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:

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.