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.
02 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders
of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto
Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
03 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah,
This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and
of blasphemy: for the children are come to the
birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
04 It may be the Lord thy God will hear 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 is left.
05 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to
Isaiah.
06 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye 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.
07 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he
shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land;
and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his
own land.
08 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of
Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard
that he was departed from Lachish.
09 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of
Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee.
And when he heard it, he sent messengers to
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
given 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 Telassar?
13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of
Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim,
Hena, and Ivah?
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand
of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went
up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it
before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying,
16 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even
thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth:
thou hast made heaven and earth.
17 Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open
thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the
words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach
the living God.
18 Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have
laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
19 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.
20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from
his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.
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21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto
Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria:
22 This is the word which 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.
23 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.
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord,
and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am
I come up to the height of the mountains, to the
sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall
cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof:
and I will enter into the height of his border,
and the forest of his Carmel.
25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the
sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of
the besieged places.
26 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 defenced cities into
ruinous heaps.
27 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.
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and
thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult,
is come up into mine ears, therefore will I 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.
30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall
eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the
second year that which springeth of the same: and
in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant
vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
31 And 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 forth 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 come into this
city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before
it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he
return, and shall 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 David's sake.
36 Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and
smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and
fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose
early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses.
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and
went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
38 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.
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