Chronological
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
37 As soon as Hezekiah the king[a] heard this, he tore his clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and went into the Lord’s Temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all wearing sackcloth, to Amoz’s son, the prophet Isaiah. 3 “Here is what Hezekiah says,” they told him. “This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them. 4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the Lord your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city.”[b] 5 That’s why King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah.
Isaiah Responds to Hezekiah
6 “Here is what to tell your master,” Isaiah told them. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Don’t be afraid of the words you’ve heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me. 7 Watch this! I’m going to place an attitude[c] within him,[d] so that when he hears a certain report, he’ll return to his own country. Then I’ll have him cut down by the sword in his own land.”[e]
Sennacherib Retreats
8 So the field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, since he had heard that the king of Assyria[f] had left Lachish. 9 Now King Sennacherib[g] had received this report concerning King Tirhakah of Cush: “He has marched out to fight against you.”
When he heard it, he returned and[h] sent messengers to Hezekiah: 10 “Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God on whom you depend deceive you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, dooming them to destruction. So do you think you will be saved? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my ancestors save them—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden, who were in Tel-assar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, or of Hena, or of Ivvah, or of Samaria?’”[i]
Hezekiah Prays
14 Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers, and read them.[j] Then he[k] went up to the Lord’s Temple and spread the letters[l] in front of the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord:
16 “O Lord of the Heavenly Armies, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. 17 Extend your ear, Lord, and listen! Open your eyes, Lord, and look! Listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God. 18 It is true, Lord, that Assyrian kings have devastated all these countries,[m] 19 and have thrown their gods into the fire—but they are not gods, but rather the products[n] of human hands, mere wood and stone. So the Assyrians[o] destroyed them. 20 So now, Lord our God, save us from his oppressive[p] hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”[q]
God’s Answer
21 Then Amoz’s son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, to whom you prayed[r] concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. 22 This is the message that the Lord has spoken in opposition to him:
“‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion
despises and mocks you;
the Daughter of Jerusalem—
she tosses her head behind you as you flee.
23 Whom have you insulted and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your messengers[s] you have insulted the Lord,
and you have said,
“With my many chariots
I have climbed the heights of mountains,
the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
the choicest of its pines;
I reached its remotest heights,
the most verdant of its forests.
25 I myself dug wells[t]
and drank foreign[u] waters;
with the soles of my feet
I dried up all the streams of Egypt.”
26 “‘Didn’t you hear
how in the distant past I decided to do it,
how[v] I planned from days of old?
Now I’ve made it happen—
that fortified cities become devastated, besieged heaps.[w]
27 Their inhabitants are devoid of power,
and are terrified and put to shame.
They’ve become like plants in the field,
like[x] green shoots,
like grass on rooftops,
scorched by the east wind.[y]
28 “‘I know when you rise up
and[z] when you sit down,
your comings and goings—
and how you’ve become enraged at me.
29 Your insolence[aa] has reached my ears,
so I’ll put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,[ab]
and I’ll make you turn back on the road
by which you came.
30 “And this will be your sign, Hezekiah:[ac] Eat this year what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 Then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather,[ad] and those who are found[ae] will take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32 For a remnant will come out of Zion,[af] and a band of survivors from Jerusalem.[ag] The zeal of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this.
33 “Therefore this what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria: ‘He won’t enter this city, build up a siege ramp against it, shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield.[ah] 34 By the same way that he came, he will return; he won’t enter this city,’ declares the Lord, 35 ‘because I will defend this city and deliver[ai] it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David!’”
Sennacherib is Defeated
36 After this, the angel of the Lord went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When Hezekiah’s army[aj] awakened in the morning—there were all the dead bodies!
37 King Sennacherib broke camp, retreated, returned home to Nineveh, and remained there. 38 Later, while he was worshiping in[ak] the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with swords and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then Sennacherib’s[al] son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery
38 During that time,[am] Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. Then Amoz’s son Isaiah the prophet came to him and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your house in order, because you are going to die. You won’t recover.’”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. 3 “Please, Lord,” he said, “Remember how I have walked before you faithfully and with a true heart, and I have done what pleases you.”[an] And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then this message[ao] from the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David has to say: “I’ve heard your prayer and[ap] I’ve seen your tears; so I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I’ll save you and this city from the[aq] king of Assyria, and I’ll defend this city, for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.[ar] 7 This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord will carry out this thing he has promised: 8 Watch! I will make the shadow on the steps of the upper[as] dial of Ahaz that marks the sun go ten steps backwards.”’”
Then the sunlight turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had gone down.
Hezekiah’s Prayer
9 A composition by King Hezekiah of Judah, following his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “Must I leave in the prime of my life?
Must I be consigned to the control[at] of Sheol?[au]
Bitter are[av] my years!”
11 I said, “I won’t see the Lord[aw] in the land of the living;
and[ax] I’ll no longer observe human beings
among the denizens of the grave.[ay]
12 My house has been plucked up and vanishes[az] from me
like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver, I’ve taken account of[ba] my life,
and he cuts me off from the loom—
day and night you make an end of me.
13 I’ve been swept bare[bb] until morning;
just like a lion, he breaks all my bones—
day and night you make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp,
I moan like a dove.
My eyes look weakly upward.
O Lord,[bc] I am oppressed, so[bd] stand up for me!
15 What can I say, so I tell myself,[be]
since he has done this to me?[bf]
I will walk slowly all my years
because of my soul’s anguish.
16 “My Lord is against them, yet they live,
and among all of them who live is his spirit.[bg]
Now you have restored me to health,
so let me live!
17 Yes, it was for my own good
that I suffered extreme anguish.[bh]
But in love you have held back[bi] my life
from the Pit[bj] in which it has been confined;[bk]
you have tossed all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol[bl] cannot thank you,
death cannot[bm] sing your praise;
and[bn] those who go down to the Pit[bo] cannot hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living—yes the living—they thank you,
just as I am doing today;
fathers will tell their children
about your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,[bp]
and we will play my music on strings
all the days of our lives
in the Lord’s Temple.[bq]
21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them prepare[br] a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.”
22 Hezekiah also had asked, “What will be the sign for me to go up to the Lord’s Temple?”[bs]
The Visit by Merodach-baladan
39 At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, when[bt] he heard he had been sick and had survived.[bu] 2 Hezekiah was delighted with them, and showed them everything in[bv] his treasure-houses[bw]—the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oils, his entire armory, and everything found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom[bx] that Hezekiah did not show them.
Isaiah Rebukes Hezekiah
3 Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men have to say? And from where did they come to you?”
Hezekiah replied, “From a distant land—they came to me from Babylon.”
4 “What did they see in your palace?” he asked.
“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah replied. “There is nothing in my treasuries that I did not show them.”
5 Then Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Listen to this message[by] from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies: 6 ‘The days are surely coming when everything in your palace and all that your ancestors have stored up to this day will be carried off[bz] to Babylon. They will come in, and[ca] nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 7 ‘Then some of your own sons, who will come from your loins,[cb] whom you will father, will be taken away to become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”
8 “The message from the Lord that you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, since he was thinking, “…at least there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
To the Director: With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.
The Awesome God
76 God is known in Judah;
in Israel his reputation is great.
2 His abode is in Salem,[a]
his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he shattered sharp arrows,
shields, swords, and weapons of[b] war.
4 You are enveloped by light;
more majestic than mountains filled with game.
5 Brave men were plundered
while they slumbered in their sleep.
All the men of the army were immobilized.
6 At the sound of your battle cry, God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot rider fell into deep sleep.
7 You are awesome!
who can stand in your presence when you’re angry?
8 From heaven you declared judgment.
The earth stands in awe and is quiet
9 when God arose to execute justice
and to deliver all the afflicted of the earth.
10 Even human anger praises you;
you will wear the survivors of your wrath as an ornament.[c]
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