Hezekiah’s Prayer(A)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(B) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(C) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(D) to the Lord: 16 Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(E) between the cherubim,(F) you alone are God(G) over all the kingdoms(H) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(I) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(J) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(K) listen to all the words Sennacherib(L) has sent to ridicule(M) the living God.(N)

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(O) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(P) and destroyed them,(Q) for they were not gods(R) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(S) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(T) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(U) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[a](V)

Sennacherib’s Fall(W)

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(X) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter(Y) Zion(Z)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(AA) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(AB)
    Against whom have you raised your voice(AC)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(AD)
    Against the Holy One(AE) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(AF)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(AG) of Lebanon.(AH)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(AI)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[b]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up(AJ) all the streams of Egypt.(AK)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
  2. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.

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