Sennacherib’s Invasion

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,^(A) 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^(B) to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. The Assyrian stood near the conduit of the upper pool, by the road to Launderer’s Field.^{(C) 3} Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,^(D) 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^[a] think mere words are strategy and strength for war. Who are you now relying on that you have rebelled against me?^{(E) 6} Look, you are relying on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff^(F) 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.^{(G) 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’?^(H)

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?^{(I) 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,^(J) since we understand it. Don’t speak to us in Hebrew^[b] 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,^(K) 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^[c] with me and surrender to me. Then every one of you may eat from his own vine and his own fig tree^(L) 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.’^(M) Has any one of the gods of the nations^(N) rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?^(O) Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my power?^{(P) 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.”^{(Q) 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,^(R) he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,^(S) 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.^(T) It is as if children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.^{(U) 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,^(V) and will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”^(W)

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^(X) because of the words you have heard, with which the king of Assyria’s attendants have blasphemed me.^{(Y) 7} I am about to put a spirit^(Z) in him and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”^(AA)

Sennacherib’s Letter

⁸ When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,^(AB) he left and found him fighting against Libnah.^{(AC) 9} The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush,^(AD) “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^(AE) 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^(AF) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—Gozan,^(AG) Haran,^(AH) Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of^[d] 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.^{(AI) 15} Then Hezekiah prayed^(AJ) to the Lord:

¹⁶ Lord of Armies, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,^(AK) you are God^(AL)—you alone^(AM)—of all the kingdoms of the earth.^(AN) You made the heavens and the earth.^{(AO) 17} Listen closely, Lord, and hear;^(AP) open your eyes, Lord, and see.^(AQ) Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.^{(AR) 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^(AS) but made from wood and stone^(AT) by human hands.^(AU) 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^[e](AV)—you alone.^(AW)

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:

³⁰ “‘This will be the sign for you:^(BL) 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^(BM) downward and bear fruit upward. ³² For a remnant^(BN) will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.’^(BO)

³³ “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Defeat and Death of Sennacherib

³⁶ Then^(BR) the angel of the Lord^(BS) 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.^(BT)

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.^(BU) Then his son Esar-haddon^(BV) became king in his place.

Prophecy: A Superior Gift

14 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. ² For the person who speaks in a tongue^[a](A) is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit.^{[b] 3} On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening,^[c] encouragement, and consolation. ⁴ The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. ⁵ I wish all of you spoke in tongues,^[d] but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

⁶ So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation^(B) or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? ⁷ Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds—whether flute or harp^(C)—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? ⁸ In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?^{(D) 9} In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning. ¹¹ Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner^[e] to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. ¹² So also you—since you are zealous^(E) for spiritual gifts,^[f](F) seek to excel in building up the church.

¹³ Therefore the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit^(G) prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.^{(H) 15} What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding. ¹⁶ Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit,^[g] how will the outsider^[h] say “Amen”^(I) at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸ I thank^(J) God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; ¹⁹ yet in the church I would rather speak five words^(K) with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.^{(L) 21} It is written in the law,

says the Lord. ²² Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? ²⁴ But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all. ²⁵ The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”^(N)