犹大希西家如此说:不要听你所倚靠的神欺哄你说:‘耶路撒冷必不交在亚述王的手中。’ 11 你总听说亚述诸王向列国所行的,乃是尽行灭绝,难道你还能得救吗? 12 我列祖所毁灭的,就是歌散哈兰利色和属提拉撒伊甸人,这些国的神何曾拯救这些国呢? 13 哈马的王、亚珥拔的王、西法瓦音城的王、希拿以瓦的王都在哪里呢?”

希西家祈祷

14 希西家从使者手里接过书信来,看完了,就上耶和华的殿,将书信在耶和华面前展开。 15 希西家向耶和华祷告说:“坐在二基路伯上耶和华以色列的神啊,你是天下万国的神,你曾创造天地。 16 耶和华啊,求你侧耳而听!耶和华啊,求你睁眼而看!要听西拿基立打发使者来辱骂永生神的话。 17 耶和华啊,亚述诸王果然使列国和列国之地变为荒凉, 18 将列国的神像都扔在火里,因为它本不是神,乃是人手所造的,是木头、石头的,所以灭绝它。 19 耶和华我们的神啊,现在求你救我们脱离亚述王的手,使天下万国都知道,唯独你耶和华是神。”

以赛亚预言耶和华拯救

20 亚摩斯的儿子以赛亚就打发人去见希西家,说:“耶和华以色列的神如此说:你既然求我攻击亚述西拿基立,我已听见了。 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。’

29 以色列人哪,我赐你们一个证据:你们今年要吃自生的,明年也要吃自长的,至于后年,你们要耕种收割,栽植葡萄园,吃其中的果子。 30 犹大家所逃脱余剩的,仍要往下扎根,向上结果。 31 必有余剩的民从耶路撒冷而出,必有逃脱的人从锡安山而来。耶和华的热心必成就这事。 32 所以耶和华论亚述王如此说:他必不得来到这城,也不在这里射箭,不得拿盾牌到城前,也不筑垒攻城。 33 他从哪条路来,必从哪条路回去,必不得来到这城。这是耶和华说的。 34 因我为自己的缘故,又为我仆人大卫的缘故,必保护拯救这城。”

35 当夜,耶和华的使者出去,在亚述营中杀了十八万五千人。清早有人起来,一看,都是死尸了。 36 亚述西拿基立就拔营回去,住在尼尼微 37 一日,在他的神尼斯洛庙里叩拜,他儿子亚得米勒沙利色用刀杀了他,就逃到亚拉腊地。他儿子以撒哈顿接续他做王。

Footnotes

  1. 列王纪下 19:7 原文作:使灵进入。

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(A)

19 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore(B) his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim(C) the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests,(D) all wearing sackcloth,(E) to the prophet Isaiah(F) son of Amoz. They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment(G) of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(H) the living God, and that he will rebuke(I) him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant(J) that still survives.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(K) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(L) me. Listen! When he hears a certain report,(M) I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.(N)’”

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

Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a] was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend(Q) on deceive(R) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of 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 predecessors deliver(S) them—the gods of Gozan,(T) Harran,(U) Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”(V)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(W)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(X) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(Y) you alone(Z) are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear,(AA) Lord, and hear;(AB) open your eyes,(AC) Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods(AD) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AE) 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver(AF) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms(AG) of the earth may know(AH) that you alone, Lord, are God.”

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(AI)(AJ)

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard(AK) your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against(AL) him:

“‘Virgin Daughter(AM) Zion
    despises(AN) you and mocks(AO) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(AP) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(AQ)
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One(AR) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(AS)
    “With my many chariots(AT)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(AU) its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest parts,
    the finest of its forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 “‘Have you not heard?(AV)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(AW) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(AX)
26 Their people, drained of power,(AY)
    are dismayed(AZ) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,(BA)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched(BB) before it grows up.

27 “‘But I know(BC) where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
28 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(BD) in your nose
    and my bit(BE) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(BF)
    by the way you came.’

29 “This will be the sign(BG) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,(BH)
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(BI) and eat their fruit.
30 Once more a remnant(BJ) of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(BK) below and bear fruit above.
31 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(BL)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(BM)

“The zeal(BN) of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

32 “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.
33 By the way that he came he will return;(BO)
    he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 I will defend(BP) this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David(BQ) my servant.’”

35 That night the angel of the Lord(BR) went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(BS) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew.(BT) He returned to Nineveh(BU) and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek(BV) and Sharezer killed him with the sword,(BW) and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(BX) And Esarhaddon(BY) his son succeeded him as king.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:9 That is, the upper Nile region

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel

19 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,(A) and went into the Lord’s temple.(B) He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,(C) and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth,(D) to the prophet Isaiah(E) son of Amoz. They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth,(F) but there is no strength to deliver them. Perhaps the Lord your God(G) will hear(H) all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke(I) him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”(J)

So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The Lord says this: Don’t be afraid(K) because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants(L) have blasphemed(M) me. I am about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land,(N) where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”(O)

Sennacherib’s Departing Threat

When(P) the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,(Q) he left and found him fighting against Libnah.(R) The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush, “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely,(S) deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.(T) 11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: They completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations(U) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—nations such as Gozan,(V) Haran,(W) Rezeph, and the Edenites(X) in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of[a] Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’” (Y)

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah took(Z) the letter(AA) from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord.(AB) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord:

Lord God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(AC) you are God—you alone—of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.(AD) 16 Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see.(AE) Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(AF) 17 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.(AG) 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands—wood and stone.(AH) So they have destroyed them. 19 Now, Lord our God, please save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God—you alone.(AI)

God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then(AJ) Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I have heard your prayer(AK) to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria.’(AL) 21 This is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

Virgin Daughter Zion(AM)
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head behind your back.(AN)
22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed?(AO)
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!(AP)
23 You have mocked the Lord[b] through[c] your messengers.(AQ)
You have said, ‘With my many chariots(AR)
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its farthest outpost,
its densest forest.
24 I dug wells
and drank water in foreign lands.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt(AS)
with the soles of my feet.’

25 Have you not heard?(AT)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass,(AU)
and you have crushed fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,(AV)
blasted by the east wind.[d]

27 But I know your sitting down,(AW)
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against me.
28 Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose(AX)
and my bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.

29 “This will be the sign(AY) for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant(AZ) of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors, from Mount Zion.(BA) The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.(BB)

32 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow here,
come before it with a shield,
or build up a siege ramp against it.(BC)
33 He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

34 I will defend this city and rescue it
for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”(BD)

Defeat and Death of Sennacherib

35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(BE) 36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(BF)

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech(BG) and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(BH) Then his son Esar-haddon(BI) became king in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 19:13 Or king of Lair,
  2. 19:23 Many mss read Lord
  3. 19:23 Lit by the hand of
  4. 19:26 DSS; MT reads blasted before standing grain; Is 37:27

Isaiah Assures Deliverance(A)

19 And (B)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with (C)sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to [a]bring them forth. (D)It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to (E)reproach the living God, and will (F)rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. (G)And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be (H)afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the (I)servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send (J)a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”

Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer(K)

Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed (L)from Lachish. And (M)the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God (N)in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 (O)Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of (P)Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (Q)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”

14 (R)And 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 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One (S)who dwells between the cherubim, (T)You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 (U)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; (V)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, (W)which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were (X)not gods, but (Y)the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, (Z)that all the kingdoms of the earth may (AA)know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”

The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(AB)

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (AC)‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, (AD)I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:

‘The virgin, (AE)the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
(AF)Has shaken her head behind your back!

22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against (AG)the Holy One of Israel.
23 (AH)By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: (AI)“By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.
24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have (AJ)dried up
All the brooks of defense.”

25 ‘Did you not hear long ago
How (AK)I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That (AL)you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As (AM)the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.

27 ‘But (AN)I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.
28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore (AO)I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back
(AP)By the way which you came.

29 ‘This shall be a (AQ)sign to you:

‘You shall eat this year such as grows [b]of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
30 (AR)And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
(AS)The zeal of the Lord [c]of hosts will do this.’

32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:

‘He shall (AT)not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the Lord.
34 ‘For (AU)I will (AV)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and (AW)for My servant David’s sake.’ ”

Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death(AX)

35 And (AY)it came to pass on a certain night that the [d]angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at (AZ)Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons (BA)Adrammelech and Sharezer (BB)struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then (BC)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:3 give birth
  2. 2 Kings 19:29 Without cultivation
  3. 2 Kings 19:31 So with many Heb. mss. and ancient vss. (cf. Is. 37:32); MT omits of hosts
  4. 2 Kings 19:35 Or Angel