Beginning
36 1 Sennacherib sendeth Rabshakeh to besiege Jerusalem. 15 His blasphemies against God.
1 Now [a]in the [b]fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib King of Assyria came up against all the strong cities of Judah, and took them.
2 And the King of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish toward Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah, with a great host, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the path of the fuller’s field.
3 Then came forth unto him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah the [c]steward of the house, and Shebna [d]the chancellor, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
4 And [e]Rabshakeh said unto them, Tell you Hezekiah, I pray you, Thus saith the great king, the King of Assyria, What confidence is this, wherein thou trustest?
5 I say, [f]Surely I have eloquence, but counsel and strength are for the war: on whom then dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
6 Lo, thou trustest in this broken staff of reed, on Egypt, whereupon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is [g]Pharaoh King of Egypt unto all that trust in him.
7 But if thou say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God, is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah took down, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
8 Now therefore give hostages to my Lord the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
9 For how canst thou [h]despise any captain of the [i]least of my lord’s servants? and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10 And am I now come up without the Lord to this land to destroy it? The Lord said unto me, [j]Go up against this land and destroy it.
11 ¶ Then said Eliakim, and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, [k]Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Aramite’s language (for we understand it) and talk not with us in the Jews’ tongue, in the audience of the people that are on the wall.
12 Then said Rabshakeh, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words, and not to the men that sit on the wall? that they may eat their own thing, and drink their own [l]piss with you?
13 So Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said, Hear the words of the great King, of the King of Assyria.
14 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.
15 Neither let Hezekiah make you to trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us: this city shall not be given over into the hand of the king of Assyria.
16 Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make [m]appointment with me, and come out to me, that every man may eat of his own vine, and every man of his own fig tree, and drink every man the water of his own well,
17 Till I come and bring you to a land like your own land, even a land of wheat and wine, a land of bread and vineyards,
18 Lest Hezekiah deceive you, saying, The Lord will deliver us. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
19 Where is the god of [n]Hamath, and of Arpad? where is the god of Sepharvaim? or how have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
20 Who is he among all the gods of these lands, that hath delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
21 Then they [o]kept silence, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.
22 Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah the steward of the house, and Shebna the chancellor, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, unto Hezekiah with rent clothes, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
37 2 Hezekiah asketh counsel of Isaiah, who promiseth him the victory. 10 The blasphemy of Sennacherib. 16 Hezekiah’s prayer. 36 The army of Sennacherib is slain of the Angel. 38 And he himself of his own sons.
1 And (A)when the King Hezekiah heard it, he [p]rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth and came into the house of the Lord.
2 And he sent Eliakim the steward of the house, and Shebna the chancellor, with the Elders of the Priests, clothed in sackcloth unto [q]Isaiah the Prophet the son of Amoz.
3 And he said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of tribulation and of rebuke and blasphemy: for the children are come to the [r]birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.
4 If so be the Lord thy God hath [s]heard the words of Rabshakeh, whom the King of Assyria his master hath sent to rail on the living God, and to reproach him with words, which the Lord thy God hath heard, then [t]lift thou up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of the King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus say unto your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a [u]noise, and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
8 ¶ So Rabshakeh returned, and found the King of Assyria fighting against [v]Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
9 He heard also men say of Tirhakah, King of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: and when he heard it, he sent other messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah King of Judah, saying, Let not thy God [w]deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the King of Assyria.
11 Behold, thou hast heard what the Kings of Assyria have done to all lands in destroying them, and shalt thou be delivered?
12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed? as [x]Gozan, and [y]Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were at Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the King of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
14 ¶ So Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it, and he went up into the house of the Lord, and Hezekiah spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, which [z]dwellest between the Cherubims, thou art very God alone over all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made the heaven and the earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear: open thine eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to blaspheme the living God.
18 Truth it is, O Lord, that the Kings of Assyria have destroyed all lands and [aa]their country,
19 And have cast their gods in the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, even wood or stone: therefore they destroyed them.
20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save thou us out of his hand, that [ab]all the kingdoms of the earth may know, that thou only art the Lord.
21 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Because thou hast prayed unto me, concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria,
22 This is the word that the Lord hath spoken against him, The [ac]virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
23 Whom hast thou railed on and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the [ad]holy One of Israel.
24 By thy servants hast thou railed on the Lord, and said, By the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the top of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the high cedars thereof, and the fair fir trees thereof, and I will go up to the heights of his top, and to the forest of his fruitful places.
25 I have dug, [ae]and drunk the waters, and with the plant of my feet have I dried all the rivers closed in.
26 Hast thou not heard how I have of old time made it, [af]and have formed it long ago? and should I now bring it, that it should be destroyed, and laid on ruinous heaps, as cities defensed?
27 Whose inhabitants have [ag]small power, and are afraid and confounded: they are like the grass of the field and green herb, or grass on the house tops, or corn blasted [ah]afore it be grown.
28 But I know thy dwelling, and thy [ai]going out, and thy coming in, and thy fury against me.
29 Because thou ragest against me, and thy tumult is come unto mine ears, therefore will I put mine [aj]hook in thy nostrils, and my bridle in thy lips, and will bring thee back again the same way thou [ak]camest.
30 And this shall be a [al]sign unto thee, O Hezekiah, Thou shalt eat this year such as groweth of itself: and the [am]second year such things as grow without sowing: and in the third year, sow ye and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And [an]the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
33 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the King of Assyria, He shall not enter into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a mount against it.
34 By the same way that he came, he shall return, and not come into this city, saith the Lord.
35 For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant [ao]David’s sake.
36 ¶ (B)Then the Angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of Assyria, an hundred fourscore, and five thousand: so when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went away and returned and dwelt at [ap]Nineveh.
38 And as he was in the Temple worshipping of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons slew him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of [aq]Ararat: and [ar]Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
38 1 Hezekiah is sick. 5 He is restored to health by the Lord, and liveth fifteen years after. 10 He giveth thanks for his benefit.
1 About (C)that [as]time was Hezekiah sick unto the death, and the Prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Put thine house in an order, for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then Hezekiah [at]turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
3 And said, I beseech thee, Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept sore.
4 ¶ Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go, and say unto Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, and seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
6 And I will deliver thee [au]out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and this city: for I will defend this city.
7 And [av]this sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken,
8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees (whereby it is gone down in the dial of Ahaz by the [aw]sun) ten degrees backward: so the sun returned by ten degrees, by the which degrees it was gone down.
9 [ax]The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.
10 I said in the [ay]cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
11 I said, [az]I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living: I shall see man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Mine habitation is departed, and is removed from me, like a shepherd’s tent: I [ba]have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the height: from day [bb]to night, thou wilt make an end of me.
13 I reckoned [bc]to the morning: but he brake all my bones like a lion, from day to night wilt thou make an end of me.
14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I [bd]chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes were lifted up on high: O Lord, [be]it hath oppressed me, comfort me.
15 What shall I say, [bf]for he hath said it to me, and he hath done it: I shall walk [bg]weakly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, [bh]to them that overlive them, and to all that are in them, the life of my spirit shall be known, that thou causest me to [bi]sleep and hast given life to me.
17 Behold, for [bj]felicity I had bitter grief, but it was thy pleasure to deliver my soul from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my [bk]sins behind thy back.
18 For [bl]the grave cannot confess thee: death cannot praise thee: they that go down into the pit, cannot hope for thy truth.
19 But the living, the living, he shall confess thee, as I do this day: the father to the [bm]children shall declare thy truth.
20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my song, all the days of [bn]our life in the house of the Lord.
21 Then said Isaiah, Take a lump of dry figs and [bo]lay it upon the boil, and he shall recover.
22 Also Hezekiah [bp]had said, What is the sign, that I shall go up into the house of the Lord?
39 Hezekiah is reproved because he showed his treasures unto the ambassadors of Babylon.
1 At (D)the same time, [bq]Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, King of Babel, sent [br]letters, and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
2 And Hezekiah was [bs]glad of them, and showed them the house of the treasures, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his kingdom that Hezekiah showed them not.
3 Then came Isaiah the Prophet unto King Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, from Babel.
4 Then said he, What have [bt]they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen; there is nothing among my treasures, that I have not showed them.
5 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts,
6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be [bu]carried to Babel: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
7 And of thy sons, that shall proceed out of thee, and which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall be [bv]eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babel.
8 [bw]Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, The word of the Lord is good, which thou hast spoken: and he said, Yet let there be peace, and truth in my days.
40 2 Remission of sins by Christ. 3 The coming of John Baptist. 18 The Prophet reproveth the Idolaters, and them that trust not in the Lord.
1 Comfort [bx]ye, comfort ye my people, will your God say.
2 Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her [by]warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand [bz]double for all her sins.
3 A [ca]voice crieth in the [cb]wilderness, [cc]Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the desert a path for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every [cd]mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be straight, and the rough places plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all [ce]flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
6 A [cf]voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the [cg]grace thereof is as the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the [ch]Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the [ci]word of our God shall stand forever.
9 ¶ O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high [cj]mountain: O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength: lift it up, be not afraid: say unto the cities of Judah, Behold [ck]your God.
10 Behold, the Lord God will come with power, and [cl]his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall guide them with [cm]young.
12 Who hath measured the waters in his [cn]fist? and counted heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure? and weighed the mountains in a weight, and the hills in a balance?
13 Who hath instructed the spirit of the Lord? or was [co]his counselor, or taught him?
14 Of whom took the counsel, and who instructed him and taught him in the way of judgment? or taught him knowledge, and showed unto him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the dust of the balance: behold, he taketh away the isles as a little dust.
16 And Lebanon is not sufficient for fire, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All nations before him are as [cp]nothing, and they are counted to him, less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then [cq]will ye liken God? or what similitude will ye set up unto him?
19 The workman melteth an image, or the goldsmith beateth it out in gold, or the goldsmith maketh silver plates.
20 Doth not [cr]the poor choose out a tree that will not rot, for an oblation? he seeketh also unto him a cunning workman, to prepare an image that shall not be moved.
21 Know ye nothing? have ye not heard [cs]it? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood it by the [ct]foundation of the earth?
22 He sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, he stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out, as a tent to dwell in.
23 He bringeth the princes to nothing, and maketh the judges of the earth, as vanity,
24 As though they were not planted, as though they were not sown, as though their stock took no root in the earth: for he did even [cu]blow upon them, and they withered, and the whirlwind will take them away as stubble.
25 To whom now will ye liken me, that I should be like him, saith the Holy one?
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, and bringeth [cv]out their armies by number, and calleth them all by names: by the greatness of his power and mighty strength nothing faileth.
27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest O Israel, [cw]My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over of my God?
28 Knowest thou not? or hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord hath created the [cx]ends of the earth? he neither fainteth, nor is weary: there is no searching of his [cy]understanding.
29 But he giveth strength unto him that fainteth, and unto him that hath no strength, he increaseth power.
30 [cz]Even the young men shall faint, and be weary, and the young men shall stumble and fall.
31 But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength: they shall lift up the wings, as the eagles: they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
41 2 God’s mercy in choosing his people. 6 Their idolatry. 27 Deliverance promised to Zion.
1 Keep [da]silence before me, O islands, and let the people [db]renew their strength: let them come near, and let them speak: let us come together into judgment.
2 Who raised up [dc]justice from the East, and called him to his foot? and gave the nations before him, and subdued the kings? he gave them as dust to his sword, and as scattered stubble unto his bow.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 Who hath wrought and done it? he that calleth the [dd]generations from the beginning. I the Lord am the [de]first, and with the last I am the same.
5 The isles saw it, and did [df]fear, and the ends of the earth were abashed, drew near, and [dg]came.
6 Every man helped his neighbor, and said to his brother, [dh]Be strong.
7 So the workman comforted the founder, and he that smote with the hammer, him that smote by course, saying, It is ready for the soldering, and he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved.
8 ¶ But thou, Israel, art my [di]servant, and thou Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 For I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and called thee before the chief thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant: I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not afraid, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, and help thee, and will sustain thee with the [dj]right hand of my justice.
11 Behold, all they that provoke thee, shall be ashamed, and confounded: they shall be as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them and shalt not [dk]find them: to wit, the men of thy strife, for they shall be as nothing, and the men that war against thee, as a thing of nought.
13 For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.
14 Fear not thou [dl]worm, Jacob, and ye men of Israel: I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer the holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a roller, and a new threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the [dm]mountains, and bring them to powder, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the holy One of Israel.
17 When [dn]the poor and the needy seek water, and there is none (their tongue faileth for thirst: I the Lord will hear them: I the God of Israel will not forsake them:)
18 I will open rivers in the tops of the hills, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness as a pool of water, and the waste [do]land as springs of water.
19 I will set in the wilderness the cedar, the Shittah, and the myrrhe tree, and the pine tree, and I will set in the wilderness the fir tree, the elm and the box tree together.
20 Therefore let them see and know, and let them consider and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the holy One of Israel [dp]hath created it.
21 [dq]Stand to your cause, saith the Lord: bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them forth, and let them tell us what shall come, let them show the former things what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them: either declare us things for to come.
23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good or do evil, that we may declare it, and behold it together.
24 Behold, ye are of no value, and your making is of naught: man hath [dr]chosen an abomination by them.
25 ¶ I have raised up from the [ds]North, and he shall come: from the East sun shall he [dt]call upon my name, and shall come upon [du]princes as upon clay, and as the potter treadeth mire under the foot.
26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? or before time, that we may say, He is righteous? Surely there is none that showeth: surely there is none that declareth: surely there is none that heareth [dv]your words.
27 I am the first, that saith to Zion, Behold, behold [dw]them: and I will give to Jerusalem [dx]one that shall bring good tidings.
28 But when [dy]I beheld, there was none: and when I inquired of them, there was no counselor, and when I demanded of them, they answered not a word.
29 Behold, they are all vanity: their work is of nothing, their images are wind and confusion.
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