The Word of the Lord Concerning Sennacherib(A)

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: (B)‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, (C)I have heard.’ 21 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him:

‘The virgin, (D)the daughter of Zion,
Has despised you, laughed you to scorn;
The daughter of Jerusalem
(E)Has shaken her head behind your back!

22 ‘Whom have you reproached and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And lifted up your eyes on high?
Against (F)the Holy One of Israel.
23 (G)By your messengers you have reproached the Lord,
And said: (H)“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 the extremity of its borders,
To its fruitful forest.
24 I have dug and drunk strange water,
And with the soles of my feet I have (I)dried up
All the brooks of defense.”

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

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

29 ‘This shall be a (P)sign to you:

‘You shall eat this year such as grows [a]of itself,
And in the second year what springs from the same;
Also in the third year sow and reap,
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them.
30 (Q)And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah
Shall again take root downward,
And bear fruit upward.
31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
(R)The zeal of the Lord [b]of hosts will do this.’

32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria:

‘He shall (S)not come into this city,
Nor shoot an arrow there,
Nor come before it with shield,
Nor build a siege mound against it.
33 By the way that he came,
By the same shall he return;
And he shall not come into this city,’
Says the Lord.
34 ‘For (T)I will (U)defend this city, to save it
For My own sake and (V)for My servant David’s sake.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:29 Without cultivation
  2. 2 Kings 19:31 So with many Heb. mss. and ancient vss. (cf. Is. 37:32); MT omits of hosts

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard thee. 21 This is the word that Jehovah hath spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head [a]at thee. 22 Whom hast thou defied and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. 23 By thy messengers thou hast defied the Lord, and hast said, With the [b]multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice [c]fir-trees thereof; and I will enter into his farthest lodging-place, the forest of his fruitful field. 24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of [d]Egypt.

25 Hast thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? now have I brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as grain blasted before it is grown up. 27 But I know thy sitting down, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy raging against me. 28 Because of thy raging against me, and because [e]thine arrogancy is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

29 And this shall be the sign unto thee: ye shall eat this year that which groweth of itself, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof. 30 And [f]the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape: the zeal of [g]Jehovah shall perform this. 32 Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto this city, saith Jehovah. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:21 Hebrew after.
  2. 2 Kings 19:23 According to another reading, driving.
  3. 2 Kings 19:23 Or, cypress
  4. 2 Kings 19:24 Or, defence. Hebrew Mazor.
  5. 2 Kings 19:28 Or, thy careless ease
  6. 2 Kings 19:30 Hebrew the escaped of the house of Judah that remain.
  7. 2 Kings 19:31 According to another reading, Jehovah of hosts: and so in Isa. 37:32