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Isaiah Predicts Judah’s Deliverance

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about King Sennacherib of Assyria. 21 And the Lord has spoken this word against him:

“The virgin daughter of Zion
    despises you and laughs at you.
The daughter of Jerusalem
    shakes her head in derision as you flee.

22 “Whom have you been defying and ridiculing?
    Against whom did you raise your voice?
At whom did you look with such haughty eyes?
    It was the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers you have defied the Lord.
    You have said, ‘With my many chariots
I have conquered the highest mountains—
    yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars
    and its finest cypress trees.
I have reached its farthest corners
    and explored its deepest forests.
24 I have dug wells in many foreign lands
    and refreshed myself with their water.
With the sole of my foot
    I stopped up all the rivers of Egypt!’

25 “But have you not heard?
    I decided this long ago.
Long ago I planned it,
    and now I am making it happen.
I planned for you to crush fortified cities
    into heaps of rubble.
26 That is why their people have so little power
    and are so frightened and confused.
They are as weak as grass,
    as easily trampled as tender green shoots.
They are like grass sprouting on a housetop,
    scorched before it can grow lush and tall.

27 “But I know you well—
    where you stay
and when you come and go.
    I know the way you have raged against me.
28 And because of your raging against me
    and your arrogance, which I have heard for myself,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth.
I will make you return
    by the same road on which you came.”

29 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Here is the proof that what I say is true:

“This year you will eat only what grows up by itself,
    and next year you will eat what springs up from that.
But in the third year you will plant crops and harvest them;
    you will tend vineyards and eat their fruit.
30 And you who are left in Judah,
    who have escaped the ravages of the siege,
will put roots down in your own soil
    and will grow up and flourish.
31 For a remnant of my people will spread out from Jerusalem,
    a group of survivors from Mount Zion.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies[a]
    will make this happen!

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Footnotes

  1. 19:31 As in Greek and Syriac versions, Latin Vulgate, and an alternate reading of the Masoretic Text (see also Isa 37:32); the other alternate reads the Lord.

Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(A)(B)

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

“‘Virgin Daughter(E) Zion
    despises(F) you and mocks(G) you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(H) as you flee.
22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(I)
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One(J) of Israel!
23 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,(K)
    “With my many chariots(L)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down(M) 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?(N)
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned(O) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(P)
26 Their people, drained of power,(Q)
    are dismayed(R) and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,(S)
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched(T) before it grows up.

27 “‘But I know(U) 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(V) in your nose
    and my bit(W) in your mouth,
and I will make you return(X)
    by the way you came.’

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

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

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

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