Isaiah 36-41
New King James Version
Sennacherib Boasts Against the Lord(A)
36 Now (B)it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 2 Then the king of Assyria sent the [a]Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And he stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field. 3 And (C)Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, (D)Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him.
4 (E)Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 5 I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are [b]mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 6 Look! You are trusting in the (F)staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who (G)trust in him.
7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?” ’ 8 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 9 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Have I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”
11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in [c]Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”
12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; (H)and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of 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 lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any one of the (I)gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered (J)Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”
21 But they [d]held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him.” 22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of the Rabshakeh.
Isaiah Assures Deliverance(K)
37 And (L)so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of (M)trouble and rebuke and [e]blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to (N)reproach the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for 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 the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
Sennacherib’s Threat and Hezekiah’s Prayer(O)
8 Then the Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish. 9 And the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “He has come out to make war with you.” So when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the (P)gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of (Q)Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You (R)alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 (S)Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and (T)hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 18 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their (U)lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were (V)not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, (W)save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may (X)know that You are the Lord, You alone.”
The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(Y)
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 [f]defense.’
26 “Did you not hear (Z)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 (AA)I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will (AB)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 (AC)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 (AD)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and for My servant (AE)David’s sake.’ ”
Sennacherib’s Defeat and Death(AF)
36 Then the (AG)angel[g] of the Lord went out, and [h]killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 38 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then (AH)Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.
Hezekiah’s Life Extended(AI)
38 In (AJ)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: (AK)‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, (AL)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a [i]loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your (AM)sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. 6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and (AN)I will defend this city.” ’ 7 And this is (AO)the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward.” So the sun returned ten degrees on the dial by which it had gone down.
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said,
“In the prime of my life
I shall go to the gates of Sheol;
I am deprived of the remainder of my years.”
11 I said,
“I shall not see [j]Yah,
The Lord (AP)in the land of the living;
I shall observe man no more [k]among the inhabitants of [l]the world.
12 (AQ)My life span is gone,
Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;
I have cut off my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.
13 I have considered until morning—
Like a lion,
So He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;
(AR)I mourned like a dove;
My eyes fail from looking upward.
O [m]Lord, I am oppressed;
[n]Undertake for me!
15 “What shall I say?
[o]He has both spoken to me,
And He Himself has done it.
I shall walk carefully all my years
(AS)In the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live;
And in all these things is the life of my spirit;
So You will restore me and make me live.
17 Indeed it was for my own peace
That I had great bitterness;
But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18 For (AT)Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.
19 The living, the living man, he shall praise You,
As I do this day;
(AU)The father shall make known Your truth to the children.
20 “The Lord was ready to save me;
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments
All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”
21 Now (AV)Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”
22 And (AW)Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”
The Babylonian Envoys(AX)
39 At (AY)that time [p]Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2 (AZ)And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”
So Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a (BA)far country, from Babylon.”
4 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”
So Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”
5 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 ‘Behold, the days are coming (BB)when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘And they shall take away some of your (BC)sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”
8 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, (BD)“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.”
God’s People Are Comforted(BE)
40 “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
2 “Speak [q]comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
(BF)For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 (BG)The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(BH)“Prepare the way of the Lord;
(BI)Make straight [r]in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
(BJ)The crooked places shall be made [s]straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The (BK)glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 The voice said, “Cry out!”
And [t]he said, “What shall I cry?”
(BL)“All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But (BM)the word of our God stands forever.”
9 O Zion,
You who bring good tidings,
Get up into the high mountain;
O Jerusalem,
You who bring good tidings,
Lift up your voice with strength,
Lift it up, be not afraid;
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord God shall come [u]with a strong hand,
And (BN)His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, (BO)His reward is with Him,
And His [v]work before Him.
11 He will (BP)feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
12 (BQ)Who has measured the [w]waters in the hollow of His hand,
Measured heaven with a [x]span
And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales
And the hills in a balance?
13 (BR)Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
Or as His counselor has taught Him?
14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him,
And (BS)taught Him in the path of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge,
And showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket,
And are counted as the small dust on the scales;
Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before Him are as (BT)nothing,
And (BU)they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.
18 To whom then will you (BV)liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to Him?
19 (BW)The workman molds an image,
The goldsmith overspreads it with gold,
And the silversmith casts silver chains.
20 Whoever is too impoverished for such [y]a contribution
Chooses a tree that will not rot;
He seeks for himself a skillful workman
(BX)To prepare a carved image that will not totter.
21 (BY)Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who (BZ)stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a (CA)tent to dwell in.
23 He [z]brings the (CB)princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.
24 Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.
25 “To(CC) whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
(CD)He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27 (CE)Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
(CF)His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who (CG)wait on the Lord
(CH)Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Israel Assured of God’s Help
41 “Keep (CI)silence before Me, O coastlands,
And let the people renew their strength!
Let them come near, then let them speak;
Let us (CJ)come near together for judgment.
2 “Who raised up one (CK)from the east?
Who in righteousness called him to His feet?
Who (CL)gave the nations before him,
And made him rule over kings?
Who gave them as the dust to his sword,
As driven stubble to his bow?
3 Who pursued them, and passed [aa]safely
By the way that he had not gone with his feet?
4 (CM)Who has performed and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am (CN)the first;
And with the last I am (CO)He.’ ”
5 The coastlands saw it and feared,
The ends of the earth were afraid;
They drew near and came.
6 (CP)Everyone helped his neighbor,
And said to his brother,
[ab]“Be of good courage!”
7 (CQ)So the craftsman encouraged the (CR)goldsmith;[ac]
He who smooths with the hammer inspired him who strikes the anvil,
Saying, [ad]“It is ready for the soldering”;
Then he fastened it with pegs,
(CS)That it might not totter.
8 “But you, Israel, are My servant,
Jacob whom I have (CT)chosen,
The descendants of Abraham My (CU)friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its farthest regions,
And said to you,
‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10 (CV)Fear not, (CW)for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who were incensed against you
Shall be (CX)ashamed and disgraced;
They shall be as nothing,
And those who strive with you shall perish.
12 You shall seek them and not find them—
[ae]Those who contended with you.
Those who war against you
Shall be as nothing,
As a nonexistent thing.
13 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,
Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
14 “Fear not, you (CY)worm Jacob,
You men of Israel!
I will help you,” says the Lord
And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 “Behold, (CZ)I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth;
You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small,
And make the hills like chaff.
16 You shall (DA)winnow them, the wind shall carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them;
You shall rejoice in the Lord,
And (DB)glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none,
Their tongues fail for thirst.
I, the Lord, will hear them;
I, the God of Israel, will not (DC)forsake them.
18 I will open (DD)rivers in desolate heights,
And fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the (DE)wilderness a pool of water,
And the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree,
The myrtle and the oil tree;
I will set in the (DF)desert the cypress tree and the pine
And the box tree together,
20 (DG)That they may see and know,
And consider and understand together,
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The Futility of Idols
21 “Present your case,” says the Lord.
“Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the (DH)King of Jacob.
22 “Let(DI) them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the (DJ)former things, what they were,
That we may [af]consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.
23 (DK)Show the things that are to come hereafter,
That we may know that you are gods;
Yes, (DL)do good or do evil,
That we may be dismayed and see it together.
24 Indeed (DM)you are nothing,
And your work is nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.
25 “I have raised up one from the north,
And he shall come;
From the [ag]rising of the sun (DN)he shall call on My name;
(DO)And he shall come against princes as though mortar,
As the potter treads clay.
26 (DP)Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know?
And former times, that we may say, ‘He is righteous’?
Surely there is no one who shows,
Surely there is no one who declares,
Surely there is no one who hears your words.
27 (DQ)The first time (DR)I said to Zion,
‘Look, there they are!’
And I will give to Jerusalem one who brings good tidings.
28 (DS)For I looked, and there was no man;
I looked among them, but there was no counselor,
Who, when I asked of them, could answer a word.
29 (DT)Indeed they are all [ah]worthless;
Their works are nothing;
Their molded images are wind and confusion.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 36:2 A title, probably Chief of Staff or Governor
- Isaiah 36:5 Lit. a word of the lips
- Isaiah 36:11 Lit. Judean
- Isaiah 36:21 were silent
- Isaiah 37:3 contempt
- Isaiah 37:25 Or perhaps Egypt
- Isaiah 37:36 Or Angel
- Isaiah 37:36 Lit. struck
- Isaiah 38:3 whole or peaceful
- Isaiah 38:11 Heb. Yah, Yah
- Isaiah 38:11 LXX omits among the inhabitants of the world
- Isaiah 38:11 So with some Heb. mss.; MT, Vg. rest; Tg. land
- Isaiah 38:14 So with Bg.; MT, DSS Lord
- Isaiah 38:14 Be my surety
- Isaiah 38:15 So with MT, Vg.; DSS, Tg. And shall I say to Him; LXX omits first half of this verse
- Isaiah 39:1 Berodach-Baladan, 2 Kin. 20:12
- Isaiah 40:2 Lit. to the heart of
- Isaiah 40:3 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX omits in the desert
- Isaiah 40:4 Or a plain
- Isaiah 40:6 So with MT, Tg.; DSS, LXX, Vg. I
- Isaiah 40:10 in strength
- Isaiah 40:10 recompense
- Isaiah 40:12 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; DSS adds of the sea; Tg. adds of the world
- Isaiah 40:12 A span .5 cubit, 9 inches; or the width of His hand
- Isaiah 40:20 an offering
- Isaiah 40:23 reduces
- Isaiah 41:3 Lit. in peace
- Isaiah 41:6 Lit. Be strong
- Isaiah 41:7 refiner
- Isaiah 41:7 Or The soldering is good
- Isaiah 41:12 Lit. Men of your strife
- Isaiah 41:22 Lit. set our heart on them
- Isaiah 41:25 East
- Isaiah 41:29 So with MT, Vg.; DSS, Syr., Tg. nothing; LXX omits first line
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Bible Gateway Recommends
