Isaiah 37
Lexham English Bible
Hezekiah Consults Isaiah
37 And this happened: When King Hezekiah heard, he tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the temple[a] of Yahweh. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of[b] the palace,[c] and Shebna the secretary, and the elders of the priests covered[d] with sackcloth to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the cervical opening, and there is no strength to give birth. 4 Maybe Yahweh your God heard the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God, and he will rebuke the words that Yahweh your God hears. And you must lift up a prayer for the benefit of the remnant that is found.’”
5 When[e] the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “You must say this to your master: ‘Thus says Yahweh: “You must not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Look! I am about to put[f] a spirit in him so that[g] he shall hear a rumor and he shall return to his land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land.”’”
8 And Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had left from Lachish. 9 Now[h] he[i] heard concerning Tirhakah the king of Cush, saying, “He has set out to fight against[j] you.”
When[k] he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “You shall say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust in him deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you—shall you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors[l] destroyed deliver them—Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or[m] Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read[n] it. Then[o] he went up to the temple[p] of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out before the presence[q] of Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 16 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel who is enthroned on[r] the cherubim, you are the one, God by yourself, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you are the one who made the heavens and the earth. 17 Yahweh, extend your ear and hear! Yahweh, open your eyes and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God! 18 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the lands[s] and their land, 19 to set[t] their gods in the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone, and they destroyed them. 20 So[u] now, Yahweh, our God, save us from his hand so that[v] all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, you alone!”
God’s Answer
21 And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to me concerning[w] Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:
She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion;
she shakes her head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem.
23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed,
and against whom have you raised up your voice and lifted your eyes upward?
To the holy one of Israel!
24 By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord,
and you have said, “With my many chariots,[x]
I myself have gone up the height of the mountains,
to the remote areas of Lebanon.
And I cut off its tall cedars,[y]
the choicest of its junipers.
And I came to the height of its limit,
the forest of its orchard.[z]
25 I myself dug and drank waters,
and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet.”
26 Have you not heard from a long time ago?[aa] I have made it
from days of primeval time, and I formed it.
Now I have brought it about,
and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones.
27 And their inhabitants are weak;[ab]
they are dismayed, and they are ashamed;
they have become like plants[ac] of the field,
and like greens of grass,
like grass on[ad] the roofs
and a cultivated field before[ae] the standing grain.
28 And I know your sitting down and your going out,
and your coming in, and your raging against[af] me.
29 Because you were enraged against[ag] me,
and your noise[ah] has come up to[ai] my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bridle on your lips,
and I will turn you back
on the way by which you came.
30 And this shall be the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plants[aj] this[ak] year, and in the second year self-seeded plants,[al] and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall grow[am] roots[an] downwards and make fruit upwards.
32 For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem
and survivors[ao] from mountain Zion.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.’
33 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning[ap] the king of Assyria:
‘He shall not come to this city,
and he shall not shoot an arrow there,
and he shall not meet it with a shield,
and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her.
34 He shall return by the way that he came,
and he shall not come to this city,’
declares[aq] Yahweh.
35 ‘And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’”
Sennacherib’s Defeat
36 And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When[ar] they rose in the morning, look! All of them were dead corpses. 37 Then[as] Sennacherib king of Assyria left, went, and returned and lived at Nineveh. 38 And this happened: he was bowing in worship in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they themselves escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-haddon his son reigned as king in his place.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:1 Or “house”
- Isaiah 37:2 Literally “over”
- Isaiah 37:2 Or “house”
- Isaiah 37:2 Literally “covering themselves”
- Isaiah 37:5 Or “And”
- Isaiah 37:7 Literally “give”
- Isaiah 37:7 Or “and”
- Isaiah 37:9 Or “And”
- Isaiah 37:9 That is, the king
- Isaiah 37:9 Or “with”
- Isaiah 37:9 Or “And”
- Isaiah 37:12 Literally “fathers”
- Isaiah 37:13 Or “and”
- Isaiah 37:14 Or “called”
- Isaiah 37:14 Or “And”
- Isaiah 37:14 Or “house”
- Isaiah 37:14 Literally “face”
- Isaiah 37:16 Literally “sitting”
- Isaiah 37:18 The parallel text in 2 Kings has “nations”
- Isaiah 37:19 Literally “give”
- Isaiah 37:20 Or “And”
- Isaiah 37:20 Or “and”
- Isaiah 37:21 Literally “to”
- Isaiah 37:24 Hebrew “chariot”
- Isaiah 37:24 Literally “the height of its cedars”
- Isaiah 37:24 Or “Carmel”
- Isaiah 37:26 Literally “distant”
- Isaiah 37:27 Literally “short of hand”
- Isaiah 37:27 Hebrew “plant”
- Isaiah 37:27 Or “of”
- Isaiah 37:27 Literally “before the face of”
- Isaiah 37:28 Literally “to”
- Isaiah 37:29 Literally “to”
- Isaiah 37:29 Or “complacency”
- Isaiah 37:29 Literally “in”
- Isaiah 37:30 Hebrew “plant”
- Isaiah 37:30 Literally “the”
- Isaiah 37:30 Hebrew “plant”
- Isaiah 37:31 Literally “add”
- Isaiah 37:31 Hebrew “root”
- Isaiah 37:32 Hebrew “survivor”
- Isaiah 37:33 Or “to”
- Isaiah 37:34 Literally “declaration of”
- Isaiah 37:36 Or “And”
- Isaiah 37:37 Or “And”
Isaiah 37
English Standard Version
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah's Help
37 (A)As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet (B)Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a (C)day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; (D)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 (E)It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for (F)the remnant that is left.’”
5 When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7 Behold, (G)I will put a spirit in him, so that (H)he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and (I)I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (J)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (K)Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of (L)Cush,[a] “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: (M)‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12 (N)Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, (O)Gozan, (P)Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 (Q)Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah's Prayer for Deliverance
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, (R)enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; (S)you have made heaven and earth. 17 (T)Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear (U)all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, (V)the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Sennacherib's Fall
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
(W)the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against (X)the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, (Y)With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
(Z)to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all (AA)the streams (AB)of Egypt.
26 (AC)“‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted[b] before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29 (AD)Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and (AE)I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah (AF)shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 (AG)For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. (AH)The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or (AI)cast up a siege mound against it. 34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 35 (AJ)For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for (AK)the sake of my servant David.”
36 (AL)And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at (AM)Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of (AN)Ararat, (AO)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:9 Probably Nubia
- Isaiah 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field
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