The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(A)

21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:

“The virgin, the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind your back!

23 “Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against the Holy One of Israel.
24 By your servants you have reproached the Lord,
And said, ‘By the multitude of my chariots
I have come up to the height of the mountains,
To the limits of Lebanon;
I will cut down its tall cedars
And its choice cypress trees;
I will enter its farthest height,
To its fruitful forest.
25 I have dug and drunk water,
And with the soles of my feet I have dried up
All the brooks of [a]defense.’

26 “Did you not hear (B)long ago
How I made it,
From ancient times that I formed it?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you should be
For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
27 Therefore their inhabitants had little power;
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field
And the green herb,
As the grass on the housetops
And grain blighted before it is grown.

28 “But I know your dwelling place,
Your going out and your coming in,
And your rage against Me.
29 Because your rage against Me and your tumult
Have come up to My ears,
Therefore (C)I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will (D)turn you back
By the way which you came.” ’

30 “This shall be a sign to you:

You shall eat this year such as grows of itself,
And the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
31 And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
The (E)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,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
34 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the Lord.
35 ‘For I will (F)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant (G)David’s sake.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:25 Or perhaps Egypt

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.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 37:21 Literally “to”
  2. Isaiah 37:24 Hebrew “chariot”
  3. Isaiah 37:24 Literally “the height of its cedars”
  4. Isaiah 37:24 Or “Carmel”
  5. Isaiah 37:26 Literally “distant”
  6. Isaiah 37:27 Literally “short of hand”
  7. Isaiah 37:27 Hebrew “plant”
  8. Isaiah 37:27 Or “of”
  9. Isaiah 37:27 Literally “before the face of”
  10. Isaiah 37:28 Literally “to”
  11. Isaiah 37:29 Literally “to”
  12. Isaiah 37:29 Or “complacency”
  13. Isaiah 37:29 Literally “in”
  14. Isaiah 37:30 Hebrew “plant”
  15. Isaiah 37:30 Literally “the”
  16. Isaiah 37:30 Hebrew “plant”
  17. Isaiah 37:31 Literally “add”
  18. Isaiah 37:31 Hebrew “root”
  19. Isaiah 37:32 Hebrew “survivor”
  20. Isaiah 37:33 Or “to”
  21. Isaiah 37:34 Literally “declaration of”