Isaiah 37
New American Standard Bible
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help
37 Now (A)when King Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent (B)Eliakim, who was in charge of 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, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a (E)day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for (F)children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to [a]deliver them. 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to (G)taunt the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer 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, “This is what you shall say to your master: ‘This is what the Lord says: “(I)Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Behold, I am going to put a spirit in him so that he will (J)hear news 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 left (M)Lachish. 9 Now he (N)heard them say regarding Tirhakah king of [c](O)Cush, “He has come out to fight against you,” and when he heard it he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “This is what you shall say to Hezekiah king of [d]Judah: ‘(P)Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 (Q)Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? 12 Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: (R)Gozan, (S)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, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer in the Temple
14 Then Hezekiah took the [e]letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and [f]spread it out before the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, 16 “Lord of armies, 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 made heaven and earth. 17 (W)Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and (X)listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to (Y)taunt the living God. 18 Truly, Lord, the (Z)kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands, 19 and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but only the (AA)work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have (AB)destroyed them. 20 But now Lord, our God, (AC)save us from his hand, so that (AD)all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, [g]Lord, are God.”
God Answers through Isaiah
21 Then (AE)Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:
“She has shown contempt for you and derided you,
The (AF)virgin (AG)daughter of Zion;
The daughter of Jerusalem has (AH)shaken her head behind you!
23 Whom have you (AI)taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And [h]haughtily (AJ)raised your eyes?
Against the (AK)Holy One of Israel!
24 Through your servants you have taunted 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 junipers.
And I will come to its [i]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 canals of [j]Egypt.’
26 (AP)Have you not heard?
Long ago I did it,
From ancient times I (AQ)planned it.
Now (AR)I have brought it about
That (AS)you would turn fortified cities into (AT)ruined heaps.
27 Therefore their inhabitants were [k]powerless,
They were shattered and put to shame;
They were like the (AU)vegetation of the field and the green grass,
Like (AV)grass on the housetops [l]that is scorched before it has grown.
28 But I (AW)know your sitting down,
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.
29 Because of your raging against Me
And because your (AX)complacency has come up to My ears,
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 that you came.
30 “Then this shall be the sign for you: [m]you will eat this year what (BB)grows of itself, in the second year what grows from the same, and in the third year sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 The (BC)survivors that are (BD)left of the house of Judah will again (BE)take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For out of Jerusalem a (BF)remnant will go, and out of Mount Zion survivors. The (BG)zeal of the Lord of armies will perform this.”’
33 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not come to this city nor shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield, nor heap up an (BH)assault 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 the Lord. 35 ‘For I will (BJ)protect this city to save it (BK)for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake.’”
Assyrians Destroyed
36 Then the (BL)angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when the rest got up early in the morning, behold, all of [n]the 185,000 were [o]dead. 37 So Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and [p]returned home and lived in (BM)Nineveh. 38 Then it came about, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped to the land of (BN)Ararat. And his son (BO)Esarhaddon became king in his place.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 37:3 Lit give birth
- Isaiah 37:8 Lit he
- Isaiah 37:9 Or Ethiopia
- Isaiah 37:10 Lit Judah, saying
- Isaiah 37:14 Lit letters
- Isaiah 37:14 Lit Hezekiah spread
- Isaiah 37:20 As in DSS and 2 Kin 19:19; MT are the Lord
- Isaiah 37:23 Lit on high
- Isaiah 37:24 Lit farthest height
- Isaiah 37:25 Or the besieged place
- Isaiah 37:27 Lit short of hand
- Isaiah 37:27 As in DSS and 2 Kin 19:26; MT and as a terraced field
- Isaiah 37:30 Lit eating
- Isaiah 37:36 Lit them
- Isaiah 37:36 Lit dead bodies
- Isaiah 37:37 Lit went and returned
以赛亚书 37
Chinese New Version (Traditional)
希西家向以賽亞求救(A)
37 希西家王聽見了，就撕裂衣服，披上麻布，進了耶和華的殿。 2 他差派管家以利亞敬、書記舍伯那和祭司中的長老，都披上麻布，去見亞摩斯的兒子以賽亞先知。 3 他們對他說：“希西家這樣說：‘今日是急難、責罰和凌辱的日子，就像嬰孩快要出生的時候，卻沒有氣力生出來一樣。 4 也許耶和華你的 神聽見拉伯沙基的話，就是他的主人亞述王派他來辱罵永活的 神的話；耶和華你的 神會因他所聽見的話斥責他；因此，求你為餘剩下來的人獻上禱告。’”
以賽亞安慰的話(B)
5 希西家王的臣僕就去見以賽亞， 6 以賽亞對他們說：“要對你們的主人這樣說：‘耶和華這樣說：你不要因為聽見亞述王的僕人褻瀆我的話而害怕。 7 看哪！我必使靈進入他裡面，以致他聽見風聲就歸回本地；我必使他在那裡倒在刀下。’”
亞述王恐嚇的話(C)
8 拉伯沙基回去的時候，正遇見亞述王攻打立拿；原來他早已聽聞亞述王拔營離開了拉吉。 9 亞述王聽到關於古實王特哈加的報告說：“他出來要與你爭戰”；亞述王聽見了，就差派使者去見希西家，說： 10 “你們要對猶大王希西家這樣說：不要給你所倚靠的 神欺騙你說：耶路撒冷必不交在亞述王的手裡。 11 你必定聽過亞述列王向列國所行的，就是把她們完全毀滅，難道你還有救嗎？ 12 我列祖所毀滅的國，有歌撒、哈蘭、利色和在提．拉撒的伊甸人，這些國的神曾拯救她們嗎？ 13 哈馬的王、亞珥拔的王、西法瓦音城的王、希拿和以瓦的王，現在都在哪裡呢？”
希西家向 神禱告(D)
14 希西家從使者手裡接過信卷，讀完了，就上耶和華的殿，在耶和華面前把信卷展開。 15 希西家向耶和華禱告說： 16 “萬軍之耶和華，以色列的 神，坐在二基路伯中間的啊！唯獨你是地上萬國的 神；你創造了天地。 17 耶和華啊，求你側耳而聽！耶和華啊，求你開眼察看！要聽西拿基立的一切話，就是那差派使者來辱罵永活的 神的。 18 耶和華啊！亞述列王果然使列國和他們的土地變成荒涼， 19 又把列國的神都扔進火中；因為他們不是神，只是人手所做的，不過是木頭和石頭，所以他們就滅絕了他們。 20 耶和華我們的 神啊！現在求你拯救我們脫離亞述王的手，使地上萬國都知道唯有你耶和華是 神。”
以賽亞預言亞述必敗(E)
21 亞摩斯的兒子以賽亞就派人去見希西家，說：“耶和華以色列的 神這樣說：‘因為你向我禱告關於亞述王西拿基立的事， 22 耶和華就有以下的話攻擊他，說：
錫安的處女
藐視你，嗤笑你；
耶路撒冷的女子
在你背後搖頭。
23 你辱罵誰、褻瀆誰？
你揚起聲音，
又高舉眼目，要攻擊誰？
就是攻擊以色列的聖者。
24 你藉著你的臣僕辱罵主；
你又說：我率領我眾多的戰車上了群山的高峰，
到了黎巴嫩極深之處。
我砍伐其中高大的香柏樹和佳美的松樹；
我去到極高之處，進入肥田般的樹林。
25 我挖井和喝水；
我用我的腳掌
踏乾埃及的河流。’
26 耶和華說：‘難道你沒有聽見
古時我所安排，
往昔所計劃的嗎？
現在我才使它成就，
使堅固的城鎮荒廢，變作亂堆。
27 因此，其中的居民軟弱無力，
驚惶羞愧，
像田間的蔬菜和青綠的草，
又像房頂上的草，還沒有長起來，就乾焦了。
28 你坐下，
你出，你入，
你向我發烈怒，我都知道。
29 因為你向我發烈怒，
又因你的狂傲達到我耳中，
我要把鈎子放進你的鼻孔，
把嚼環放進你的嘴裡，
使你從你來的路上回去。
30 希西家啊！這要作你的兆頭：今年你們要吃自生的，明年還要吃自長的，後年你們就要撒種，要收割，要栽種葡萄園，吃園中的果子。 31 猶大家所逃脫的餘民，必再向下扎根，往上結果。 32 因為餘下的人必從耶路撒冷出來，逃脫的人必從錫安山出來。萬軍之耶和華的熱心必作成這事。’ 33 所以耶和華這樣論到亞述王，說：‘他必不會來到這城，也不會在這裡射箭；不會拿著盾牌來到城前，也不會築土壘攻城。 34 他從哪條路來，也必從哪條路回去；他必不得進入這城；這是耶和華的宣告。 35 因我為自己的緣故，又為我僕人大衛的緣故，必保護這城，拯救這城。’”
神懲罰亞述王(F)
36 於是耶和華的使者出去，在亞述營中擊殺了十八萬五千人；到了早晨，有人起來，所見的都是死屍。 37 亞述王西拿基立就拔營離去，返回本地，住在尼尼微。 38 他在自己的神尼斯洛廟裡叩拜的時候，他的兒子亞得米勒和沙利色用刀殺了他，然後逃到亞拉臘地。他的兒子以撒哈頓接續他作王。
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Chinese New Version (CNV). Copyright © 1976, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2005 by Worldwide Bible Society.
