Beginning
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
36 And this happened: In the fourteenth year[a] of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria went up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and he captured them. 2 And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh[b] from Lachish to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, with a large army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the field of the washer. 3 And Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace,[c] came out to him, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder.
4 And Rabshakeh said to them, “Now say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What is this confidence in which you trust? 5 I said, ‘Only a word of lips! War has power and a plan!’[d] Now, in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me? 6 Look, you trust in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt, which if a man leans on it, goes into his hand and bores through it! Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to all those who trust in him. 7 And if you say to me, ‘We trust in Yahweh our God,’ was it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed? And he said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall bow down in the presence[e] of this altar.’” 8 And now please make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, that is, if you are able put[f] riders for yourself on them! 9 But how can you drive back one governor among the least of my master’s servants,[g] when[h] you trust in Egypt for chariots[i] and horsemen? 10 And now was it without Yahweh that I have come up against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it!”’”
11 And Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we can understand[j] it, and you must not speak to us in Judean in the hearing[k] of the people who are on the wall.”
12 But[l] Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to speak these words to your masters and you? Was it not for the people who sit on the wall, to eat their dung and drink their urine[m] with you?”
13 Then[n] Rabshakeh stood and called in a great voice in Judean and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you! 15 And do not let Hezekiah make you rely on Yahweh, saying, “Surely Yahweh will deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria!” 16 You must not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: “Make a blessing[o] with me, and come out to me, and each one will eat from his vine and from his fig tree and drink water from[p] his cistern, 17 until I come[q] and take you to a land like your land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, 18 lest Hezekiah mislead you, saying, ‘Yahweh will save us!’ Did the gods of the nations each save his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20 Who are there among all the gods of these countries who have saved their land from my hand, that Yahweh should save Jerusalem from my hand?”’”
21 But[r] they were silent and did not answer him a word, for the command of the king was, “You must not answer him.” 22 Then[s] Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was over the palace,[t] Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the reminder, came to Hezekiah with torn garments and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
Hezekiah Consults Isaiah
37 And this happened: When King Hezekiah heard, he tore his garments, covered himself with sackcloth, and entered the temple[u] of Yahweh. 2 And he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of[v] the palace,[w] and Shebna the secretary, and the elders of the priests covered[x] with sackcloth to Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet. 3 And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the cervical opening, and there is no strength to give birth. 4 Maybe Yahweh your God heard the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God, and he will rebuke the words that Yahweh your God hears. And you must lift up a prayer for the benefit of the remnant that is found.’”
5 When[y] the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “You must say this to your master: ‘Thus says Yahweh: “You must not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Look! I am about to put[z] a spirit in him so that[aa] he shall hear a rumor and he shall return to his land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his land.”’”
8 And Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had left from Lachish. 9 Now[ab] he[ac] heard concerning Tirhakah the king of Cush, saying, “He has set out to fight against[ad] you.”
When[ae] he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “You shall say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust in him deceive you by saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you—shall you be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that my predecessors[af] destroyed deliver them—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, Hena, or[ag] Ivvah?’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read[ah] it. Then[ai] he went up to the temple[aj] of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out before the presence[ak] of Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 16 “Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel who is enthroned on[al] the cherubim, you are the one, God by yourself, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you are the one who made the heavens and the earth. 17 Yahweh, extend your ear and hear! Yahweh, open your eyes and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God! 18 Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the lands[am] and their land, 19 to set[an] their gods in the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of human hands, wood and stone, and they destroyed them. 20 So[ao] now, Yahweh, our God, save us from his hand so that[ap] all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, you alone!”
God’s Answer
21 And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to me concerning[aq] Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him:
She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion;
she shakes her head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem.
23 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed,
and against whom have you raised up your voice and lifted your eyes upward?
To the holy one of Israel!
24 By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord,
and you have said, “With my many chariots,[ar]
I myself have gone up the height of the mountains,
to the remote areas of Lebanon.
And I cut off its tall cedars,[as]
the choicest of its junipers.
And I came to the height of its limit,
the forest of its orchard.[at]
25 I myself dug and drank waters,
and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet.”
26 Have you not heard from a long time ago?[au] I have made it
from days of primeval time, and I formed it.
Now I have brought it about,
and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones.
27 And their inhabitants are weak;[av]
they are dismayed, and they are ashamed;
they have become like plants[aw] of the field,
and like greens of grass,
like grass on[ax] the roofs
and a cultivated field before[ay] the standing grain.
28 And I know your sitting down and your going out,
and your coming in, and your raging against[az] me.
29 Because you were enraged against[ba] me,
and your noise[bb] has come up to[bc] my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bridle on your lips,
and I will turn you back
on the way by which you came.
30 And this shall be the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plants[bd] this[be] year, and in the second year self-seeded plants,[bf] and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall grow[bg] roots[bh] downwards and make fruit upwards.
32 For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem
and survivors[bi] from mountain Zion.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.’
33 Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning[bj] the king of Assyria:
‘He shall not come to this city,
and he shall not shoot an arrow there,
and he shall not meet it with a shield,
and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her.
34 He shall return by the way that he came,
and he shall not come to this city,’
declares[bk] Yahweh.
35 ‘And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.’”
Sennacherib’s Defeat
36 And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When[bl] they rose in the morning, look! All of them were dead corpses. 37 Then[bm] Sennacherib king of Assyria left, went, and returned and lived at Nineveh. 38 And this happened: he was bowing in worship in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they themselves escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-haddon his son reigned as king in his place.
Hezekiah’s Illness
38 In those days, Hezekiah became sick to death, and Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, came to him and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Order your house, for you are about to die, and you shall not recover.’” 2 Then[bn] Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, 3 and he said, “O Yahweh, please remember how[bo] I have walked before your presence[bp] in faithfulness with a whole heart, and I have done the good in your eyes!” And Hezekiah wept with great weeping.
4 Then[bq] the word of Yahweh came[br] to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your ancestor:[bs] “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to[bt] add fifteen years to your days. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.”’
7 And this is the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken: 8 Look! I will cause the shadow of the steps, which it had gone down on the steps of Ahaz with the sun, to turn backwards ten steps.” And the sun turned back ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.
9 A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he was sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I was the one who said, “I must go in the quiet of my days;
I am summoned through the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I shall not see Yah! Yah in the land of the living!
I shall no more look at humankind among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling place is pulled up and removed from me like the tent of my shepherd;
I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
He cuts me off from the thrum;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
13 I lie down[bu] until morning;
like a lion, so he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like a horse or a crane, so I chirp;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weak toward the height.
Lord, I have oppression; lend me support!
15 What can I say? For[bv] he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I will walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, they live by them, and the life of my spirit belongs to all among them.
And restore me to health and keep me alive!
17 Look! Bitterness was bitter to me for peace.
And you were the one who loved[bw] my life from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18 For Sheol cannot praise you; death cannot praise you.
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living one praises you like me today;
a father will make your faithfulness known to children.
20 Yahweh, save me, and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the temple[bx] of Yahweh.”
21 And Isaiah said, “Let them take[by] a lump of figs, and let them rub it on the boil so that[bz] he may recover.” 22 And Hezekiah said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple[ca] of Yahweh?”
The Delegation from Babylon
39 At that time, Merodach-Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for[cb] he heard that he had been sick and recovered. 2 And Hezekiah rejoiced over them and showed them his house of aromatic gum, the silver, gold, spices, good oil, all the house of his weapons, and all that was found in his storehouses. There was nothing that Hezekiah had not shown them in his house or in all his dominion. 3 And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” And Hezekiah answered,[cc] “They came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.” 4 And he[cd] said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah answered,[ce] “They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing that I have not shown them in my storehouses.”
5 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh of hosts: 6 ‘Look! days are coming, and all that is in your house and that which your ancestors[cf] have stored up to this day shall be carried off to Babylon. Nothing shall be left,’ says Yahweh. 7 ‘And some of your sons who go out from you, whom you fathered, shall be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of Yahweh that you have spoken is good,” for[cg] he thought,[ch] “Surely there will be peace and security in my days.”
Comfort for God’s People
40 “Comfort; comfort my people,” says your God.
2 “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,
that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,
that she has received[ci] from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.”
3 A voice is calling in the wilderness, “Clear the way of Yahweh!
Make a highway smooth in the desert for our God!
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill shall become low,
And the rough ground shall be like a plain,
and the rugged ground like a valley-plain.
5 And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,
and all humankind[cj] together shall see it,
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.”
6 A voice is saying, “Call!”
And he said, “What shall I call?”
All humankind[ck] are grass,
and all his loyalty is like the flowers of the field.
7 Grass withers; the flower withers
when the breath of Yahweh blows on it.
Surely the people are grass.
8 Grass withers; the flower withers,
but[cl] the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Get yourself[cm] up to a high mountain, Zion, bringer of good news!
Lift up your voice with strength, Jerusalem, bringer of good news!
Lift it up; you must not fear!
Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 Look! The Lord Yahweh comes with strength,[cn]
and his arm rules for him.
Look! His reward is with him,
and his recompense in his presence.[co]
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arm,
and he will carry them in his bosom;
he will lead those who nurse.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
comprehended the dust of the earth in a third of a measure
and weighed out the mountains in the scales,[cp] and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has measured up the spirit of Yahweh
or informed him as his counselor[cq]?
14 With whom has he consulted, that[cr] he enlightened him[cs]
and taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and made the way of understanding known to him?
15 Look! The nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and they are counted like dust of the balances!
Look! He weighs the islands like a thin covering.
16 And Lebanon is not enough to light a fire,
and its animals[ct] not enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are like nothing before him;
they are counted by him as[cu] nothing and emptiness.
18 And to whom will you liken God?
And to what likeness will you compare him?
19 A craftsman pours out the idol,
and a goldsmith[cv] overlays it with gold,
and he smelts chains of silver.
20 The one who is too impoverished for a gift chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks a skillful artisan for himself to set up an image that will not be knocked over.
21 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?[cw]
Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?
22 He is the one who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
the one who stretches out the heavens like a veil
and spreads them out like a tent to live in,
23 the one who brings[cx] princes to nothing;
he makes rulers of the earth like nothing.
24 Indeed, hardly are they planted; indeed, hardly are they sown;
indeed, hardly has their shoot taken root in the earth
when[cy] he blows on them and they wither,
and the tempest carries them like stubble.
25 “And to whom you will compare me, and am I equal?” says the holy one.
26 Lift your eyes up on high, and see! Who created these?
The one who brings out their host by number.
He calls all them by name.
Because he is great of power
and mighty of power, no man is missing.
27 Why[cz] do you say, Jacob,
and you speak, Israel,
“My way is hidden from Yahweh,
and my judgment is passed over by my God?”
28 Have you not known,
or have you not heard?
Yahweh is the God of eternity,
the creator of the ends of the earth!
He is not faint, and he does not grow weary!
There is no searching his understanding.
29 He gives power to the weary,
and he increases power for the powerless.[da]
30 Even[db] young people will be faint and grow weary,
and the young will stumble, exhausted.
31 But[dc] those who wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength.
They shall go up with wings[dd] like eagles;
they shall run and not grow weary;
they shall walk and not be faint.
God Helps Israel
41 Listen to me in silence, coastlands,
and let nations renew their strength.
Let them approach, then let them speak;
let us draw near together for judgment.
2 Who has roused salvation from the east,
summoned[de] him to his foot,
gives nations in his presence,[df]
and subjugates kings?
He makes[dg] them like the dust with his sword,
like scattered stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on in peace;
he does not enter the path with his feet.
4 Who has accomplished and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?[dh]
I, Yahweh, am first;
and I am the one with the last.
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble.
They have drawn near,
and they have come.
6 Each one helps[di] his neighbor;
he says to his brother, “Take courage!”
7 And the artisan encourages the goldsmith,[dj]
the one who makes smooth with the hammer encourages the one who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good!”
And they strengthen it with nails so it cannot be knocked over.
8 But[dk] you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you, the offspring[dl] of Abraham my friend,[dm]
9 you whom I grasped from the ends of the earth
and called from its remotest parts
and told, “You are my servant;
I have chosen you and I have not rejected you.”
10 You must not fear, for I am with you;
you must not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, indeed I will help you,
indeed I will take hold of you with the right hand of my salvation.
11 Look! All those who are angry with you shall be ashamed and humiliated;
your opponents[dn] shall be like nothing and shall become lost.
12 You shall seek them,
but[do] you shall not find them;
your opponents[dp] shall be like nothing,
and the men of your war like nothing.
13 For I, Yahweh your God, am grasping your right hand;
it is I who say[dq] to you,
“You must not fear;
I myself, I will help you.
14 You must not fear, O worm of Jacob;
people of Israel,
I myself, I will help you,” declares[dr] Yahweh,
“and your redeemer is the holy one of Israel.
15 Look! I will make you into a new sharp threshing sledge,
with[ds] sharp edges.
You shall thresh and crush the mountains,
and you shall make the hills like chaff.
16 You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you yourself shall rejoice in Yahweh;
you shall boast in the holy one of Israel.
17 The poor and the needy are seeking water and there is none;
their tongue is dried up with thirst.
I, Yahweh, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness like a pool of water
and the land of dryness like springs of water.
19 I will put[dt] the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive oil tree in the wilderness;
I will set the cypress, elm, and box tree together in the desert
20 so that they may see and know,
and take to heart and understand together
that the hand of Yahweh has done this,
and the holy one of Israel has created it.”
21 “Present your legal case,” says Yahweh.
“Bring your evidence,” says the king of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them,
and let them tell us what will happen.
Tell us what the former things are
so that[du] we may take them to our heart
and know their outcome.[dv]
Declare to us the things to come;
23 tell us the things coming hereafter,[dw]
that[dx] we may know that you are gods.
Indeed, do good or[dy] do evil,
that[dz] we may be afraid and see[ea] together.
24 Look! you are nothing,
and your work is something worthless;
whoever chooses you is an abomination.
25 I stirred up one from the north,
and he has come from the rising of the sun.
He shall call on my name,
and he shall come on officials as on mortar,
and as the potter[eb] treads clay.
26 Who declared it from the beginning[ec] so that[ed] we might know,
and beforehand[ee] so that[ef] we might say, “He is right!”[eg]
Indeed, there was no one who declared it;
Indeed, there was no one who proclaimed it.
Indeed there was no one who heard your words.
27 First to Zion, look! Look at them!
And I give a herald[eh] of good tidings to Jerusalem.
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