2 Kings 19
English Standard Version
Isaiah Reassures Hezekiah
19 (A)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, (B)he tore his clothes and (C)covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, (D)covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 (E)It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent (F)to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for (G)the remnant that is left.” 5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which (H)the servants of the king of Assyria have (I)reviled me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that (J)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him (K)fall by the sword in his own land.’”
Sennacherib Defies the Lord
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (L)Libnah, for he heard that the king had left (M)Lachish. 9 (N)Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “Behold, he has set out to fight against you.” So he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God (O)in whom you trust deceive you by promising that (P)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 lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 (Q)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (R)Gozan, (S)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of (T)Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (U)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer
14 Hezekiah received (V)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 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, (W)enthroned above the cherubim, (X)you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 (Y)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; (Z)open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent (AA)to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O 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 not gods, (AB)but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, (AC)that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that (AD)you, O Lord, are God alone.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib's Fall
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria (AE)I have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“She despises you, she scorns you—
(AF)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she (AG)wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
22 “Whom have you (AH)mocked and (AI)reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (AJ)the Holy One of Israel!
23 (AK)By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (AL)‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of (AM)Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest lodging place,
its most (AN)fruitful forest.
24 I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams (AO)of Egypt.’
25 “Have you not heard
that (AP)I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what (AQ)now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
into heaps of ruins,
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become (AR)like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown.
27 “But I know your sitting down
(AS)and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will (AT)put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (AU)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.
29 “And this shall be (AV)the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 (AW)And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion (AX)a band of survivors. (AY)The zeal of the Lord will do this.
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or (AZ)cast up a siege mound against it. 33 (BA)By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 (BB)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake (BC)and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 And that night (BD)the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at (BE)Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, (BF)Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 19
International Standard Version
Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah
19 When King Hezekiah heard Eliakim’s report,[a] he tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth covering, entered the Lord’s Temple, 2 and sent Eliakim the household supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests—all of them covered in sackcloth—to Amoz’s son, the prophet Isaiah. 3 They announced to him:
“This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy,[b] because children are about to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will take note of everything that Rab-shakeh has said, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to taunt the living God, and then he will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the survivors who remain.’”
5 That is how the King Hezekiah’s servants approached Isaiah.
6 In reply, Isaiah responded to them, “Here’s how you’re to report to your master:
‘This is what the Lord says: “Never be afraid of the words that you have heard by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Look! I’m going to cause an attitude[c] to grow within him so that he’ll hear a rumor and return to his own territory, where I’ll make him die by the sword in his own land!”’”
Sennacherib Defies God(A)
8 So Rab-shakeh returned and found the king of Assyria at war with Libnah, because Rab-shakeh had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 When he heard that it was being said about King Tirhakah of Ethiopia,[d] “Look! He has come out to attack you!” he again sent messengers to Hezekiah.
The messengers were told, 10 “This is what you are to say to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you by telling you[e] “Jerusalem won’t be turned over to the control[f] of Assyria’s king.” 11 ‘Look! you’ve heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands—they completely destroyed them! Will you be spared? 12 Did the gods of those nations whom my ancestors destroyed deliver them, including Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and Eden’s descendants in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer for Help
14 Hezekiah took the messages from the couriers, read them, went up to the Lord’s Temple, and laid them out in the presence of the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed in the presence of the Lord, “Lord God of Israel! You live between the cherubim! You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have fashioned the heavens and the earth. 16 Turn[g] your ear, Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to the message sent by Sennacherib to insult the living God! 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated nations and their territories, 18 throwing their gods into the fire, since they weren’t gods but rather were the product of men’s handiwork—wood and stone. And so they destroyed them. 19 Now, Lord our God, I’m praying that you will deliver us from his control, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God!”
God’s Answer through Isaiah the Prophet
20 Then Amoz’s son Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, I have listened.’”
21 “This is what the Lord has spoken against him:
‘She despises and mocks you,
this virgin daughter of Zion!
Behind your back she shakes her head,
this daughter of Jerusalem!
22 Who are you reproaching and blaspheming?
Against whom have you raised your voice?
And against whom[h] have you lifted up your eyes in arrogance?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By your messengers you have insulted the Lord.
You have claimed,
“With my many chariots
I ascended the heights of the mountains,
including the remotest regions of Lebanon;
I cut down its tall cedars
and the best of its cypress trees.
I entered its most remote lodging place
and its most fruitful[i] forest.
24 I myself dug for and drank foreign water.
With the sole of my foot I dried up all the streams of Egypt!”
25 ‘Didn’t you hear?
I determined it years ago!
I planned this from ancient times,
and now I’ve brought it to pass,
to turn fortified cities
into piles of ruins
26 while their inhabitants, lacking strength,
stand dismayed and confused.
They were like vegetation out in the fields,
and like green herbs—
just as grass that grows on a housetop
dries out before it can grow.
27 ‘But when you sit down,
when you go out,
and when you come in,
I’m aware of it!
28 Because of your rage against me,
your complacency has reached my ears.
I’ll put my hook into your nostrils
and my bit into your mouth.
Then I’ll turn you back on the road
by which you came.’
29 “This will serve as a sign for you: you’ll eat this year from what grows by itself, in the second year what grows from that, and in the third year you’ll sow, reap, plant vineyards, and enjoy[j] their fruit. 30 Those who survive from Judah’s household will again put down deep roots and bear fruit extensively,[k] 31 because a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord[l] will bring this about.”
32 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘Not only will he not approach this city or shoot an arrow in its direction, he won’t approach it with so much as a shield, nor will he throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 He’ll return on the same route by which he came—he won’t come to this city,’ declares the Lord. 34 ‘I will defend this city and preserve it for my own reasons, and because of my servant David.’”
God Destroys the Assyrian Army(B)
35 That very night, the angel of the Lord went out to the camp of the Assyrian army and killed 185,000 men. Early the next morning, when the army of Israel[m] arose, all 185,000 soldiers[n] were dead. 36 As a result, King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned to Nineveh where he lived. 37 Later on, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech[o] and Sharezer killed him with a sword and fled into the territory of Ararat. Then Sennacherib’s[p] son Esarhaddon became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 19:1 The Heb. lacks Eliakim’s report
- 2 Kings 19:3 Or contempt
- 2 Kings 19:7 Or to bring a spirit
- 2 Kings 19:9 Lit. Cush
- 2 Kings 19:10 The Heb. lacks you
- 2 Kings 19:10 Lit. hand
- 2 Kings 19:16 Or Bow down
- 2 Kings 19:22 The Heb. lacks against whom
- 2 Kings 19:23 Or its densest
- 2 Kings 19:29 Lit. eat
- 2 Kings 19:30 Or upwards
- 2 Kings 19:31 So MT; LXX and a MT variant read Lord of the Heavenly Armies
- 2 Kings 19:35 Lit. when they
- 2 Kings 19:35 The Heb. lacks 185,000 soldiers
- 2 Kings 19:37 So MT; LXX and a MT variant read his sons Adrammelech
- 2 Kings 19:37 Lit. his
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
