| International Standard Version | New International Version |
| 1When King Hezekiah heard Eliakim's report, he tore his clothes, put on a sackcloth covering, entered the LORD's Temple, | 1When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD. |
| 2and sent Eliakim the household supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests—all of them covered in sackcloth—to Amoz's son, the prophet Isaiah. | 2He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. |
| 3They announced to him: "This is what Hezekiah says: 'Today is a day of trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy, because children are about to be born, but there is no strength to bring them to birth. | 3They told him, "This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. |
| 4Perhaps the LORD your God will take note of everything that Rab-shakeh has said, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to taunt the living God, and then he will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore offer a prayer for the survivors who remain.'" | 4It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives." |
| 5That is how the King Hezekiah's servants approached Isaiah. | 5When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, |
| 6In reply, Isaiah responded to them, "Here's how you're to report to your master: 'This is what the LORD says: "Never be afraid of the words that you have heard by which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. | 6Isaiah said to them, "Tell your master, 'This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard--those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. |
| 7Look! I'm going to cause an attitude to grow within him so that he'll hear a rumor and return to his own territory, where I'll make him die by the sword in his own land!"'" | 7Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'" |
| 8So Rab-shakeh returned and found the king of Assyria at war with Libnah, because Rab-shakeh had heard that the king had left Lachish. | 8When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah. |
| 9When he heard that it was being said about King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, "Look! He has come out to attack you!" he again sent messengers to Hezekiah. The messengers were told, | 9Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: |
| 10"This is what you are to say to King Hezekiah of Judah: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust deceive you by telling you "Jerusalem won't be turned over to the control of Assyria's king." | 10"Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, 'Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.' |
| 11Look! you've heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands—they completely destroyed them! Will you be spared? | 11Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? |
| 12Did the gods of those nations whom my ancestors destroyed deliver them, including Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and Eden's descendants in Telassar? | 12Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them--the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? |
| 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'" | 13Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?" |
| 14Hezekiah took the messages from the couriers, read them, went up to the LORD's Temple, and laid them out in the presence of the LORD. | 14Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. |
| 15Then Hezekiah prayed in the presence of the LORD, "LORD God of Israel! You live between the cherubim! You alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have fashioned the heavens and the earth. | 15And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. |
| 16Turn your ear, LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, LORD, and observe! Listen to the message sent by Sennacherib to insult the living God! | 16Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. |
| 17Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated nations and their territories, | 17"It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. |
| 18throwing their gods into the fire, since they weren't gods but rather were the product of men's handiwork—wood and stone. And so they destroyed them. | 18They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. |
| 19Now, LORD our God, I'm praying that you will deliver us from his control, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God!" | 19Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God." |
| 20Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent word to Hezekiah, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: 'Because you have prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria, I have listened.'" | 20Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. |
| 21"This is what the LORD has spoken against him: 'She despises and mocks you, this virgin daughter of Zion! Behind your back she shakes her head, this daughter of Jerusalem! | 21This is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: "'Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. |
| 22Who are you reproaching and blaspheming? Against whom have you raised your voice? And against whom have you lifted up your eyes in arrogance? Against the Holy One of Israel! | 22Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! |
| 23By your messengers you have insulted the LORD. You have claimed, "With my many chariots I ascended the heights of the mountains, including the remotest regions of Lebanon; I cut down its tall cedars and the best of its cypress trees. I entered its most remote lodging place and its most fruitful forest. | 23By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord. And you have said, "With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its junipers. I have reached its remotest parts, the finest of its forests. |
| 24I myself dug for and drank foreign water. With the sole of my foot I dried up all the streams of Egypt!" | 24I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water there. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt." |
| 25Didn't you hear? I determined it years ago! I planned this from ancient times, and now I've brought it to pass, to turn fortified cities into piles of ruins | 25"'Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. |
| 26while their inhabitants, lacking strength, stand dismayed and confused. They were like vegetation out in the fields, and like green herbs— just as grass that grows on a housetop dries out before it can grow. | 26Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up. |
| 27But when you sit down, when you go out, and when you come in, I'm aware of it! | 27"'But I know where you are and when you come and go and how you rage against me. |
| 28Because of your rage against me, your complacency has reached my ears. I'll put my hook into your nostrils and my bit into your mouth. Then I'll turn you back on the road by which you came.' | 28Because you rage against me and because your insolence has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will make you return by the way you came.' |
| 29"This will serve as a sign for you: you'll eat this year from what grows by itself, in the second year what grows from that, and in the third year you'll sow, reap, plant vineyards, and enjoy their fruit. | 29"This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah: "This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. |
| 30Those who survive from Judah's household will again put down deep roots and bear fruit extensively, | 30Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. |
| 31because a remnant will go out from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD will bring this about." | 31For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. "The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. |
| 32"Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: 'Not only will he not approach this city or shoot an arrow in its direction, he won't approach it with so much as a shield, nor will he throw up a siege ramp against it. | 32"Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the king of Assyria: "'He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. |
| 33He'll return on the same route by which he came—he won't come to this city,' declares the LORD. | 33By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city, declares the LORD. |
| 34I will defend this city and preserve it for my own reasons, and because of my servant David.'" | 34I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.'" |
| 35That very night, the angel of the LORD went out to the camp of the Assyrian army and killed 185,000 men. Early the next morning, when the army of Israel arose, all 185,000 soldiers were dead. | 35That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies! |
| 36As a result, King Sennacherib of Assyria left and returned to Nineveh where he lived. | 36So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. |
| 37Later on, as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with a sword and fled into the territory of Ararat. Then Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon became king in his place. | 37One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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