Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
1When King Hezekiah heard their report,37:1–35 2Kg 19:1–34 he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,37:1 Gn 37:34; 2Sm 3:31; 1Kg 21:27; Is 3:24 and went to the Lord’s temple.
2He sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary, and the leading priests, who were covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
3They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace.37:3 Is 22:5; 26:16; 33:2; Nah 1:7; Hab 3:16 It is as if children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.37:3 Is 26:17–18; 66:9; Hs 13:13
4Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all the words of the royal spokesman, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God,37:4 Dt 5:26; 1Sm 17:26,36; Jr 10:10 and will rebuke him for the words that the Lord your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”37:4 Is 1:9; 46:3
5So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,
Sennacherib’s Letter
8When the royal spokesman heard that the king of Assyria had pulled out of Lachish,37:8 Jos 10:31–32 he left and found him fighting against Libnah.37:8 Nm 33:20; Jos 10:29
9The king had heard concerning King Tirhakah of Cush,37:9 Is 18:1; 20:5 “He has set out to fight against you.” So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
10“Say this to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, on whom you rely, deceive you37:10 Is 36:14–15 by promising that Jerusalem won’t be handed over to the king of Assyria.
11Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: they completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued?
12Did the gods of the nations37:12 Is 36:18 that my predecessors destroyed rescue them — Gozan,37:12 2Kg 17:6; 18:11 Haran,37:12 Gn 11:31; 12:1–4; Ac 7:2 Rezeph, and the Edenites in Telassar?
13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of37:13 Or king of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ’”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
16
Lord of Armies, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,37:16 Ex 25:22; Nm 7:89; 1Sm 4:4; 2Sm 6:2; Ps 80:1; 99:1 you are God37:16 Dt 10:17; 2Sm 7:28; Ps 86:10; 90:2; 136:2–3 — you alone37:16 1Kg 8:39; Neh 9:6; Ps 4:8; 83:18; 86:10; Rv 15:4 — of all the kingdoms of the earth.37:16 2Ch 36:20; Ps 68:32; Rv 11:15 You made the heavens and the earth.37:16 Ex 20:11; Neh 9:6; Ps 146:6; Ac 4:24
17Listen closely, Lord, and hear;37:17 2Ch 6:40; Ps 17:6; Dn 9:18 open your eyes, Lord, and see.37:17 Is 42:5; 45:12; Jr 10:12 Hear all the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.37:17 Is 37:4
18Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated all these countries and their lands.
19They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods37:19 Dt 32:17; 2Ch 13:9; Jr 2:11; 5:7; 16:20; Hs 8:6; Ac 19:26; Gl 4:8 but made from wood and stone37:19 Dt 4:28; 28:36,64; 29:17; Ezk 20:32 by human hands.37:19 Is 2:8,20; 17:8; 31:7; 41:24,29; 44:9–20; 46:6 So they have destroyed them.
God’s Answer through Isaiah
21Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Because you prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria,
22this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
despises you and scorns you;
behind your back.
Against whom have you raised your voice
24You have mocked the Lord through your servants.
You have said, “With my many chariots37:24 Ex 14:26–28; 15:4,19; Dt 20:1; Jos 11:4–9; 2Ch 16:8; Ps 68:17
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its distant heights,
its densest forest.
25I dug wells and drank water in foreign lands.37:25 DSS, 2Kg 19:24; MT omits in foreign lands
I dried up all the streams of Egypt
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.37:26 Is 5:19; 10:5–6; 14:24–26; 22:11; 46:11; Jr 18:11; Ac 2:23; 4:27–28; 1Pt 2:8
I have now brought it to pass,
and you have crushed fortified cities37:26 Is 34:13
into piles of rubble.
27Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,
blasted by the east wind.37:27 DSS; MT reads rooftops, field before standing grain
28But I know your sitting down,
your going out and your coming in,37:28 Ps 139:1
and your raging against me.
29Because your raging against me
and your arrogance have reached my ears,37:29 Is 10:12
and my bit in your mouth;37:29 Is 30:28
I will make you go back
the way you came.
30“‘This will be the sign for you:37:30 Ex 3:12; 1Sm 2:34; 1Kg 13:3; Is 7:14; 38:7; Jr 44:29; Lk 2:12 This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
33“Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
shoot an arrow here,
come before it with a shield,
or build up a siege ramp against it.
34He will go back
the way he came,
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
35I will defend this city and rescue it
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
36Then37:36–38 2Kg 19:35–37; 2Ch 32:21 the angel of the Lord37:36 Gn 16:7–11; Ex 3:2; Nm 22:22–35; Jdg 6:11–12; 2Sm 24:16; Ps 34:7 went out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
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