Isaiah’s Message of Deliverance
(Isaiah 37:1–7)

1On hearing this report, King Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD {YHWH}. 2And he sent Eliakim (GGod sets up) the palace administrator, Shebna (vigor) the scribe, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah (YHWH has saved) son of Amoz (strong) 3to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) 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. 4Perhaps the LORD your God {YHWH Eloheka} will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria (a step) 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.”

5So the servants of King Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) went to Isaiah (YHWH has saved), 6who (YHWH has saved) replied, “Tell your⁺ master that this is what the LORD {YHWH} says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria (a step) have blasphemed Me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit {ruach} 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.’”

Sennacherib’s Blasphemous Letter
(Isaiah 37:8–13)

8When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria (a step) had left Lachish (invincible), he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah (pavement).

9Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah (he searched out the pious) king of Cush (Ethiopia) (the upper Nile region):a “Look, he has set out to fight against you.”

So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength), saying, 10“Give this message to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) king of Judah (praised):

‘Do not let your God {Eloheka}, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem (city of peace) will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria (a step). 11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria (a step) have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction {cherem}.b Will you then be spared? 12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan (a cutting off), Haran (mountaineer), and Rezeph (a hot stone), and of the people of Eden (pleasure) in Telassar (Assyrian hill)? 13Where are the kings of Hamath (fortress), Arpad (I shall be supported), Sepharvaim (the two Sipparas), Hena (troubling), and Ivvah (ruin)?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer
(Isaiah 37:14–20)

14So Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) received the letter from the messengers, read it, and went up to the house of the LORD {YHWH} and spread it out before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength) prayed before the LORD {YHWH}:

“O LORD, God {YHWH Elohe} of Israel (he wrestles with God), enthroned between the cherubim, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 16Incline Your ear, O LORD {YHWH}, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God {Elohim}.

17Truly, O LORD {YHWH}, the kings of Assyria (a step) have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18They 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.

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

Sennacherib’s Fall Prophesied
(Isaiah 37:21–35)

20Then Isaiah (YHWH has saved) son of Amoz (strong) sent a message to Hezekiah (YHWH is my strength): “This is what the LORD, the God {YHWH Elohe} of Israel (he wrestles with God), says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria (a step). 21This is the word that the LORD {YHWH} has spoken against him:

‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion

despises you and mocks you;

the Daughter of Jerusalem (city of peace)

shakes her head behind you.

22Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?

Against whom have you raised your voice

and lifted your eyes in pride?

Against the Holy One of Israel Qadosh Yisrael!

23Through your servants you have taunted the Lord {Adonai},

and you have said:

“With my many chariots

I have ascended

to the heights of the mountains,

to the remote peaks of Lebanon (whiteness).

I have cut down its tallest cedars,

the finest of its cypresses (pines).c

I have reached its farthest outposts,

the densest of its forests.

24I have dug wells

and drunk foreign waters.

With the soles of my feet

I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

25Have 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.

26Therefore 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.

27But I know your sitting down,

your going out and coming in,

and your raging against Me.

28Because 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.’

29And 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.

30And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah (praised)

will again take root below

and bear fruit above.

31For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem (city of peace),

and survivors from Mount Zion.

The zeal of the LORD of Hosts [The zeal of the LORD]d

will accomplish this.

32So this is what the LORD {YHWH} says about the king of Assyria (a step):

‘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.

33He will go back the way he came,

and he will not enter this city,

declares the LORD {YHWH}.

34I will defend this city

and save it

for My own sake

and for the sake of My servant David (beloved).’”

Jerusalem Delivered from the Assyrians
(2 Chronicles 32:20–23; Isaiah 37:36–38)

35And that very night the angel of the LORD {YHWH} went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians (a step). When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies! 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria (a step) broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh (abode of Ninus) and stayed there.

37One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch (the great eagle), his sons Adrammelech (honor of the king) and Sharezer [his sons]e put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat (curse reversed). And his son Esar-haddon (Ashur has given a brother) reigned in his place.