2 Kings 19:20-34

International Children’s Bible

‘The people of Jerusalem
    hate you and make fun of you.
The people of Jerusalem
    laugh at you as you run away.
²² You have insulted me and spoken against me.
    You have raised your voice against me.
You have a proud look on your face.
    You disobey me, the Holy One of Israel!
²³ You have used your messengers to insult the Lord.
    You have said, “I have many chariots.
With them I have gone to the tops of the mountains.
    I have climbed the highest mountains of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars.
    I have cut down its best pine trees.
I have reached its farthest places.
    I have gone to its best forests.
²⁴ I have dug wells in foreign countries.
    I have drunk water there.
By the soles of my feet,
    I have dried up all the rivers of Egypt.”

²⁵ “‘King of Assyria, surely you have heard.
    Long ago I, the Lord, planned these things.
Long ago I planned them.
    Now I have made them happen.
I allowed you to turn those strong, walled cities
    into piles of rocks.
²⁶ The people living in those cities were weak.
    They were frightened and put to shame.
They were like grass in the field.
    They were like tender, young grass.
They were like grass that grows on the housetop.
    It is burned by the wind before it can grow.

²⁷ “‘I know when you rest and when you come and go.
    I know how you speak against me.
²⁸ You speak strongly against me.
    And I have heard your proud words.
So I will put my hook in your nose.
    And I will put my bit in your mouth.
Then I will force you to leave my country
    the same way that you came.’

This year you will eat the grain that grows wild.
    And the second year you will eat what grows wild from that.
But in the third year, plant grain and harvest it.
    Plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
³⁰ Some of the people in the family of Judah
    will be saved.
Like plants that take root,
    they will grow strong and have many children.
³¹ A few people will come out of Jerusalem alive.
    There will be a few from Mount Zion who will live.
The strong love of the Lord of heaven’s armies
    will cause this to happen.’

‘He will not enter this city.
    He will not even shoot an arrow here.
He will not fight against it with shields.
    He will not build a ramp to attack the city walls.
³³ He will return to his country the same way he came.
    He will not enter this city,’
    says the Lord.
³⁴ The Lord says, ‘I will defend and save this city.
    I will do this for myself and for David, my servant.’”