2 Kings 19
Modern English Version
Hezekiah Consults Isaiah(A)
19 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of distress, chastisement, and disgrace, for children have come to the mouth of the womb, but there is no strength to birth them. 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard, and you might lift up a prayer for the remnant that are left.”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Thus shall you say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 I am putting a spirit in him, and he will hear a report and return to his own land. Then I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.’ ”
Sennacherib Defies the Lord
8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish.
9 When the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: 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 You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by annihilating them. Will you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Harran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer(B)
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, who sits on the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the sky and the earth. 16 Incline, O Lord, Your ear and hear. Open, O Lord, Your eyes and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to taunt the living God.
17 “Surely, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have annihilated the nations and their lands 18 and have put their gods in the fire, for they were no gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; thus they have been destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You, O Lord, are God alone.”
Isaiah Prophesies Sennacherib’s Fall(C)
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: That which you have prayed to Me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
She despises you, she ridicules you—
virgin daughter of Zion.
Behind you, she shakes her head—
daughter of Jerusalem.
22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised a voice
and lifted your eyes upward?
Against the Holy One of Israel.
23 By your messengers
you have taunted the Lord,
and have said,
‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the height of the mountains,
to farthest reaches of Lebanon,
and I will cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest junipers.
I will enter its most remote canopies of night,
its dense forest.
24 I have dug wells
and drunk foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.’
25 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I arranged it,
in ancient times I formed it;
now I bring it to pass,
that you will turn impregnable cities
into desolate heaps of stones.
26 Their inhabitants are powerless;
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are like grass of the field
and new vegetation,
grass on the roof tops,
scorched before it stands.
27 “But I know your dwelling place,
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against Me.
28 Because you have raged against Me,
and your self-assuredness has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
and My bridle on your lips,
and I will turn you back
on the way by which you came.
29 “This will be the sign to you:
This year you will eat what grows itself,
and in the second year the same.
Then in the third year sow, reap,
and plant vineyards, and eat their fruits.
30 The spared of the house of Judah who remain
will again take root below, and bear fruit above.
31 For from Jerusalem a remnant will go forth,
and escapees from Mount Zion.
“The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow there,
approach it with shield,
or heap up a siege ramp against it.
33 By the way that he came, he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
34 For I will protect this city to save it,
for My own sake and for the sake of David My servant.”
The Death of Sennacherib
35 On that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When others woke up early in the morning, these were all dead bodies. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and stayed in Nineveh.
37 As he was worshipping in the house of Nisrok his god, Adrammelek and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
2 Kings 19
Authorized (King James) Version
19 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. 3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left. 5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 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. 7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 So Rab-shakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto 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 delivered 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 Thelasar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 16 Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. 17 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, 18 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. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that 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.
22 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.
23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord,
and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots
I am come up to the height of the mountains,
to the sides of Lebanon,
and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof,
and the choice fir trees thereof:
and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders,
and into the forest of his Carmel.
24 I have digged and drunk strange waters,
and with the sole of my feet have I dried up
all the rivers of besieged places.
25 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
fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
26 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.
27 But I know thy abode,
and thy going out, and thy coming in,
and thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me
and thy tumult is come up into mine ears,
therefore I will 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.
29 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. 30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 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. 32 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 shield, nor cast a bank against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. 34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. 37 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 Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.