¹⁷ Then the king of Assyria sent ^(A)Tartan and Rab-saris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah with a large army to Jerusalem. So they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they went up, they came and stood by the ^(B)conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway of the ^[a]fuller’s field. ¹⁸ When they called to the king, ^(C)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(D)Shebnah the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came out to them.

¹⁹ Then Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “^(E)What is this confidence that you ^[b]have? ²⁰ You say (but they are ^[c]only empty words), ‘I have counsel and strength for the war.’ Now on whom do you rely, ^(F)that you have rebelled against me? ²¹ Now behold, you ^[d](G)rely on the staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt; on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[e]hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ²² But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and ^(H)whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? ²³ Now therefore, ^[f]come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ²⁴ How then can you ^[g]repulse one ^[h]official of the least of my master’s servants, and ^[i]rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ²⁵ Have I now come up ^[j]without the Lord’s approval against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in Aramaic, for we ^[k]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[l](I)Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ²⁷ But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

²⁸ Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in Judean, ^[m]saying, “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria. ²⁹ Thus says the king, ‘^(J)Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you from ^[n]my hand; ³⁰ nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ³¹ Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, “^[o]Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat ^(K)each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, ³² until I come and take you away ^(L)to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live and not die.” But do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” ^33 (M)Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ^34 (N)Where are the gods of Hamath and ^(O)Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and ^[p](P)Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? ³⁵ Who among all the gods of the lands ^[q]have delivered their land from my hand, ^(Q)that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

³⁶ But the people were silent and answered him not a word, for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ³⁷ Then ^(R)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah ^(S)with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 ^(T)And when King Hezekiah heard it, he ^(U)tore his clothes, ^(V)covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim who was over the household with Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, ^(W)covered with sackcloth, to ^(X)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth and there is no strength to deliver. ^4 (Y)Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent ^(Z)to reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(AA)the remnant that is left.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the ^(AB)servants of the king of Assyria ^(AC)have blasphemed Me. ⁷ Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that ^(AD)he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And ^(AE)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against ^(AF)Libnah, for he had heard that ^[r]the king had left ^(AG)Lachish. ⁹ When he heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ^[s]Cush, “Behold, he has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[t]Judah, ‘Do not ^(AH)let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, “^(AI)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 the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be ^[u]spared? ^12 (AJ)Did the gods of ^[v]those nations which my fathers destroyed deliver them, even ^(AK)Gozan and ^(AL)Haran and Rezeph and ^(AM)the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ^13 (AN)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

¹⁴ Then ^(AO)Hezekiah took the ^[w]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[x]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, ^(AP)who are ^[y]enthroned above the cherubim, ^(AQ)You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ^16 (AR)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; ^(AS)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent ^(AT)to reproach the living God. ¹⁷ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands ¹⁸ and have cast their gods into the fire, ^(AU)for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ¹⁹ Now, O Lord our God, I pray, deliver us from his hand ^(AV)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O ^(AW)Lord, are God.”

God’s Answer through Isaiah

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

²⁹ ‘Then this shall be ^(BM)the sign for you: ^[af]you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. ^30 (BN)The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³¹ For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant, and ^(BO)out of Mount Zion ^[ag]survivors. ^(BP)The zeal of ^[ah]the Lord will perform this.

³² ‘Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “^(BQ)He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. ^33 (BR)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,”’ declares the Lord. ³⁴ ‘^(BS)For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and ^(BT)for My servant David’s sake.’”

^35 (BU)Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when ^[ai]men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were ^[aj]dead. ³⁶ So ^(BV)Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at ^(BW)Nineveh. ³⁷ It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that ^[ak](BX)Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into ^(BY)the land of Ararat. And ^(BZ)Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 ^(CA)In those days Hezekiah became ^[al]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^(CB)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “^(CC)Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, ^(CD)how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And ^(CE)Hezekiah wept ^[am]bitterly. ⁴ Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and say to ^(CF)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “^(CG)I have heard your prayer, ^(CH)I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your ^[an]life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(CI)I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “^(CJ)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ So Hezekiah ^[ao]answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and ^(CK)He brought the shadow on the ^[ap]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[aq]stairway of Ahaz.

Sennacherib Undermines Hezekiah

⁹ After this ^(A)Sennacherib king of Assyria sent his servants to Jerusalem while he was ^[a]besieging Lachish with all his forces with him, against Hezekiah king of Judah and against all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? ¹¹ Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst, saying, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the ^[b]hand of the king of Assyria”? ^12 (B)Has not the same Hezekiah taken away His high places and His altars, and said to Judah and ^[c]Jerusalem, “You shall worship before one altar, and on it you shall ^[d]burn incense”? ¹³ Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? ^(C)Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? ^14 (D)Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed who could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? ¹⁵ Now therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this, and do not believe him, for ^(E)no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand?’”

¹⁶ His servants spoke further against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. ¹⁷ He also wrote letters to insult the Lord God of Israel, and to speak against Him, saying, “^(F)As the gods of the nations of the lands ^[e]have not delivered their people from my hand, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver His people from my hand.” ^18 (G)They called this out with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, so that they might take the city. ¹⁹ They spoke ^[f]of the God of Jerusalem as of ^(H)the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men’s hands.

Hezekiah’s Prayer Is Answered

²⁰ But King Hezekiah and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed about this and cried out to heaven. ²¹ And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned ^[g]in shame to his own land. And when he had entered the temple of his god, some of his own children killed him there with the sword. ²² So the Lord ^(I)saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria and from the hand of all others, and ^[h]guided them on every side. ²³ And ^(J)many were bringing gifts to the Lord at Jerusalem and choice presents to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that ^(K)he was exalted in the sight of all nations thereafter.

^24 (L)In those days Hezekiah became ^[i]mortally ill; and he prayed to the Lord, and ^[j]the Lord spoke to him and gave him a sign.

² And the ^(A)king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the ^(B)conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the ^[a]fuller’s field. ³ Then ^(C)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(D)Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.

⁴ Then ^(E)Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, “What is this confidence that you ^[b]have? ⁵ I say, ‘Your counsel and strength for the war are only ^[c]empty words.’ Now on whom do you rely, that ^(F)you have rebelled against me? ⁶ Behold, you rely on the ^(G)staff of this crushed reed, even on Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his ^[d]hand and pierce it. ^(H)So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him. ⁷ But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He ^(I)whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’? ⁸ Now therefore, ^[e]come make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. ⁹ How then can you ^[f]repulse one ^[g]official of the least of my master’s servants and ^[h](J)rely on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? ¹⁰ Have I now come up ^[i]without the Lord’s approval against this land to destroy it? ^(K)The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”’”

¹¹ Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak now to your servants in ^(L)Aramaic, for we ^[j]understand it; and do not speak with us in ^[k](M)Judean in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” ¹² But Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me only to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, doomed to eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?”

¹³ Then Rabshakeh stood and ^(N)cried with a loud voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ¹⁴ Thus says the king, ‘Do not let Hezekiah ^(O)deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; ¹⁵ nor let Hezekiah make you ^(P)trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹⁶ Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for thus says the king of Assyria, ‘^[l]Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his ^(Q)vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the ^(R)waters of his own cistern, ¹⁷ until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ¹⁸ Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, “^(S)The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of ^(T)Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of ^(U)Sepharvaim? And when have they ^(V)delivered Samaria from my hand? ²⁰ Who among all the ^(W)gods of these lands have delivered their land from my hand, that the ^(X)Lord would deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’”

²¹ But they were silent and ^(Y)answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” ²² Then ^(Z)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and ^(AA)Shebna the scribe and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

37 And ^(AB)when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth and entered the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent ^(AC)Eliakim who was over the household with ^(AD)Shebna the scribe and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to ^(AE)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a ^(AF)day of distress, rebuke and rejection; for ^(AG)children have come to birth, and there is no strength to ^[m]deliver. ⁴ Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to ^(AH)reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for ^(AI)the remnant that is left.’”

⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(AJ)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 will put a spirit in him so that he will ^(AK)hear a rumor and ^(AL)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 ^(AM)Libnah, for he had heard that ^[n]the king had left ^(AN)Lachish. ⁹ When he ^(AO)heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of ^[o](AP)Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” and when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of ^[p]Judah, ‘^(AQ)Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ^11 (AR)Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be ^[q]spared? ¹² Did the gods of ^[r]those nations which my fathers have destroyed deliver them, even ^(AS)Gozan and ^(AT)Haran and 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 ^[s]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and ^[t]spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed to the Lord saying, ¹⁶ “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ^(AU)who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the ^(AV)God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. ^(AW)You have made heaven and earth. ^17 (AX)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and ^(AY)listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to ^(AZ)reproach the living God. ¹⁸ Truly, O Lord, the ^(BA)kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, ¹⁹ and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the ^(BB)work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have ^(BC)destroyed them. ²⁰ Now, O Lord our God, ^(BD)deliver us from his hand that ^(BE)all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, ^[u]are God.”

God Answers through Isaiah

²¹ Then ^(BF)Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

³⁰ “Then this shall be the sign for you: ^[aa]you will eat this year what ^(CC)grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ³¹ The ^(CD)surviving ^(CE)remnant of the house of Judah will again ^(CF)take root downward and bear fruit upward. ³² For out of Jerusalem will go forth a ^(CG)remnant and out of Mount Zion ^[ab]survivors. The ^(CH)zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”’

³³ “Therefore, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, or throw up a ^(CI)siege ramp against it. ^34 (CJ)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 ^(CK)defend this city to save it ^(CL)for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”

Assyrians Destroyed

³⁶ Then the ^(CM)angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when ^[ac]men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were ^[ad]dead. ³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and ^[ae]returned home and lived at ^(CN)Nineveh. ³⁸ It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of ^(CO)Ararat. And ^(CP)Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

Hezekiah Healed

38 ^(CQ)In those days Hezekiah became ^[af]mortally ill. And ^(CR)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^(CS)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, “^(CT)Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have ^(CU)walked before You in truth and with a ^(CV)whole heart, and ^(CW)have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah ^(CX)wept ^[ag]bitterly.

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵ “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add ^(CY)fifteen years to your ^[ah]life. ⁶ I will ^(CZ)deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’

⁷ “This shall be the ^(DA)sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken: ⁸ Behold, I will ^(DB)cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the ^(DC)sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.