Beginning

Assyria Takes Cities of Judah

36 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the strong cities of Judah and took them. ² The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a large army. And he stood by the ditch of the upper pool on the road of the Fuller’s Field. ³ Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was the head of the house, and Shebna the writer, and Joah the son of Asaph, who wrote down the things that happened, came out to him.

⁴ Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah, ‘The great king, the king of Syria, says, “What is the reason for this hope you have? ⁵ Do you think that empty words are plans and strength for war? In whom do you trust, that you have turned against me? ⁶ See, you are trusting in Egypt, whose power is like a broken piece of grass. If a man rests against it, it will cut into his hand. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. ⁷ But if you tell me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar’? ⁸ So now come and make an agreement with my leader, the king of Assyria. And I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them. ⁹ How then can you turn away from one captain of the least of my king’s servants, and trust in Egypt for war-wagons and horsemen? ¹⁰ Have I now come up to destroy the land against the Lord’s will? The Lord said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’”’”

¹¹ Then Eliakim and Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it. Do not speak with us in the language of Judah so the people who are on the wall will hear.” ¹² But Rabshakeh said, “Has my king sent me only to speak to your leader and to you, and not to the men who sit on the wall? They will have to eat and drink their own body waste with you.”

¹³ Then Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in the language of Judah, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. ¹⁴ The king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah lie to you. For he will not be able to bring you out of your trouble. ¹⁵ And do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “For sure the Lord will bring us out of our trouble. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹⁶ ‘Do not listen to Hezekiah.’ For the king of Assyria says, ‘Make your peace with me and come out to me. Each one of you should eat of his own vine and fig tree, and drink the water of his own well, ¹⁷ until I come and take you away to a land like your own land. It is a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and grape-fields. ¹⁸ Be careful not to let Hezekiah lead you the wrong way, saying, “The Lord will bring us out of our trouble.” Has any of the gods of the nations saved his land from the power of the king of Assyria? ¹⁹ Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? When have they taken Samaria out of my hand? ²⁰ Who among all the gods of these lands have taken their land out of my hand? So why should the Lord save Jerusalem from my hand?’”

²¹ But they were quiet and did not answer him. For the king had told them, “Do not answer him.” ²² Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was the head of the house, and Shebna the writer, and Joah the son of Asaph, who wrote down the things that happened, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn. They told him the words of Rabshakeh.

Jerusalem Will Be Free

37 When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes. He covered himself with cloth made from hair, and went into the house of the Lord. ² Then he sent Eliakim, the head of the house, and Shebna the writer, and the head religious leaders, covered with cloth made from hair, to Isaiah the man of God, the son of Amoz. ³ They said to him, “Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of trouble, pain, and shame. For children have come to birth, and there is no strength for them to be born. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom his leader the king of Assyria has sent to try to bring shame upon the living God. The Lord your God may speak sharp words against what He has heard. So say a prayer for those who are left of His people.’” ⁵ So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. ⁶ And Isaiah said to them, “Tell your king, ‘This is what the Lord says. “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have spoken against Me. ⁷ See, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear some news and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

⁸ Then Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. ⁹ Now the king had heard them say about King Tirhakah of Cush, “He has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent men to Hezekiah, saying, ¹⁰ “Tell Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in Whom you trust fool you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹¹ See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands. They have destroyed them all. So will you be kept from trouble? ¹² Did the gods of those nations which my fathers have destroyed take them out of trouble? Did they save Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer

¹⁴ Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the men from Assyria, and read it. He went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, ¹⁶ “O Lord of All, the God of Israel, Who sits on the throne above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the nations of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Listen, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see. Listen to all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to speak against the living God. ¹⁸ It is true, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands. ¹⁹ They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, made of wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. ²⁰ Now, O Lord our God, take us out of his hand, that all the nations of the earth may know that You alone are the Lord.”

The Word of the Lord to the King

²¹ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word the Lord has spoken against him: “She has hated you and made fun of you, the young daughter of Zion who has never had a man! She has shaken her head behind you, the people of Jerusalem! ²³ Whom have you put to shame and spoken against? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted up your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! ²⁴ Through your servants you have spoken against the Lord. You have said, ‘I came up to the high mountains with my many war-wagons, to the farthest parts of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedar trees and its best cypress trees. I came to its highest mountain top, and to the place that has the most trees. ²⁵ I dug wells in strange lands and drank water there. With the bottom of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.’ ²⁶ Have you not heard that I planned this long ago? From days of old I planned it. Now I have made it happen, that you should turn strong cities built for battles into waste lands. ²⁷ So their people did not have any more strength. They were troubled and put to shame. They were like the grass of the field and like the green plant. They were like grass on the housetops, dried up before it is grown. ²⁸ But I know your sitting down, and your going out and your coming in, and your anger against Me. ²⁹ Because of your anger against Me, and because I have heard of your pride, I will put My hook in your nose, and My bit in your mouth. And I will make you return the way you came.

³⁰ “This will be the special thing for you to see: You will eat this year what grows of itself. In the second year you will eat what grows up from the same. Then in the third year you will plant and gather. You will plant grape-fields and eat their fruit. ³¹ And those who are left of the family of Judah will again have their roots grow down and grow their fruit above. ³² For My people who are left will go out from Jerusalem and from Mount Zion. This will be done by the work of the Lord of All.”’” ³³ So the Lord says about the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with a battle-covering, or build a battle-wall against it. ³⁴ He will return by the same way he came, and he will not come to this city,’ says the Lord. ³⁵ ‘For I will fight for this city to save it for My own good, and for the good of My servant David.’”

³⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. And when men got up early in the morning, they saw all these dead bodies. ³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria left and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. ³⁸ When he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword. Then they ran away to the land of Ararat. And his son Esarhaddon became king in his place.

Hezekiah Will Live Fifteen More Years

38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was near death. Isaiah the man of God, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “The Lord says, ‘Make those of your house ready, for you will die and not live.’” ² Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, ³ and said, “O Lord, I ask you from my heart to remember now how I have walked with You in truth and with a whole heart. I have done what is good in Your eyes.” And Hezekiah cried with a bitter cry. ⁴ Then the Word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, ⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘The Lord, the God of your father David, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. See, I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶ And I will take you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. I will fight for this city.”’” ⁷ “This is the special thing for you to see from the Lord, that the Lord will do what He has said: ⁸ See the shadow on the steps, which has gone down with the sun on the steps of Ahaz. I will make it go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back the ten steps it had gone down.

⁹ This is the writing of King Hezekiah of Judah, after he had been sick and became well again: ¹⁰ I said, “Half-way through my life I am to go through the gates of the place of the dead. The rest of my years have been kept from me.” ¹¹ I said, “I will not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living. I will not look upon man any more among the people of the world. ¹² My house is pulled up like a shepherd’s tent and taken from me. I have rolled up my life like a cloth-maker. He cuts me off from the cloth He is making. From day to night You make an end of me. ¹³ I waited for help until morning. Like a lion He breaks all my bones. From day to night You make an end of me. ¹⁴ I make noise like the birds. I cry like a dove. My eyes are tired from looking up. O Lord, I am having a hard time. Keep me safe.

¹⁵ “But what can I say? For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. I will walk with care all my years because my soul is bitter. ¹⁶ O Lord, by these things men live. And in all these is the life of my spirit. O heal me, and let me live! ¹⁷ See, it was for my own well-being that I was bitter. But You have kept my soul from the grave that destroys. You have put all my sins behind Your back. ¹⁸ The place of the dead cannot thank You. Death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the grave cannot hope that You will be faithful. ¹⁹ It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today. A father tells his sons about how faithful You are. ²⁰ The Lord will save me. And we will sing my songs with harps all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.”

²¹ Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and put it on the sore, that he may get well.” ²² Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the special thing to see, that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”

Men Come from Babylon

39 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah. He heard that he had been sick and had become well. ² Hezekiah was pleased and showed them all his store-house of riches. He showed them the silver, the gold, the spices, the oil of much worth, and all his objects used in battle. He showed them everything that was in his store-houses. There was nothing in his house or under his rule that Hezekiah did not show them. ³ Then Isaiah the man of God came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say? From where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come to me from a far country, from Babylon.” ⁴ Isaiah said, “What have they seen in your house?” Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing among my riches that I have not shown them.”

⁵ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the Word of the Lord of All: ⁶ ‘See, the days are coming when everything in your house, and everything your fathers have stored up to this day, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ⁷ ‘And some of your own sons who are born to you will be taken away. They will work in the house of the king of Babylon.’” ⁸ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and truth in my days.”

God’s People Have Hope

40 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. ² “Speak kind words to Jerusalem. Call out to her that her time of war has ended, that her sin has been taken away, and that she has received from the Lord’s hand twice as much for all her sins.”

³ A voice is calling, “Make the way ready for the Lord in the desert. Make the road in the desert straight for our God. ⁴ Every valley will be lifted up and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the bad places will be made smooth. ⁵ Then the shining-greatness of the Lord will be seen. All flesh together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ⁶ A voice says, “Cry.” And he said, “What should I cry?” All flesh is grass. All its beauty is like the flower of the field. ⁷ The grass dries up and the flower loses its color when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. For sure the people are grass. ⁸ The grass dries up. The flower loses its color. But the Word of our God stands forever.

⁹ O Zion, you who bring good news, go up on the high mountain! Lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, you who bring good news. Lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” ¹⁰ See, the Lord God will come with power, and His arm will rule for Him. See, He is bringing the reward He will give to everyone for what he has done. ¹¹ He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in His arms and carry them close to His heart. He will be gentle in leading those that are with young.

¹² Who knows how much water is in His hand? Who has used his hand to know how far the heavens reach? Who knows what the dust of the earth would fill? Who has weighed the mountains and the hills? ¹³ Who has led the Spirit of the Lord? Who has taught Him words of wisdom? ¹⁴ From whom did He ask for wisdom, and who gave Him understanding? Who taught Him the right way, and taught Him much learning? Who showed Him the way of understanding? ¹⁵ See, the nations are like a drop in a pail. Their weight is like a little piece of dust. See, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. ¹⁶ Even Lebanon is not enough to burn. Its animals are not enough for a burnt gift in worship. ¹⁷ All the nations are as nothing before Him. He thinks of them as less than nothing and of no worth.

¹⁸ To Whom then is God like? What will you compare Him with? ¹⁹ An able workman makes a false god. A man who works with gold covers it with gold. And a man who works with silver makes silver chains for it. ²⁰ He who is too poor to give such a gift, picks out a tree that will not waste away. He finds an able workman to set up a false god that will not be moved.

²¹ Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the beginning of the earth? ²² It is God Who sits on the throne above the earth. The people living on the earth are like grasshoppers. He spreads out the heavens like a curtain. He spreads them out like a tent to live in. ²³ It is He Who brings rulers down to nothing. He makes the judges of the earth as nothing. ²⁴ They have just been planted, and have begun to take root in the earth. But He only blows on them and they dry up, and the storm carries them away like dry grass. ²⁵ “To whom will you compare Me, that I should be like him?” says the Holy One. ²⁶ Lift up your eyes and see. Who has made these stars? It is the One Who leads them out by number. He calls them all by name. Because of the greatness of His strength, and because He is strong in power, not one of them is missing.

²⁷ O Jacob and Israel, why do you say, “My way is hidden from the Lord. My God does not think about my cause”? ²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The God Who lives forever is the Lord, the One Who made the ends of the earth. He will not become weak or tired. His understanding is too great for us to begin to know. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weak. And He gives power to him who has little strength. ³⁰ Even very young men get tired and become weak and strong young men trip and fall. ³¹ But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak.

God Will Help Israel

41 “Islands, be quiet and listen to Me. Let the people get new strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come together to be judged. ² Who has called this one from the east, one who is right at every step? He gives up nations in front of him and makes him ruler over kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, and like wind-blown dry grass with his bow. ³ He goes after them and is safe as he passes, on paths he has not gone on before. ⁴ Who has done this, calling out all the people from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.”

⁵ The islands have seen and are afraid. The ends of the earth shake in fear and they have come. ⁶ Every one helps each other, and says to his brother, “Be strong!” ⁷ The able workman gives strength of heart to the one who works with gold. He who makes iron smooth gives strength of heart to the one who beats the iron, saying of his work, “It is good.” And he puts it in its place with nails so that it cannot be moved.

⁸ “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, son of My friend Abraham, ⁹ I have taken you from the ends of the earth. I have called you from its farthest parts, and said to you, ‘You are My servant. I have chosen you and have not turned away from you.’ ¹⁰ Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will give you strength, and for sure I will help you. Yes, I will hold you up with My right hand that is right and good. ¹¹ See, all those who are angry with you will be put to shame and troubled. Those who fight against you will be as nothing and will be lost. ¹² You will look for those who argue with you, but will not find them. Those who war against you will be as nothing, as nothing at all. ¹³ For I am the Lord your God Who holds your right hand, and Who says to you, ‘Do not be afraid. I will help you.’ ¹⁴ Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel. I will help you,” says the Lord. “The One Who bought you and sets you free is the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁵ See, I have made you a new, sharp, crushing tool with teeth. You will beat the mountains and crush them. You will make the hills like dry grass. ¹⁶ You will make the wind blow over them, and it will carry them away. The storm will send them everywhere. But you will have joy in the Lord. You will be glad in the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁷ “The suffering and those in need look for water, but there is none. Their tongue is dry with thirst. I the Lord will answer them. I the God of Israel will not leave them alone. ¹⁸ I will open rivers on the dry mountain tops, and give water in the valleys. I will make the desert a pool of water, and the dry land wells of water. ¹⁹ I will put in the desert the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will put the juniper tree in the desert, together with the box tree and the cypress. ²⁰ Then men will see and know and think about and understand that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has made it happen.

²¹ “Let your cause be known,” says the Lord. “Bring what you have to prove it,” says the King of Jacob. ²² Let them bring what they have, and tell us what is going to happen. Let them tell us what has happened in the past, that we may think about it and know what will happen in the future. ²³ Tell us what will happen after this, that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do good or bad, that we may together be afraid and fear. ²⁴ See, you are nothing. And your work is nothing. He who chooses you is hated and sinful.

²⁵ “I have called one from the north, and he has come. From the rising of the sun he will call on My name. He will step hard on rulers as on builder’s clay, as the pot-maker steps hard on clay.” ²⁶ Who has said this from the beginning, that we might know, or from times long ago, that we might say, “He is right”? There was no one who said it, no one who made it known, no one who heard your words. ²⁷ “Before I had said to Zion, ‘See, here they are,’ and to Jerusalem, ‘I will send someone to bring good news.’ ²⁸ But I see that there is no one, even no wise man among them, who can answer My questions. ²⁹ See, all of them are false. Their works are nothing. Their objects of worship are empty wind.