2 Kings 19
Names of God Bible
19 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in grief, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and the leaders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day filled with misery, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a woman who is about to give birth but doesn’t have the strength to do it. 4 Yahweh your Elohim may have heard all the words of the field commander. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to defy Elohim Chay. Yahweh your Elohim may punish him because of the message that Yahweh your Elohim heard. Pray for the few people who are left.”
5 So King Hezekiah’s men went to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah answered them, “Say this to your master, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Don’t be afraid of the message that you heard when the Assyrian king’s assistants slandered me. 7 I’m going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own country. I’ll have him assassinated in his own country.’”
8 The field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. He had heard that the king left Lachish. 9 Now, Sennacherib heard that King Tirhakah of Sudan was coming to fight him.
Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Don’t let the god whom you trust deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria. 11 You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries, how they totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations which my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers, read them, and went to Yahweh’s temple. He spread them out in front of Yahweh 15 and prayed to Yahweh, “Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, you are enthroned over the angels.[a] You alone are Elohim of all the kingdoms of the world. You made heaven and earth. 16 Turn your ear toward me, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib sent to defy Elohim Chay. 17 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have leveled nations.[b] 18 They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren’t real gods. They’re only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. 19 Now, Yahweh our Elohim, rescue us from Assyria’s control so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are Yahweh Elohim.”
Isaiah’s Prophecy against King Sennacherib of Assyria(A)
20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you. 21 This is the message that Yahweh speaks to him,
‘My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you.
My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.
22 Whom are you defying and slandering?
Against whom are you shouting?
Who are you looking at so arrogantly?
It is Qedosh Yisrael!
23 Through your servants[c] you defy Adonay and say,
“With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains,
up the slopes of Lebanon.
I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses.
I’ll come to its most distant borders
and its most fertile forests.
24 I’ll dig wells and drink foreign water.
I’ll dry up all the streams of Egypt
with the trampling of my feet.”
25 “‘Haven’t you heard? I did this long ago.
I planned it in the distant past.
Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26 Those who live in these cities are weak, discouraged, and ashamed.
They will be like plants in the field,
like fresh, green grass on the roofs,
scorched before it sprouted.
27 I know when you get up and sit down,
when you go out and come in,
and how you rage against me.
28 Since you rage against me and your boasting has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bridle in your mouth.
I will make you go back the way you came.
29 “‘And this will be a sign for you, Hezekiah: You will eat what grows by itself this year and next year. But in the third year you will plant and harvest, plant vineyards, and eat what is produced. 30 Those few people from the nation of Judah who escape will again take root and produce crops. 31 Those few people will go out from Jerusalem, and those who escape will go out of Mount Zion. Yahweh is determined to do this.’
32 “This is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria:
He will never come into this city,
shoot an arrow here,
hold a shield in front of it,
or put up dirt ramps to attack it.
33 He will go back the way he came,
and he won’t come into this city,”
declares Yahweh.
34 “I will shield this city to rescue it for my sake
and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 It happened that night. Yahweh’s angel went out and killed 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When the Judeans got up early in the morning, they saw all the corpses.
36 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left. He went home to Nineveh and stayed there. 37 While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer assassinated him and escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 19:15 Or “cherubim.”
- 2 Kings 19:17 Greek; Masoretic Text “nations and their country.”
- 2 Kings 19:23 Isaiah 37:24; Masoretic Text “kings.”
2 Kings 19
New King James Version
Isaiah Assures Deliverance(A)
19 And (B)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with (C)sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 Then 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 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to [a]bring them forth. 4 (D)It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to (E)reproach the living God, and will (F)rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’ ”
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 (G)And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be (H)afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the (I)servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Surely I will send (J)a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer(K)
8 Then the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed (L)from Lachish. 9 And (M)the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “Look, he has come out to make war with you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God (N)in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 (O)Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of (P)Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (Q)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”
14 (R)And Hezekiah received 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 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One (S)who dwells between the cherubim, (T)You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 (U)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; (V)open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, (W)which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, 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 (X)not gods, but (Y)the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, (Z)that all the kingdoms of the earth may (AA)know that You are the Lord God, You alone.”
The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(AB)
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (AC)‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, (AD)I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:
‘The virgin, (AE)the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
(AF)Has shaken her head behind your back!
22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against (AG)the Holy One of Israel.
23 (AH)By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: (AI)“By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.
24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have (AJ)dried up
All the brooks of defense.”
25 ‘Did you not hear long ago
How (AK)I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That (AL)you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As (AM)the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.
27 ‘But (AN)I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.
28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore (AO)I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back
(AP)By the way which you came.
29 ‘This shall be a (AQ)sign to you:
‘You shall eat this year such as grows [b]of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
30 (AR)And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
(AS)The zeal of the Lord [c]of hosts will do this.’
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:
‘He shall (AT)not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the Lord.
34 ‘For (AU)I will (AV)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and (AW)for My servant David’s sake.’ ”
Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death(AX)
35 And (AY)it came to pass on a certain night that the [d]angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at (AZ)Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons (BA)Adrammelech and Sharezer (BB)struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then (BC)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Kings 19:3 give birth
- 2 Kings 19:29 Without cultivation
- 2 Kings 19:31 So with many Heb. mss. and ancient vss. (cf. Is. 37:32); MT omits of hosts
- 2 Kings 19:35 Or Angel
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 the heavens and the 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.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
