Isaiah 37:21-35
International Standard Version
God’s Answer
21 Then Amoz’s son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, to whom you prayed[a] concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 22 This is the message that the Lord has spoken in opposition to him:
“‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises and mocks you;
the Daughter of Jerusalem—
she tosses her head behind you as you flee.
23 Whom have you insulted and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers[b] you have insulted the Lord,
and you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have climbed the heights of mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its pines;
I reached its remotest heights,
the most verdant of its forests.
25 I myself dug wells[c]
and drank foreign[d] waters;
with the soles of my feet
I dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26 “‘Didn’t you hear
how in the distant past I decided to do it,
how[e] I planned from days of old?
Now I’ve made it happen—
that fortified cities become devastated, besieged heaps.[f]
27 Their inhabitants are devoid of power,
and are terrified and put to shame.
They’ve become like plants in the field,
like[g] green shoots,
like grass on rooftops,
scorched by the east wind.[h]
28 “‘I know when you rise up
and[i] when you sit down,
your comings and goings—
and how you’ve become enraged at me.
29 Your insolence[j] has reached my ears,
so I’ll put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,[k]
and I’ll make you turn back on the road
by which you came.
30 “And this will be your sign, Hezekiah:[l] Eat this year what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 Then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather,[m] and those who are found[n] will take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant will come out of Zion,[o] and a band of survivors from Jerusalem.[p] The zeal of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.
33 “Therefore this what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He won’t enter this city, build up a siege ramp against it, shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield.[q] 34 By the same way that he came, he will return; he won’t enter this city,’ declares the Lord, 35 ‘because I will defend this city and deliver[r] it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David!’”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Isaiah 37:21 So 1QIsaa; MT reads because you prayed to me; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 37:24 Lit. servants
- Isaiah 37:25 So 1QIsaa; MT reads dug; LXX reads appointed
- Isaiah 37:25 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack foreign
- Isaiah 37:26 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and how
- Isaiah 37:26 So 1QIsaa; MT reads you should make fortified cities crash into ruined heaps
- Isaiah 37:27 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and like
- Isaiah 37:27 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and a field before the standing grain
- Isaiah 37:28 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack when you rise up and
- Isaiah 37:29 So 1QIsaa; MT reads because your raging against me and your insolence; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 37:29 Lit. lips; so 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads lip
- Isaiah 37:30 So 1QIsaa; the Heb. lacks Hezekiah
- Isaiah 37:31 So 1QIsaa; MT reads be increased
- Isaiah 37:31 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and the remainder; cf. LXX
- Isaiah 37:32 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read Jerusalem
- Isaiah 37:32 So 1QIsaa; 4QIsab MT LXX read Mount Zion
- Isaiah 37:33 So 1QIsaa; MT reads or shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield, or build up a siege ramp against it
- Isaiah 37:35 Or save
Isaiah 37:21-35
Lexham English Bible
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[a] 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,[b]
I myself have gone up the height of the mountains,
to the remote areas of Lebanon.
And I cut off its tall cedars,[c]
the choicest of its junipers.
And I came to the height of its limit,
the forest of its orchard.[d]
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?[e] 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;[f]
they are dismayed, and they are ashamed;
they have become like plants[g] of the field,
and like greens of grass,
like grass on[h] the roofs
and a cultivated field before[i] the standing grain.
28 And I know your sitting down and your going out,
and your coming in, and your raging against[j] me.
29 Because you were enraged against[k] me,
and your noise[l] has come up to[m] 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[n] this[o] year, and in the second year self-seeded plants,[p] 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[q] roots[r] downwards and make fruit upwards.
32 For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem
and survivors[s] from mountain Zion.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.’
33 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning[t] 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[u] Yahweh.
35 ‘And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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”
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