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20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. 21 This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head [a]at thee. 22 Whom hast thou defied 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 defied the Lord, and hast said, With the [b]multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice [c]fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his fruitful field. 24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of [d]Egypt.

25 Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified 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 grain blasted before it is grown up. 27 But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. 28 Because of thy raging against me, and because [e]thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I 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 the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, 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 fruit thereof. 30 And [f]the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of [g]Jehovah shall perform this. 32 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:21 Hebrew after.
  2. 2 Kings 19:23 According to another reading, driving.
  3. 2 Kings 19:23 Or, cypress
  4. 2 Kings 19:24 Or, defence. Hebrew Mazor.
  5. 2 Kings 19:28 Or, thy careless ease
  6. 2 Kings 19:30 Hebrew the escaped of the house of Judah that remain.
  7. 2 Kings 19:31 According to another reading, Jehovah of hosts: and so in Isa. 37:32

Isaiah Brings a Prophetic Response

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘What you have prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:

She despises you, she scorns you,
    the virgin daughter of Zion.
Behind you the daughter of Jerusalem
    shakes her head.
22 Whom have you mocked and reviled?
    And against whom have you have raised your voice
and have haughtily lifted your eyes?
    Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
    and you have said,
‘With my many chariots I have gone up
    to the height of the mountains.
To the remote areas of Lebanon,
    I have felled the tallest of its cedars,
    the choicest of its cypresses.
I have entered the place of overnight lodging.
    Even to the edge of forest of its fertile land.
24 I dug wells and I drank foreign water,
    and I dried up with the sole of my steps
    all the canals of Egypt.’
25 Have you not heard?
    From long ago I have determined it,
    from the days of old I have planned it,
    and now I am bringing it to pass.
It shall be turned into a pile of rocks;
    fortified cities are ruined.
26 Their inhabitants, short of hand, shall be dismayed;
    and they shall be ashamed.
They have become green plants of the open field,
    and tender grass,
    green grass of the roof
    and blight before the standing grain.
27 Your sitting, your going out, and your coming in I know,
    and your raging against me.
28 Because you are raging against me,
    and your arrogance has come up in my ears,
I will put my nose ring in your nose
    and my bridle in your mouth.
And I will turn you back
    on the way that you have come.

29 “‘This will be the sign for you: Eat the volunteer plants for the year, and in the second year, the volunteer plants that spring up from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The remainder of the house of Judah which survives will again take root below and bear fruit above. 31 For from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and survivors from Mount Zion; the zeal of Yahweh will do this.

32 “‘Therefore thus says Yahweh to the king of Assyria, “He shall not come to this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow there, nor shall he bring a small shield near her, nor shall he cast a siege ramp against her. 33 By the way that he came to her he shall return; but to this city, he shall not come,” declares Yahweh. 34 And I will defend this city to save her for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”

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