Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem^(A)

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s^(B) reign, Sennacherib^(C) king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.^{(D) 2} Then the king of Assyria sent his field commander with a large army from Lachish^(E) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. When the commander stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,^{(F) 3} Eliakim^(G) son of Hilkiah the palace administrator,^(H) Shebna^(I) the secretary,^(J) and Joah^(K) son of Asaph the recorder^(L) went out to him.

¹³ Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew,^(A) “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!^{(B) 14} This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive^(C) 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^(D) us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’^(E)

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^(F) and drink water from your own cistern,^{(G) 17} until I come and take you to a land like your own^(H)—a land of grain and new wine,^(I) 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?^(J) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?^(K) Have they rescued Samaria^(L) from my hand? ²⁰ Who of all the gods^(M) of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”^(N)

Jerusalem’s Deliverance Foretold^(A)

37 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes^(B) and put on sackcloth^(C) and went into the temple^(D) of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim^(E) the palace administrator, Shebna^(F) the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.^{(G) 3} They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress^(H) and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth^(I) 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^(J) the living God,^(K) and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.^(L) Therefore pray^(M) for the remnant^(N) 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^(O) of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed^(P) me. ⁷ Listen! When he hears a certain report,^(Q) I will make him want^(R) to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down^(S) with the sword.’”

The Mountain of the Lord^(A)

2 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:^(B)

² In the last days^(C)

³ Many peoples^(H) will come and say,