2 Kings 19

2 Kings 18 2 Kings 20

2 Kings 19Expanded Bible (EXB)

Jerusalem Will Be Saved

19 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes [^Ca sign of mourning or distress] and put on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; ^Calso a sign of mourning]. Then he went into the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. ²Hezekiah sent Eliakim, the ·palace [^Lking’s house] manager, and Shebna, the royal secretary, and the ·older [or elders of the] priests to Isaiah. They were all wearing ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap] when they came to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. ³They told Isaiah, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of ·sorrow [distress; trouble] and ·punishment [insults, rebuke] and ·disgrace [rejection], as when a child ·should [is ready to] be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it. ⁴The king of Assyria sent his field commander to ·make fun of [defy; ridicule; insult] the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear what the commander said and will ·punish [rebuke] him for it. So pray for the ·few of us who are left alive [remnant that is left].”

⁵When Hezekiah’s ·officers [officials] came to Isaiah, ⁶he said to them, “Tell your ·master [lord] this: ·The Lord says [^TThus says the Lord], ‘Don’t be afraid of what you have heard. Don’t be frightened by the words the servants of the king of Assyria have ·spoken [used to blaspheme] against me. ⁷Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a ·report [rumor; message] that will make him return to his own country, and I will cause him to ·die [^Lfall] by the sword there.’”

⁸The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. When he went back, he found the king fighting against the city of Libnah.

⁹The king received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of ·Egypt [^LCush; ^Cpresent-day Ethiopia], was coming to attack him. When the king of Assyria heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰“Tell Hezekiah king of Judah: Don’t be ·fooled [deceived; deluded] by the god you trust. Don’t believe him when he says Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. ¹¹You ·have heard [know] what the kings of Assyria have done. They have completely defeated every country, so do ·not [^Lyou…?] think you will be ·saved [rescued; ^Tdelivered]. ¹²Did the gods of those ·people [nations] ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] them? My ·ancestors [fathers] destroyed them, defeating the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar. ¹³Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

Hezekiah Prays to the Lord

¹⁴·When [After] Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the ·Temple [^Lhouse] of the Lord. He spread the letter out before the Lord ¹⁵and prayed ·to [before] the Lord: “Lord, God of Israel, whose throne is ·between [above] the ·gold creatures with wings [^Lcherubim; Ex. 37:7], ·only you [you alone] are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. ¹⁶·Hear [^LExtend/Incline your ear], Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has said to ·insult [defy; ridicule; mock] the living God. ¹⁷It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have ·destroyed [devastated; laid waste to] these ·countries [nations] and their lands. ¹⁸They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire, ·but [for] they were not gods at all but only wood and rock statues that people made. So the kings have destroyed them. ¹⁹Now, Lord our God, ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] us from the king’s ·power [^Lhand] so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, ·are the only [alone are] God.”

God Answers Hezekiah

²⁰Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah that said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria. ²¹This is ·what [^Lthe word] the Lord has said against Sennacherib:

‘The ·people of Jerusalem [^Lvirgin daughter of Zion]
    ·hate you [despises] and ·make fun of [mocks; scorns] you.
The ·people [^Ldaughter] of Jerusalem
    ·laugh at you [^Ltosses her head] ·as you run away [as you flee; or behind your back].
²²·You have insulted me and spoken against me [Whom have you defied/ridiculed/mocked?];
    ·you have raised your voice against me [Against whom have you raised your voice…].
·You have a proud look on your face [and arrogantly lifted your eyes/gaze?]!
    Against the Holy One of Israel!
²³You have sent your messengers to ·insult [defy; ridicule; mock] the Lord.
    You have said, “With my many chariots
I have gone to the tops of the mountains,
    to the ·highest [or remotest] mountains of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars
    and its best ·pine [cypress] trees.
I have gone to its farthest places
    and to its ·best [densest] forests.
²⁴I have dug wells in foreign ·countries [lands]
    and drunk water there.
By the soles of my feet,
    I have ·dried [stopped] up all the rivers of Egypt.”

²⁵“‘King of Assyria, ·surely you have [^Lhave you not…?] heard.
    Long ago I, the Lord, ·planned [determined; ordained] these things.
·Long ago [In ancient times/days of old] I ·designed them [planned it],
    and now I have ·made them happen [brought them to pass].
I allowed you to turn those ·strong, walled [fortified] cities
    into piles of ·rocks [rubble; ruins].
²⁶The people in those cities were ·weak [powerless; drained of strength];
    they were ·frightened [dismayed] and ·put to shame [confused; confounded].
They were like grass in the field,
    like tender, young ·grass [shoots],
like grass on the housetop
    that is ·burned [scorched] by the wind before it can grow.

²⁷“‘I know ·when you rest [when you stand or sit; or where you are],
    when you come and go,
    and how you ·rage [rave] against me.
²⁸Because you ·rage [rave] against me,
    and because I have heard your ·proud [arrogant] words,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth.
Then I will ·force you to leave my country [turn you back; make you retreat]
    the ·same way [road] you came.’

²⁹“Then the Lord said, ‘Hezekiah, I will give you this sign:

This year you will eat the grain that grows ·wild [^Lof itself],
    and the second year you will eat what ·grows [springs] from that.
But in the third year, ·plant grain [sow] and ·harvest it [reap].
    Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
³⁰·Some of the people in [A remnant of] the ·family [^Lhouse] of Judah
    will ·escape [survive].
·Like plants that take root [They will put down roots below],
    ·they will grow strong and have many children [and will bear fruit above].
³¹A ·few people will come out of Jerusalem alive [remnant will spread out from Jerusalem];
    ·a few from Mount Zion will live [and survivors out from Mount Zion].
The ·strong love [zeal] of the Lord All-Powerful
    will ·make this happen [accomplish this].’

³²“So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city
    or even shoot an arrow here.
He will not fight against it with shields
    or build a ramp to ·attack the city walls [lay siege to it].
³³He will ·return to his country [retreat] the same ·way [road] he came,
    and he will not enter this city,’
    says the Lord.
³⁴‘I will defend and ·save [rescue; ^Tdeliver] this city
    for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’”

The Angel of Death

³⁵That night the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord went out and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up early the next morning, they saw all the dead bodies. ³⁶So Sennacherib king of Assyria left and went back to Nineveh and stayed there.

³⁷One day as Sennacherib was worshiping in the ·temple [^Lhouse] of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword. Then they escaped to the land of Ararat. So Sennacherib’s son Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.