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Isaiah 35-37
Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 35-37
Christian Standard Bible
The Ransomed Return to Zion
35 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;
the desert will rejoice and blossom like a wildflower.[a](A)
2 It will blossom abundantly
and will also rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.(B)
They will see the glory of the Lord,(C)
the splendor of our God.(D)
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
steady the shaking knees!(E)
4 Say to the cowardly:
“Be strong; do not fear!
Here is your God; vengeance is coming.(F)
God’s retribution is coming; he will save you.”(G)
5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.(H)
6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,(I)
and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,(J)
for water will gush in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;(K)
7 the parched ground will become a pool,
and the thirsty land, springs.(L)
In the haunt of jackals,(M) in their lairs,
there will be grass, reeds, and papyrus.
8 A road will be there and a way;(N)
it will be called the Holy Way.(O)
The unclean will not travel on it,(P)
but it will be for the one who walks the path.(Q)
Fools will not wander on it.
9 There will be no lion there,
and no vicious beast will go up on it;
they will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk on it,
10 and the ransomed of the Lord will return(R)
and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy.
Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.(S)
Sennacherib’s Invasion
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,(T) King Sennacherib of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his royal spokesman, along with a massive army, from Lachish(U) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to Launderer’s Field.(V) 3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,(W) and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came out to him.
4 The royal spokesman said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
The great king, the king of Assyria, says this: What are you relying on? 5 You[b] think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me?(X) 6 Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff(Y) that will pierce the hand of anyone who grabs it and leans on it. This is how Pharaoh king of Egypt is to all who rely on him.(Z) 7 Suppose you say to me, ‘We rely on the Lord our God.’ Isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You are to worship at this altar’?(AA)
8 “Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them! 9 How then can you drive back a single officer among the least of my master’s servants? How can you rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?(AB) 10 Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s approval? The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the royal spokesman, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(AC) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew[c] within earshot of the people who are on the wall.”
12 But the royal spokesman replied, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your master and to you, and not to the men who are sitting on the wall, who are destined with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?”
13 Then the royal spokesman stood and called out loudly in Hebrew:
Listen to the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 This is what the king says: “Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you,(AD) for he cannot rescue you. 15 Don’t let Hezekiah persuade you to rely on the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord will certainly rescue us! This city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’”
16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: “Make peace[d] with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree(AE) and drink water from his own cistern 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, ‘The Lord will rescue us.’(AF) Has any one of the gods of the nations(AG) rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(AH) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my power?(AI) 20 Who among all the gods of these lands ever rescued his land from my power? So will the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?”
21 But they kept silent; they didn’t say anything, for the king’s command was, “Don’t answer him.”(AJ) 22 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the court historian, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and reported to him the words of the royal spokesman.
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
37 When King Hezekiah heard their report,(AK) he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,(AL) and went to the Lord’s temple. 2 He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace.(AM) It is as if children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.(AN) 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God,(AO) and will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”(AP)
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6 who said to them, “Tell your master, ‘The Lord says this: Don’t be afraid(AQ) because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants have blasphemed me.(AR) 7 I am about to put a spirit(AS) in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”(AT)
Sennacherib’s Letter
8 When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,(AU) he left and found him fighting against Libnah.(AV) 9 The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush,(AW) “He has set out to fight against you.” So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you(AX) by promising that Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: they completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations(AY) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—Gozan,(AZ) Haran,(BA) Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of[e] Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers’ hands, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord.(BB) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed(BC) to the Lord:
16 Lord of Armies, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,(BD) you are God(BE)—you alone(BF)—of all the kingdoms of the earth.(BG) You made the heavens and the earth.(BH) 17 Listen closely, Lord, and hear;(BI) open your eyes, Lord, and see.(BJ) Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(BK) 18 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods(BL) but made from wood and stone(BM) by human hands.(BN) So they have destroyed them. 20 Now, Lord our God, save us from his power so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are God[f](BO)—you alone.(BP)
God’s Answer through Isaiah
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
Virgin Daughter Zion(BQ)
despises you and scorns you;
Daughter Jerusalem shakes her head(BR)
behind your back.
23 Who is it you have mocked(BS) and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?(BT)
Against the Holy One of Israel!(BU)
24 You have mocked the Lord through your servants.
You have said, “With my many chariots(BV)
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its distant heights,
its densest forest.
25 I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands.[g]
I dried up all the streams of Egypt
with the soles of my feet.”(BW)
26 Have you not heard?(BX)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.(BY)
I have now brought it to pass,
and you have crushed fortified cities(BZ)
into piles of rubble.
27 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind.[h]
28 But I know your sitting down,
your going out and your coming in,(CA)
and your raging against me.
29 Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,(CB)
I will put my hook in your nose(CC)
and my bit in your mouth;(CD)
I will make you go back
the way you came.
30 “‘This will be the sign for you:(CE) This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 31 The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root(CF) downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant(CG) will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.’(CH)
33 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow here,
come before it with a shield,
or build up a siege ramp against it.
34 He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
36 Then(CK) the angel of the Lord(CL) went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies! 37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(CM)
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(CN) Then his son Esar-haddon(CO) became king in his place.
Footnotes
- 35:1 Or meadow saffron; traditionally rose
- 36:5 Many Hb mss, DSS, 2Kg 18:20; MT reads I
- 36:11 Lit Judahite, also in v. 13
- 36:16 Lit a blessing
- 37:13 Or king of Lair,
- 37:20 are God supplied for clarity; see v. 16
- 37:25 DSS, 2Kg 19:24; MT omits in foreign lands
- 37:27 DSS; MT reads rooftops, field before standing grain
Isaiah 35-37
New International Version
Isaiah 35-37
New International Version
Joy of the Redeemed
35 The desert(A) and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.(B)
Like the crocus,(C) 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.(D)
The glory of Lebanon(E) will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel(F) and Sharon;(G)
they will see the glory(H) of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.(I)
3 Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees(J) that give way;
4 say(K) to those with fearful hearts,(L)
“Be strong, do not fear;(M)
your God will come,(N)
he will come with vengeance;(O)
with divine retribution
he will come to save(P) you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened(Q)
and the ears of the deaf(R) unstopped.
6 Then will the lame(S) leap like a deer,(T)
and the mute tongue(U) shout for joy.(V)
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams(W) in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground(X) bubbling springs.(Y)
In the haunts where jackals(Z) once lay,
grass and reeds(AA) and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway(AB) will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;(AC)
it will be for those who walk on that Way.
The unclean(AD) will not journey on it;
wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion(AE) will be there,
nor any ravenous beast;(AF)
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed(AG) will walk there,
10 and those the Lord has rescued(AH) will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;(AI)
everlasting joy(AJ) will crown their heads.
Gladness(AK) and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.(AL)
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem(AM)
36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s(AN) reign, Sennacherib(AO) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.(AP) 2 Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish(AQ) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,(AR) 3 Eliakim(AS) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,(AT) Shebna(AU) the secretary,(AV) and Joah(AW) son of Asaph the recorder(AX) went out to him.
4 The field commander said to them, “Tell Hezekiah:
“‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? 5 You say you have counsel and might for war—but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel(AY) against me? 6 Look, I know you are depending(AZ) on Egypt,(BA) that splintered reed(BB) of a staff, which pierces the hand of anyone who leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him. 7 But if you say to me, “We are depending(BC) on the Lord our God”—isn’t he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed,(BD) saying to Judah and Jerusalem, “You must worship before this altar”?(BE)
8 “‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses(BF)—if you can put riders on them! 9 How then can you repulse one officer of the least of my master’s officials, even though you are depending on Egypt(BG) for chariots(BH) and horsemen[a]?(BI) 10 Furthermore, have I come to attack and destroy this land without the Lord? The Lord himself told(BJ) me to march against this country and destroy it.’”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah(BK) said to the field commander, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic,(BL) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”
12 But the commander replied, “Was it only to your master and you that my master sent me to say these things, and not to the people sitting on the wall—who, like you, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine?(BM)”
13 Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,(BN) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!(BO) 14 This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive(BP) you. He cannot deliver you! 15 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the Lord when he says, ‘The Lord will surely deliver(BQ) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’(BR)
16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree(BS) and drink water from your own cistern,(BT) 17 until I come and take you to a land like your own(BU)—a land of grain and new wine,(BV) a land of bread and vineyards.
18 “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?(BW) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?(BX) Have they rescued Samaria(BY) from my hand? 20 Who of all the gods(BZ) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”(CA)
21 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”(CB)
22 Then Eliakim(CC) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder(CD) went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn,(CE) and told him what the field commander had said.
Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold(CF)
37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes(CG) and put on sackcloth(CH) and went into the temple(CI) of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim(CJ) the palace administrator, Shebna(CK) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.(CL) 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress(CM) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth(CN) and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule(CO) the living God,(CP) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.(CQ) Therefore pray(CR) for the remnant(CS) that still survives.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid(CT) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed(CU) me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report,(CV) I will make him want(CW) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down(CX) with the sword.’”
8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(CY) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(CZ)
9 Now Sennacherib(DA) received a report(DB) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[b](DC) was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: 10 “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive(DD) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(DE) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(DF) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(DG) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(DH) Rezeph and the people of Eden(DI) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(DJ) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(DK) Hena and Ivvah?”(DL)
Hezekiah’s Prayer(DM)
14 Hezekiah received the letter(DN) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(DO) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(DP) to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(DQ) between the cherubim,(DR) you alone are God(DS) over all the kingdoms(DT) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(DU) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(DV) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(DW) listen to all the words Sennacherib(DX) has sent to ridicule(DY) the living God.(DZ)
18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(EA) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(EB) and destroyed them,(EC) for they were not gods(ED) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(EE) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(EF) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(EG) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[c](EH)”
Sennacherib’s Fall(EI)
21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(EJ) sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
“Virgin Daughter(EK) Zion(EL)
despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
tosses her head(EM) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(EN)
Against whom have you raised your voice(EO)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(EP)
Against the Holy One(EQ) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
‘With my many chariots(ER)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
the utmost heights(ES) of Lebanon.(ET)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its junipers.(EU)
I have reached its remotest heights,
the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[d]
and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
I have dried up(EV) all the streams of Egypt.(EW)’
26 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I ordained(EX) it.
In days of old I planned(EY) it;
now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
into piles of stone.(EZ)
27 Their people, drained of power,
are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
like tender green shoots,
like grass(FA) sprouting on the roof,(FB)
scorched[e] before it grows up.
28 “But I know where you are
and when you come and go(FC)
and how you rage(FD) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
and because your insolence(FE) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(FF) in your nose(FG)
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
by the way you came.(FH)
30 “This will be the sign(FI) for you, Hezekiah:
“This year(FJ) you will eat what grows by itself,
and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(FK) sow and reap,
plant vineyards(FL) and eat their fruit.(FM)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root(FN) below and bear fruit(FO) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(FP)
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(FQ)
The zeal(FR) of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:
“He will not enter this city(FS)
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp(FT) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(FU)
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(FV) this city and save it,
for my sake(FW) and for the sake of David(FX) my servant!”
36 Then the angel(FY) of the Lord went out and put to death(FZ) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(GA) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(GB) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(GC) and stayed there.
38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(GD) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(GE) And Esarhaddon(GF) his son succeeded him as king.(GG)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 36:9 Or charioteers
- Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
- Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
- Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
- Isaiah 37:27 Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls and some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Kings 19:26); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text roof / and terraced fields
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