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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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God’s Answer through Isaiah

20 Then(A) Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer(B) to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.’(C) 21 This is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

Virgin Daughter Zion(D)
despises you and scorns you:
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head behind your back.[a](E)
22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed?(F)
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!(G)
23 You have mocked the Lord[b] through[c] your messengers.(H)
You have said:

With my many chariots(I)
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its farthest outpost,
its densest forest.
24 I dug wells,
and I drank foreign waters.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt(J)
with the soles of my feet.

25 Have you not heard?(K)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass,(L)
and you have crushed fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,(M)
blasted by the east wind.[d]

27 But I know your sitting down,[e](N)
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against Me.
28 Because your raging against Me
and your arrogance have reached My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose(O)
and My bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.

29 “This will be the sign(P) for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant(Q) of the house of Israel will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem and survivors, from Mount Zion.(R) The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.(S)

32 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow there
or come before it with a shield
or build up an assault ramp against it.(T)
33 He will go back
on the road that he came
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

34 I will defend this city and rescue it
for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.”(U)

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 19:21 Lit behind you
  2. 2 Kings 19:23 Many mss read Lord
  3. 2 Kings 19:23 Lit by the hand of
  4. 2 Kings 19:26 DSS; MT reads blasted before standing grain; Is 37:27
  5. 2 Kings 19:27 LXX, DSS read your rising up and your sitting down; Is 37:28