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. 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. 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. (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.’”

When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 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. 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.’”

The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against (J)Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left (K)Lachish. 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.

Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery

38 (AP)In those days Hezekiah became (AQ)sick and was at the point of death. And (AR)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”[c] Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how (AS)I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add (AT)fifteen years to your life.[d] (AU)I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: (AV)Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.[e]

A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

10 I said, (AW)In the middle[f] of my days
    I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
    for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
    the Lord (AX)in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
    among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
    (AY)like a shepherd's tent;
(AZ)like a weaver (BA)I have rolled up my life;
    (BB)he cuts me off from the loom;
(BC)from day to night you bring me to an end;
13     (BD)I calmed myself[g] until morning;
like a lion (BE)he breaks all my bones;
    from day to night you bring me to an end.

14 Like (BF)a swallow or a crane I chirp;
    (BG)I moan like a dove.
(BH)My eyes are weary with looking upward.
    O Lord, I am oppressed; (BI)be my pledge of safety!
15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
    and he himself has done it.
(BJ)I walk slowly all my years
    because of the bitterness of my soul.

16 (BK)O Lord, by these things men live,
    and in all these is the life of my spirit.
    Oh restore me to health and make me live!
17 (BL)Behold, it was for my welfare
    that I had great bitterness;
(BM)but in love you have delivered my life
    from the pit of destruction,
(BN)for you have cast all my sins
    behind your back.
18 (BO)For Sheol does not thank you;
    death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
    for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
    as I do this day;
(BP)the father makes known to the children
    your faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,
    and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
    (BQ)at the house of the Lord.

21 (BR)Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:9 Probably Nubia
  2. Isaiah 37:27 Some Hebrew manuscripts and 2 Kings 19:26; most Hebrew manuscripts a field
  3. Isaiah 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21
  4. Isaiah 38:5 Hebrew to your days
  5. Isaiah 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
  6. Isaiah 38:10 Or In the quiet
  7. Isaiah 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help

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. 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) 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. 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.”

When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 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. 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.’”

When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(T) he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.(U)

Now Sennacherib(V) received a report(W) that Tirhakah, the king of Cush,[a](X) 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(Y) you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’(Z) 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?(AA) 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors(AB) deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran,(AC) Rezeph and the people of Eden(AD) who were in Tel Assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad?(AE) Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim,(AF) Hena and Ivvah?”(AG)

Hezekiah’s Prayer(AH)

14 Hezekiah received the letter(AI) from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple(AJ) of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed(AK) to the Lord: 16 Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned(AL) between the cherubim,(AM) you alone are God(AN) over all the kingdoms(AO) of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.(AP) 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear;(AQ) open your eyes, Lord, and see;(AR) listen to all the words Sennacherib(AS) has sent to ridicule(AT) the living God.(AU)

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands.(AV) 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire(AW) and destroyed them,(AX) for they were not gods(AY) but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.(AZ) 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver(BA) us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth(BB) may know that you, Lord, are the only God.[b](BC)

Sennacherib’s Fall(BD)

21 Then Isaiah son of Amoz(BE) 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(BF) Zion(BG)
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head(BH) as you flee.
23 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?(BI)
    Against whom have you raised your voice(BJ)
and lifted your eyes in pride?(BK)
    Against the Holy One(BL) of Israel!
24 By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots(BM)
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights(BN) of Lebanon.(BO)
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.(BP)
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
25 I have dug wells in foreign lands[c]
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up(BQ) all the streams of Egypt.(BR)

26 “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained(BS) it.
In days of old I planned(BT) it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.(BU)
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(BV) sprouting on the roof,(BW)
    scorched[d] before it grows up.

28 “But I know where you are
    and when you come and go(BX)
    and how you rage(BY) against me.
29 Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence(BZ) has reached my ears,
I will put my hook(CA) in your nose(CB)
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.(CC)

30 “This will be the sign(CD) for you, Hezekiah:

“This year(CE) you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year(CF) sow and reap,
    plant vineyards(CG) and eat their fruit.(CH)
31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root(CI) below and bear fruit(CJ) above.
32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,(CK)
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.(CL)
The zeal(CM) 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(CN)
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp(CO) against it.
34 By the way that he came he will return;(CP)
    he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
35 “I will defend(CQ) this city and save it,
    for my sake(CR) and for the sake of David(CS) my servant!”

36 Then the angel(CT) of the Lord went out and put to death(CU) a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian(CV) camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib(CW) king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh(CX) and stayed there.

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple(CY) of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat.(CZ) And Esarhaddon(DA) his son succeeded him as king.(DB)

Hezekiah’s Illness(DC)

38 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz(DD) went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order,(DE) because you are going to die; you will not recover.”(DF)

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked(DG) before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion(DH) and have done what is good in your eyes.(DI)” And Hezekiah wept(DJ) bitterly.

Then the word(DK) of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David,(DL) says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears;(DM) I will add fifteen years(DN) to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend(DO) this city.

“‘This is the Lord’s sign(DP) to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.(DQ)

A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:

10 I said, “In the prime of my life(DR)
    must I go through the gates of death(DS)
    and be robbed of the rest of my years?(DT)
11 I said, “I will not again see the Lord himself(DU)
    in the land of the living;(DV)
no longer will I look on my fellow man,
    or be with those who now dwell in this world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent(DW) my house
    has been pulled down(DX) and taken from me.
Like a weaver I have rolled(DY) up my life,
    and he has cut me off from the loom;(DZ)
    day and night(EA) you made an end of me.
13 I waited patiently(EB) till dawn,
    but like a lion he broke(EC) all my bones;(ED)
    day and night(EE) you made an end of me.
14 I cried like a swift or thrush,
    I moaned like a mourning dove.(EF)
My eyes grew weak(EG) as I looked to the heavens.
    I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid!”(EH)

15 But what can I say?(EI)
    He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this.(EJ)
I will walk humbly(EK) all my years
    because of this anguish of my soul.(EL)
16 Lord, by such things people live;
    and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health
    and let me live.(EM)
17 Surely it was for my benefit(EN)
    that I suffered such anguish.(EO)
In your love you kept me
    from the pit(EP) of destruction;
you have put all my sins(EQ)
    behind your back.(ER)
18 For the grave(ES) cannot praise you,
    death cannot sing your praise;(ET)
those who go down to the pit(EU)
    cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living—they praise(EV) you,
    as I am doing today;
parents tell their children(EW)
    about your faithfulness.

20 The Lord will save me,
    and we will sing(EX) with stringed instruments(EY)
all the days of our lives(EZ)
    in the temple(FA) of the Lord.

21 Isaiah had said, “Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.”

22 Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign(FB) that I will go up to the temple of the Lord?”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:9 That is, the upper Nile region
  2. Isaiah 37:20 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:19); Masoretic Text you alone are the Lord
  3. Isaiah 37:25 Dead Sea Scrolls (see also 2 Kings 19:24); Masoretic Text does not have in foreign lands.
  4. 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

Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

Finally, my brothers,[a] (A)rejoice in the Lord. (B)To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

Look out for (C)the dogs, look out for (D)the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For (E)we are the circumcision, (F)who worship (G)by the Spirit of God[b] and (H)glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— (I)though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: (J)circumcised on the eighth day, (K)of the people of Israel, (L)of the tribe of Benjamin, (M)a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, (N)a Pharisee; (O)as to zeal, (P)a persecutor of the church; (Q)as to righteousness under the law,[c] blameless. But (R)whatever gain I had, (S)I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of (T)the surpassing worth of (U)knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I (V)have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having (W)a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but (X)that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 (Y)that I may know him and (Z)the power of his resurrection, and (AA)may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may (AB)attain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

12 Not that I have already (AC)obtained this or (AD)am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: (AE)forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for (AF)the prize of the upward (AG)call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are (AH)mature think this way, and if in anything (AI)you think otherwise, (AJ)God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only (AK)let us hold true to what we have attained.

17 Brothers, (AL)join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk (AM)according to the example you have in us. 18 For (AN)many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you (AO)even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 (AP)Their end is destruction, (AQ)their god is their belly, and (AR)they glory in their shame, with (AS)minds set on earthly things. 20 But (AT)our citizenship is in heaven, and (AU)from it we (AV)await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform (AW)our lowly body (AX)to be like his glorious body, (AY)by the power that enables him even (AZ)to subject all things to himself.

Footnotes

  1. Philippians 3:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 13, 17
  2. Philippians 3:3 Some manuscripts God in spirit
  3. Philippians 3:6 Greek in the law

No Confidence in the Flesh

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again,(A) and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs,(B) those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision,(C) we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus,(D) and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.(E)

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised(F) on the eighth day, of the people of Israel,(G) of the tribe of Benjamin,(H) a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;(I) as for zeal,(J) persecuting the church;(K) as for righteousness based on the law,(L) faultless.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss(M) for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing(N) Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ(O) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,(P) but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness(Q) that comes from God on the basis of faith.(R) 10 I want to know(S) Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,(T) becoming like him in his death,(U) 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection(V) from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,(W) but I press on to take hold(X) of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.(Y) 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind(Z) and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on(AA) toward the goal to win the prize(AB) for which God has called(AC) me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example

15 All of us, then, who are mature(AD) should take such a view of things.(AE) And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.(AF) 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join together in following my example,(AG) brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.(AH) 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears,(AI) many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.(AJ) 19 Their destiny(AK) is destruction, their god is their stomach,(AL) and their glory is in their shame.(AM) Their mind is set on earthly things.(AN) 20 But our citizenship(AO) is in heaven.(AP) And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,(AQ) 21 who, by the power(AR) that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies(AS) so that they will be like his glorious body.(AT)

Footnotes

  1. Philippians 3:9 Or through the faithfulness of