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Isaiah Brings a Prophetic Response

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘What you have prayed to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:

She despises you, she scorns you,
    the virgin daughter of Zion.
Behind you the daughter of Jerusalem
    shakes her head.
22 Whom have you mocked and reviled?
    And against whom have you have raised your voice
and have haughtily lifted your eyes?
    Against the Holy One of Israel!
23 By the hand of your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
    and you have said,
‘With my many chariots I have gone up
    to the height of the mountains.
To the remote areas of Lebanon,
    I have felled the tallest of its cedars,
    the choicest of its cypresses.
I have entered the place of overnight lodging.
    Even to the edge of forest of its fertile land.
24 I dug wells and I drank foreign water,
    and I dried up with the sole of my steps
    all the canals of Egypt.’
25 Have you not heard?
    From long ago I have determined it,
    from the days of old I have planned it,
    and now I am bringing it to pass.
It shall be turned into a pile of rocks;
    fortified cities are ruined.
26 Their inhabitants, short of hand, shall be dismayed;
    and they shall be ashamed.
They have become green plants of the open field,
    and tender grass,
    green grass of the roof
    and blight before the standing grain.
27 Your sitting, your going out, and your coming in I know,
    and your raging against me.
28 Because you are raging against me,
    and your arrogance has come up in my ears,
I will put my nose ring in your nose
    and my bridle in your mouth.
And I will turn you back
    on the way that you have come.

29 “‘This will be the sign for you: Eat the volunteer plants for the year, and in the second year, the volunteer plants that spring up from that. But in the third year, sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The remainder of the house of Judah which survives will again take root below and bear fruit above. 31 For from Jerusalem a remnant shall go out and survivors from Mount Zion; the zeal of Yahweh will do this.

32 “‘Therefore thus says Yahweh to the king of Assyria, “He shall not come to this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow there, nor shall he bring a small shield near her, nor shall he cast a siege ramp against her. 33 By the way that he came to her he shall return; but to this city, he shall not come,” declares Yahweh. 34 And I will defend this city to save her for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.’”

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20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says ‘You have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, and I have heard you. 21 This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. 22 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. 24 I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.” 25 Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up. 27 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. 28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’

29 “This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from that; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit. 30 The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. Yahweh’s zeal will perform this.

32 “Therefore Yahweh says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 33 He will return the same way that he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says Yahweh. 34 ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”

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