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Jerusalem Will Be Saved(A)

19 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes [C a sign of mourning or distress] and put on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; C also a sign of mourning]. Then he went into the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. Hezekiah sent Eliakim, the ·palace [L king’s house] manager, and Shebna, the royal secretary, and the ·older [or elders of the] priests to Isaiah. They were all wearing ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap] when they came to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. They told Isaiah, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of ·sorrow [distress; trouble] and ·punishment [insults, rebuke] and ·disgrace [rejection], as when a child ·should [is ready to] be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it. The king of Assyria sent his field commander to ·make fun of [defy; ridicule; insult] the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear what the commander said and will ·punish [rebuke] him for it. So pray for the ·few of us who are left alive [remnant that is left].”

When Hezekiah’s ·officers [officials] came to Isaiah, he said to them, “Tell your ·master [lord] this: ·The Lord says [T Thus says the Lord], ‘Don’t be afraid of what you have heard. Don’t be frightened by the words the servants of the king of Assyria have ·spoken [used to blaspheme] against me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a ·report [rumor; message] that will make him return to his own country, and I will cause him to ·die [L fall] by the sword there.’”

The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. When he went back, he found the king fighting against the city of Libnah.

The king received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of ·Egypt [L Cush; C present-day Ethiopia], was coming to attack him. When the king of Assyria heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Tell Hezekiah king of Judah: Don’t be ·fooled [deceived; deluded] by the god you trust. Don’t believe him when he says Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 You ·have heard [know] what the kings of Assyria have done. They have completely defeated every country, so do ·not [L you…?] think you will be ·saved [rescued; T delivered]. 12 Did the gods of those ·people [nations] ·save [rescue; T deliver] them? My ·ancestors [fathers] destroyed them, defeating the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar. 13 Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

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Isaiah Encourages Hezekiah

19 When king Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and he covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house (temple) of the Lord.(A) Then he sent Eliakim who was in charge of his household, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz. They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This is a day of distress and anxiety, of punishment and humiliation; for children have come to [the time of their] birth and there is no strength to rescue them. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will rebuke the words which the Lord your God has heard. So offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left [in Judah].’” So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. Isaiah said to them, “Say this to your master: ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled (blasphemed) Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Sennacherib Defies God

So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah]; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. When the king heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of [a]Ethiopia, “Behold, he has come out to make war against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem shall not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Listen, you have heard what the Assyrian kings have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be spared? 12 Did the gods of the nations whom my forefathers destroyed rescue them—Gozan and Haran [of Mesopotamia] and Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:9 Heb Cush.