Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(A) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(B) me.

Read full chapter

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Read full chapter

35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(A)

Read full chapter

35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?

Read full chapter

Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(A)(B)

17 The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander,(C) his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool,(D) on the road to the Washerman’s Field.

Read full chapter

17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.

Read full chapter

It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.(A)

Read full chapter

And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Read full chapter

12 “I, even I, am he who comforts(A) you.
    Who are you that you fear(B) mere mortals,(C)
    human beings who are but grass,(D)
13 that you forget(E) the Lord your Maker,(F)
    who stretches out the heavens(G)
    and who lays the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror(H) every day
    because of the wrath of the oppressor,
    who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?(I)

Read full chapter

12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;

13 And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Read full chapter

“Hear me, you who know what is right,(A)
    you people who have taken my instruction to heart:(B)
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
    or be terrified by their insults.(C)

Read full chapter

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

Read full chapter

10 So do not fear,(A) for I am with you;(B)
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen(C) you and help(D) you;
    I will uphold you(E) with my righteous right hand.(F)

11 “All who rage(G) against you
    will surely be ashamed and disgraced;(H)
those who oppose(I) you
    will be as nothing and perish.(J)
12 Though you search for your enemies,
    you will not find them.(K)
Those who wage war against you
    will be as nothing(L) at all.
13 For I am the Lord your God
    who takes hold of your right hand(M)
and says to you, Do not fear;
    I will help(N) you.
14 Do not be afraid,(O) you worm(P) Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help(Q) you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer,(R) the Holy One(S) of Israel.

Read full chapter

10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.

12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Read full chapter

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

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

Now Sennacherib(H) received a report(I) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a](J) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(K) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(L) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(M) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(N) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(O) Rezeph and the people of Eden(P) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(Q) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(R) Hena and Ivvah?”(S)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(T)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(U) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(V) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(W) to the Lord: 16 Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(X) between the cherubim,(Y) you alone are God(Z) over all the kingdoms(AA) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(AB) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(AC) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(AD) listen to all the words Sennacherib(AE) has sent to ridicule(AF) the living God.(AG)

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(AH) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(AI) and destroyed them,(AJ) for they were not gods(AK) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AL) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(AM) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(AN) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[b](AO)

Sennacherib’s Fall(AP)

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(AQ) 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(AR) Zion(AS)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(AT) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(AU)
    Against whom have you raised your voice(AV)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(AW)
    Against the Holy One(AX) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(AY)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(AZ) of Lebanon.(BA)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(BB)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[c]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up(BC) all the streams of Egypt.(BD)

26 “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained(BE) it.
In days of old I planned(BF) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(BG)
27 Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass(BH) sprouting on the roof,(BI)
    scorched[d] before it grows up.

28 “But I know where you are
    and when you come and go(BJ)
    and how you rage(BK) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence(BL) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(BM) in your nose(BN)
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.(BO)

30 “This will be the sign(BP) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year(BQ) you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(BR) sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(BS) and eat their fruit.(BT)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(BU) below and bear fruit(BV) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(BW)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(BX)
The zeal(BY) of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city(BZ)
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp(CA) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(CB)
    he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(CC) this city and save it,
    for my sake(CD) and for the sake of David(CE) my servant!”

36 Then the angel(CF) of the Lord went out and put to death(CG) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(CH) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(CI) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(CJ) and stayed there.

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(CK) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(CL) And Esarhaddon(CM) his son succeeded him as king.(CN)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  2. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
  3. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
  4. Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields

And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.

15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,

16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

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 have destroyed them.

20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

22 This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.

25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.

26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.

27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.

28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:

32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.

33 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.

34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.

35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Read full chapter

23 Do not ignore the clamor(A) of your adversaries,(B)
    the uproar(C) of your enemies,(D) which rises continually.

Read full chapter

23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

Read full chapter

18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,
    how foolish people(A) have reviled your name.

Read full chapter

18 Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

Read full chapter

17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see(A) the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

Read full chapter

17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

Read full chapter

15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged(A) because of this vast army. For the battle(B) is not yours, but God’s.

Read full chapter

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.

Read full chapter

30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

Read full chapter

30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Read full chapter