⁹ Then the Assyrian king learned that Cush’s King Tirhakah was on his way to fight against him. So he sent messengers to Hezekiah again, saying, ¹⁰ “Say this to Judah’s King Hezekiah: Don’t let the God you trust in persuade you by saying, ‘Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the Assyrian king.’ ¹¹ You yourself have heard what Assyrian kings do to other countries, wiping them out. Is it likely that you will be saved? ¹² Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, or the people of Eden in Telassar—save them? ¹³ Where now is Hamath’s king, Arpad’s king, or the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?”^[a]

Hezekiah’s prayer

¹⁴ Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers and read them. Then he went to the temple and spread them out before the Lord. ¹⁵ Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord God of Israel, you sit enthroned on the winged creatures. You alone are God over all the earth’s kingdoms. You made both heaven and earth. ¹⁶ Lord, turn your ear this way and hear! Lord, open your eyes and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words. He sent them to insult the living God! ¹⁷ It’s true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have destroyed many nations and their lands. ¹⁸ The Assyrians burned the gods of those nations with fire because they aren’t real gods. They are only man-made creations of wood and stone. That’s how the Assyrians could destroy them. ¹⁹ So now, Lord our God, please save us from Sennacherib’s power! Then all the earth’s kingdoms will know that you, Lord, are the only true God.”

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

³¹ Those who remain will go out from Jerusalem, and those who survive will go out from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of heavenly forces^[a] will do this.

³² “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about Assyria’s king: He won’t enter this city. He won’t shoot a single arrow there. He won’t come near the city with a shield. He won’t build a ramp to besiege it. ³³ He will go back by the same way he came. He won’t enter this city, declares the Lord. ³⁴ I will defend this city and save it for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

³⁵ That night the Lord’s messenger went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When people got up the next morning, there were dead bodies everywhere. ³⁶ So Assyria’s King Sennacherib departed, returning to Nineveh, where he stayed.

Psalm 48

A song. A psalm of the Korahites.

⁶ Don’t give holy things to dogs, and don’t throw your pearls in front of pigs. They will stomp on the pearls, then turn around and attack you.

¹² Therefore, you should treat people in the same way that you want people to treat you; this is the Law and the Prophets.

Narrow gate

¹³ “Go in through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road wide, so many people enter through it. ¹⁴ But the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road difficult, so few people find it.