2 Kings 19:1-13

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:

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:

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?’”