2 Kings 19

1 On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.

2 And he sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz

3 to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”

5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,

6 who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”

8 When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

9 Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

10 “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?

12 Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?

13 Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

14 So Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.

15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.

16 Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.

17 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.

18 They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.

19 And now, O LORD our God, please save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”

20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

21 This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.

22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!

23 Through your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said: “With my many chariots I have ascended to the heights of the mountains, to the remote peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the finest of its cypresses. I have reached its farthest outposts, the densest of its forests.

24 I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.

26 Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

27 But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.

28 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’

29 And this will be a sign to you, O Hezekiah: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from the same. But in the third year you will sow and reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

30 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.

31 For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.

32 So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.

33 He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city, declares the LORD.

34 I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”

35 And that very night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.

1 ¶ And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard [it], that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

2 And he sent Eliakim, which [was] over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day [is] a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and [there is] not strength to bring forth.

4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up [thy] prayer for the remnant that are left.

5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.

7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall 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 warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.

9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,

10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?

12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; [as] Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which [were] in Thelasar?

13 Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.

15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest [between] the cherubims, thou art the God, [even] thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

16 LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

17 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,

18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they [were] no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

19 Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou [art] the LORD God, [even] thou only.

20 ¶ Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, [That] which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

21 This [is] the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, [and] laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.

22 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted [thy] voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? [even] against the Holy [One] of Israel.

23 By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, [and] the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, [and into] the forest of his Carmel.

24 I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.

25 Hast thou not heard long ago [how] I have done it, [and] of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities [into] ruinous heaps.

26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were [as] the grass of the field, and [as] the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and [as corn] blasted before it be grown up.

27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.

28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

29 And this [shall be] a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.

30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD [of hosts] shall do this.

32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.

33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.

34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

35 ¶ And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they [were] all dead corpses.

36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

1 And when Hezekiah the king heard it, he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.

2 And he sent Eliakim the chamberlain, and Shebena the scribe, and the eldest priests, clothed with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This is a day of trouble, and reproach, and blasphemy; the children are come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth.

4 Whether the LORD thy God would hear all the words of the prince whom his lord the king of Assyria hath sent to reproach the living God, and to rebuke him with words which the LORD thy God hath heard. Save thy prayer for the rest that are left.

5 And when the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah,

6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus say ye unto your Lord, Thus saith the LORD; Fear not the words which thou hast heard, that the lads of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me,

7 Behold, I will give him a spirit, and he shall hear a rumour, and return unto his own land: and I will slay him with the sword in his own land.

8 And when the archbishop returned, he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah: for he had heard that he was come out of Lachish.

9 And when he heard of Tirhakah king of the Moors: Behold, he is gone out to fight with thee, he turned and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying.

10 Thus say ye to Hezekiah king of Judah, Let not thy God be set up, in whom thou trustest, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done unto all the countries, and hast utterly destroyed them: and thou shalt be saved?

12 Have the gods of the heathen saved them also, whom my fathers have destroyed; Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden, which were in Thelassar?

13 Where is the king of Hemath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Iwa?

14 And when Hezekiah had received the letters of the messengers, and had read them, he went up to the house of the LORD, and spread them out before the LORD.

15 And he prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which sitteth over cherubims, thou only art God among all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.

16 O LORD, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold, and hear the words of Sanherib, which hath sent to mock the living GOD.

17 It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria slew the heathen with the sword, and destroyed their land.

18 And they have cast their gods into the fire. For they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stones: therefore they slew them.

19 But now, O LORD our God, save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou, O LORD, art God alone.

20 And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, What thou hast prayed unto me for Sanherib king of Assyria, that have I heard.

21 This is that the LORD hath spoken against him: The virgin the daughter of Zion despiseth thee, and mocketh thee: the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee.

22 Whom hast thou heard and blasphemed? Against whom hast thou lifted up thy voice? Thou hast lifted up thine eyes against the Holy One of Israel.

23 Thou hast heard the LORD by thy messengers, saying, I have gone up through the multitude of my chariots unto the height of the mountains, unto the sides of Lebanon; I have cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice firs thereof, and am come unto the uttermost lodging place of the forest of his Carmel;

24 I have dug and drunk up the strange waters, and have dried up the lakes with the soles of my feet.

25 But hast thou not heard that I have done these things a long time before, and from the beginning have I prepared them? But now have I caused strong cities to fall into a desolate heap of stones,

26 And they that dwell therein shall be weary, and afraid, and ashamed, and shall be as the grass of the field, and as the green herb for hay upon the housetops, which withereth before it be ripe.

27 I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and that thou hast raged against me.

28 Because thou hast raged against me, and because thine insolence is come up into mine ears, I will put a ring upon thy nose, and a bit in thy mouth, and will bring thee again by the way whence thou camest.

29 And be a sign unto thee: In this year eat that which is trodden down; in the next year that which groweth of itself; in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

30 And the daughter of Judah, which is saved, and is left, shall take root among her, and bear fruit above her.

31 For from Jerusalem shall go forth them that are left, and them that are saved from mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.

32 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria; He shall not enter into this city, neither shall he shoot an arrow therein, neither shall he put a shield before it, neither shall he build a wall round about it,

33 But he shall return by the way that he came, and shall not enter into that city: the LORD saith it.

34 And I will defend this city, and will help it for my sake, and for David my servant's sake.

35 And the same night the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of Assyria an hundred and fifty and five thousand men. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies.

36 So Sanherib king of Assyria departed, and went away, and returned; and abode at Nineveh.

37 And when he worshipped in the house of Nisroch his god, Adramelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Assar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.