Isaiah 37
Legacy Standard Bible
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help
37 Now it happened that (A)when King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of Yahweh. 2 Then he sent (B)Eliakim, who was over the household with (C)Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to (D)Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a (E)day of distress, reproof, and rejection; for (F)children have come to the point of breaking forth, but there is no strength to give birth. 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to [a](G)reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, lift up a prayer for (H)the remnant that is left.’”
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “(I)Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will (J)hear a report and (K)return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”
8 Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against (L)Libnah, for he had heard that [b]the king had set out from (M)Lachish. 9 Then he (N)heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of [c](O)Ethiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” So he heard it and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall say to Hezekiah king of [d]Judah, ‘(P)Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 (Q)Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, devoting them to destruction. So will you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of [e]those nations, which my fathers have brought to ruin, deliver them, even (R)Gozan and (S)Haran and 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, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple
14 Then Hezekiah took the [f]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of Yahweh and [g]spread it out before Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh saying, 16 “O Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, (T)who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the (U)God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. (V)You have made heaven and earth. 17 (W)Incline Your ear, O Yahweh, and hear; open Your eyes, O Yahweh, and see; and (X)listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to [h](Y)reproach the living God. 18 Truly, O Yahweh, the (Z)kings of Assyria have laid waste to all the countries and their lands 19 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the (AA)work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have (AB)destroyed them. 20 But now, O Yahweh our God, (AC)save us from his hand that (AD)all the kingdoms of the earth may know that [i]You are Yahweh, You alone.”
Yahweh’s Answer Through Isaiah
21 Then (AE)Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that Yahweh has spoken against him:
“She has despised you and mocked you,
The (AF)virgin (AG)daughter of Zion;
She has (AH)shaken her head behind you,
The daughter of Jerusalem!
23 Whom have you [j](AI)reproached and blasphemed?
And against whom have you heightened your voice
And [k]haughtily (AJ)lifted up your eyes?
Against the (AK)Holy One of Israel!
24 Through your servants you have [l]reproached the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of (AL)Lebanon;
And I cut down its tall (AM)cedars and its choice cypresses.
And I will go to its [m]highest peak, its thickest (AN)forest.
25 I dug wells and drank waters,
And (AO)with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the rivers of [n]Egypt.’
26 (AP)Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it;
From days of old I (AQ)formed it.
Now (AR)I have brought it to pass,
That (AS)you should devastate fortified cities into (AT)ruinous heaps.
27 So their inhabitants were short of power;
They were dismayed and put to shame;
They were as the (AU)plant of the field and as the green herb,
As (AV)grass on the rooftops [o]is scorched before it rises.
28 But I (AW)know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in
And your raging against Me.
29 Because of your raging against Me
And because your [p](AX)presumptuousness has come up to My ears,
Therefore I will put My (AY)hook in your nose
And My (AZ)bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back (BA)by the way which you came.
30 “Then this shall be the sign for you: [q]you will eat this year what (BB)grows of its own accord, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the (BC)surviving (BD)remnant of the house of Judah will again (BE)take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem will go forth a (BF)remnant and out of Mount Zion [r]survivors. The (BG)zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.”’
33 “Therefore, thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a (BH)siege ramp against it. 34 (BI)By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ declares Yahweh. 35 ‘Indeed I will (BJ)defend this city to save it (BK)for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’”
The Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
36 Then the (BL)angel of Yahweh went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And [s]the men arose early in the morning, and behold, all of them were dead bodies. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria set out and [t]returned home and lived at (BM)Nineveh. 38 Now it happened that as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of (BN)Ararat. And (BO)Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:4 Or defy, cf. 1 Sam 17:26
- Isaiah 37:8 Lit he
- Isaiah 37:9 Or Cush, cf. Gen 10:6
- Isaiah 37:10 Lit Judah, saying
- Isaiah 37:12 Lit the
- Isaiah 37:14 Lit letters
- Isaiah 37:14 Lit Hezekiah spread
- Isaiah 37:17 Or defy
- Isaiah 37:20 DSS and 2 Kin 19:19 You alone, O Yahweh, are God
- Isaiah 37:23 Or defied
- Isaiah 37:23 Lit on high
- Isaiah 37:24 Or defied
- Isaiah 37:24 Lit farthest height
- Isaiah 37:25 Or the besieged place
- Isaiah 37:27 As in DSS and 2 Kin 19:26; M.T. as a plowed field
- Isaiah 37:29 Lit complacency
- Isaiah 37:30 Lit eating
- Isaiah 37:32 Lit those who escape
- Isaiah 37:36 Lit they
- Isaiah 37:37 Lit went and returned
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”
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