| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1As soon as Hezekiah the king heard this, he tore his clothes, dressed himself in sackcloth, and went into the LORD's Temple. | 1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the LORD's temple. |
| 2Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, all wearing sackcloth, to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah. | 2Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: |
| 3"Here is what Hezekiah says," they told him. "This day is a day of trouble, rebuke, and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no energy to deliver them. | 3"This is what Hezekiah says: 'This is a day of distress, insults, and humiliation, as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. |
| 4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to mock the living God, and perhaps he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. So lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives in this city." | 4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the LORD your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.'" |
| 5That's why King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah. | 5When King Hezekiah's servants came to Isaiah, |
| 6"Here is what to tell your master," Isaiah told them. "This is what the LORD says: 'Don't be afraid of the words you've heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have insulted me. | 6Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master this: 'This is what the LORD says: "Don't be afraid because of the things you have heard--these insults the king of Assyria's servants have hurled against me. |
| 7Watch this! I'm going to place an attitude within him, so that when he hears a certain report, he'll return to his own country. Then I'll have him cut down by the sword in his own land." | 7Look, I will take control of his mind; he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down with a sword in his own land."'" |
| 8So the field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, since he had heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. | 8When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. |
| 9Now King Sennacherib had received this report concerning King Tirhakah of Cush: "He has marched out to fight against you." When he heard it, he returned and sent messengers to Hezekiah: | 9The king heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was marching out to fight him. He again sent messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: |
| 10"Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Don't let your God on whom you depend deceive you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria." | 10"Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria." |
| 11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all countries, dooming them to destruction. So do you think you will be saved? | 11Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. Do you really think you will be rescued? |
| 12Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my ancestors save them—the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden, who were in Tel-assar? | 12Were the nations whom my predecessors destroyed--the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar--rescued by their gods? |
| 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, or of Hena, or of Ivvah, or of Samaria?'" | 13Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'" |
| 14Hezekiah received the letters from the messengers, and read them. Then he went up to the LORD's Temple and spread the letters in front of the LORD. | 14Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD's temple and spread it out before the LORD. |
| 15Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: | 15Hezekiah prayed before the LORD: |
| 16"O LORD of the Heavenly Armies, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. | 16"O LORD who commands armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth. |
| 17Extend your ear, LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, LORD, and look! Listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God. | 17Pay attention, LORD, and hear! Open your eyes, LORD, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! |
| 18It is true, LORD, that Assyrian kings have devastated all these countries, | 18It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations and their lands. |
| 19and have thrown their gods into the fire—but they are not gods, but rather the products of human hands, mere wood and stone. So the Assyrians destroyed them. | 19They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. |
| 20So now, LORD our God, save us from his oppressive hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." | 20Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD." |
| 21Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, to whom you prayed concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. | 21Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, |
| 22This is the message that the LORD has spoken in opposition to him: "'The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem— she tosses her head behind you as you flee. | 22this is what the LORD says about him: "The virgin daughter Zion despises you--she makes fun of you; daughter Jerusalem shakes her head after you. |
| 23Whom have you insulted and reviled? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! | 23Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at? At whom have you shouted and looked so arrogantly? At the Holy One of Israel! |
| 24By your messengers you have insulted the LORD, and you have said, "With my many chariots I have climbed the heights of mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines; I reached its remotest heights, the most verdant of its forests. | 24Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 'With my many chariots I climbed up the high mountains, the slopes of Lebanon. I cut down its tall cedars and its best evergreens. I invaded its most remote regions, its thickest woods. |
| 25I myself dug wells and drank foreign waters; with the soles of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt." | 25I dug wells and drank water. With the soles of my feet I dried up all the rivers of Egypt.' |
| 26"'Didn't you hear how in the distant past I decided to do it, how I planned from days of old? Now I've made it happen— that fortified cities become devastated, besieged heaps. | 26Certainly you must have heard! Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins. |
| 27Their inhabitants are devoid of power, and are terrified and put to shame. They've become like plants in the field, like green shoots, like grass on rooftops, scorched by the east wind. | 27Their residents are powerless; they are terrified and ashamed. They are as short-lived as plants in the field or green vegetation. They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops when it is scorched by the east wind. |
| 28"'I know when you rise up and when you sit down, your comings and goings— and how you've become enraged at me. | 28I know where you live and everything you do and how you rage against me. |
| 29Your insolence has reached my ears, so I'll put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I'll make you turn back on the road by which you came. | 29Because you rage against me and the uproar you create has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle between your lips, and I will lead you back the way you came." |
| 30"And this will be your sign, Hezekiah: Eat this year what grows on its own, and in the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. | 30"This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: This year you will eat what grows wild, and next year what grows on its own. But the year after that you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. |
| 31Then the ones belonging to the house of Judah who have escaped will gather, and those who are found will take root downward and bear fruit upward. | 31Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. |
| 32For a remnant will come out of Zion, and a band of survivors from Jerusalem. The zeal of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies will accomplish this. | 32"For a remnant will leave Jerusalem; survivors will come out of Mount Zion. The intense devotion of the LORD who commands armies will accomplish this. |
| 33"Therefore this what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: 'He won't enter this city, build up a siege ramp against it, shoot an arrow here, or threaten it with a shield. | 33So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: 'He will not enter this city, nor will he shoot an arrow here. He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, nor will he build siege works against it. |
| 34By the same way that he came, he will return; he won't enter this city,' declares the LORD, | 34He will go back the way he came--he will not enter this city,' says the LORD. |
| 35because I will defend this city and deliver it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David!'" | 35I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant."'" |
| 36After this, the angel of the LORD went out and put to death 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When Hezekiah's army awakened in the morning—there were all the dead bodies! | 36The LORD's messenger went out and killed 185,000 troops in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! |
| 37King Sennacherib broke camp, retreated, returned home to Nineveh, and remained there. | 37So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. |
| 38Later, while he was worshiping in the house of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with swords and escaped to the land of Ararat. Then Sennacherib's son Esar-haddon reigned in his place. | 38One day, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king. |
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