Isaiah 37:1-38
[1] And it came to be, when Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu
heard it, that he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and
went into the House of יהוה,
[2] and sent Elyaqim, who was over
the household, and Sheḇnah
the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covering themselves with sackcloth,
to Yeshayahu the prophet, the son of Amots.
[3] And they said to him, “Thus said
Ḥizqiyahu, ‘This day is a day of
distress and rebuke and scorn, for the children have come to birth, but there
is no strength to bring forth.
[4] ‘It could be that יהוה your Elohim does hear the words of the Raḇshaqĕh, whom his master the
sovereign of Ashshur has sent to reproach the living Elohim, and shall rebuke
the words which יהוה your Elohim has heard. Therefore lift up your prayer for the
remnant that is left.’ ”
[5] So the servants of Sovereign Ḥizqiyahu came to Yeshayahu,
[6] and Yeshayahu said to them, “Say
this to your master, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with
which the servants of the sovereign of Ashshur have reviled Me.
[7] “See, I am putting a spirit in
him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land. And I shall cause
him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ ”
[8] And the Raḇshaqĕh returned and found the
sovereign of Ashshur fighting against Liḇnah, for he had heard that he had left Laḵish.
[9] And he heard concerning Tirhaqah
sovereign of Kush, “He has come out to fight
with you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ḥizqiyahu, saying,
[10] “Speak to Ḥizqiyahu the sovereign of Yehuḏah, saying, ‘Do not let your
Elohim in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Yerushalayim is not given into
the hand of the sovereign of Ashshur.”
[11] ‘See, you have heard what the
sovereigns of Ashshur have done to all lands by putting them under the ban. And
are you going to be delivered?
[12] ‘Have the mighty ones of the
nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Ḥaran and Retseph, and the sons of
Ěḏen who were in Telassar?
[13] ‘Where is the sovereign of Ḥamath, and the sovereign of Arpaḏ, and the sovereign of the city
of Sepharwayim,
Hĕna, and Iwwah?’ ”
[14] And Ḥizqiyahu received the letter from the hand of the
messengers, and read it. And Ḥizqiyahu
went up to the House of יהוה, and spread it before יהוה.
[15] And Ḥizqiyahu prayed to יהוה, saying,
[16] “O יהוה of hosts, Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, the One who dwells between the
keruḇim, You are Elohim, You alone, of
all the reigns of the earth. You have made the heavens and earth.
[17] “Incline Your ear, O יהוה, and hear. Open Your eyes, O יהוה, and see. And hear all the words of Sanḥĕriḇ, who has sent to reproach the living Elohim.
[18] “Truly, יהוה, the sovereigns of Ashshur have laid waste all the lands, and
their land,
[19] and have put their mighty ones
into the fire, for they were not mighty ones, but the work of men’s hands, wood
and stone. And they destroyed them.
[20] “And now, O יהוה our Elohim, save us from his hand, so that
all the reigns of the earth know that You are יהוה, You alone.”
[21] Then Yeshayahu son of Amots
sent to Ḥizqiyahu, saying, “Thus said יהוה Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Because you have
prayed to Me against Sanḥĕriḇ sovereign of Ashshur,
[22] this is the word which יהוה has spoken concerning him, “The maiden,
the daughter of Tsiyon, has despised you, mocked you; the daughter of
Yerushalayim has shaken her head behind you!
[23] “Whom have you reproached and
reviled? And against whom have you raised your voice, and lifted up your eyes
in pride? Against the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl!
[24] “By the hand of your servants
you have reproached יהוה, and said, ‘With my many chariots I have come up to the height
of the mountains, to the limits of Leḇanon.
And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. And I enter its
farthest height, its thickest forest.
[25] ‘I have dug and drunk water,
and with the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of defence.’
[26] “Have you not heard long ago
how I made it, from days of old, that I formed it? Now I have brought it about,
that you should be for crushing walled cities into heaps of ruins.
[27] “And their inhabitants were
powerless, they were overthrown and put to shame. They were as the grass of the
field and as the green plant, as the grass on the house-tops and as grain
blighted before it is grown.
[28] “But I know your sitting down,
and your going out and your coming in, and your rage against Me.
[29] “Because your rage against Me
and your pride have come up to My ears, I shall put My hook in your nose and My
bridle in your lips, and I shall turn you back by the way which you came.
[30] “And this shall be the sign for
you: This year you eat such as grows of itself, and the second year what
springs from that, and in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards, and eat
the fruit of them.
[31] “And the remnant who have
escaped of the house of Yehuḏah
shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
[32] “For out of Yerushalayim comes
forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon
– the ardour of יהוה of hosts does this.
[33] “Therefore thus said יהוה concerning the sovereign of Ashshur, ‘He
does not come into this city, nor does he shoot an arrow there, nor does he
come before it with shield, nor does he build a siege mound against it.
[34] ‘By the way that he came, by
the same he turns back. And into this city he does not come,’ declares יהוה.
[35] ‘And I shall defend this city,
to save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant Dawiḏ.’ ”
[36] And a messenger of יהוה went out, and killed in the camp of
Ashshur one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose early in the
morning, and saw all of them, dead bodies.
[37] And Sanḥĕriḇ the sovereign of Ashshur broke camp and went away, and
turned back, and remained at Ninewĕh.
[38] And it came to be, as he was
bowing himself in the house of Nisroḵ his
mighty one, that his sons Aḏrammeleḵ and Shar’etser smote him with
the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And his son Ěsarḥaddon reigned in his place.
