Isaiah 37

1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s house. 2 He sent Eliakim the household steward, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of affliction, reproach, rebuke, and anger. The woman in labor has reached the birth pangs but has no strength to give birth. 4 May the Lord your God hear the words of Rabshakeh, which the king of the Assyrians sent to reproach the living God — words of reproach the Lord your God has heard. So pray to the Lord your God for those who remain.” 5 So King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah.

6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of the words you heard, with which the ambassadors of the king of the Assyrians reviled me. 7 Look, I will put a spirit in him. He will hear a report and return to his own country, and he will fall by the sword in his own land.” 8 Rabshakeh returned and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Libnah. The king of the Assyrians heard that 9 Tirhakah king of the Ethiopians had gone out to attack him. When he heard this, he turned back and sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, [a]

10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: Do not let your God, whom you trust, deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of the Assyrians.’ 11 Have you not heard what the kings of the Assyrians did to the whole earth—how they destroyed it? [b] 12 Did the gods of the nations rescue Gozan, Haran, and Raphes in the land of Themad—the nations my ancestors destroyed? 13 Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad, and of the city of Sepharvaim, Anag, and Ugava?” 14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and opened it before the Lord. [c]

15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “Lord of armies, God of Israel who sits above the cherubim, you alone are God of every kingdom in the world. You made heaven and earth. 17 Turn your ear and listen, Lord. Open your eyes and look at the words Sennacherib sent to insult the living God. 18 It is true that the kings of the Assyrians devastated the whole world and its countries 19 and threw their idols into fire. Those were not gods, but wood and stone made by human hands, so they destroyed them.

20 Now, Lord our God, save us from their hands so every kingdom on earth may know that you alone are God.” 21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians. 22 This is the word God spoke concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion despised and mocked you; the daughter of Jerusalem shook her head at you. 23 Whom did you insult and provoke? Against whom did you raise your voice? And you did not lift your eyes on high to the Holy One of Israel.

24 Through messengers you insulted the Lord, saying, ‘With my many chariots I climbed the mountains’ heights and Lebanon’s slopes. I cut down its tallest cedars and finest cypresses and entered the forest’s highest region. 25 I built a bridge and dried up waters and every pool.’ 26 Did you not hear about the things I did long ago? I appointed them in ancient times, and now I revealed my purpose to devastate nations in their fortresses and people living in fortified cities. 27 I weakened their hands, and they withered. They became like dry grass on rooftops, like wild grass. 28 But now I know your rest, your departure, and your arrival.

29 Your furious rage and your bitterness rose up to me, so I will put a hook in your nose and a bit between your lips and turn you back along the road you came. 30 This will be the sign for you: Eat this year what you sowed, and in the second year what remains. In the third year, sow, harvest, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31 Those left in Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. 32 A remaining people will come out of Jerusalem, and those who are saved will come from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this. 33 Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of the Assyrians: He will not enter this city, shoot an arrow into it, bring a shield against it, or surround it with a siege wall.

34 He will return by the way he came, says the Lord. [d] 35 I will defend this city and save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” 36 Then the messenger of the Lord went out and killed 185,000 people in the Assyrian camp. When people arose in the morning, they found all the bodies dead. 37 The king of the Assyrians turned back, left, and lived in Nineveh. 38 While he was bowing down in the house of Nisroch his god, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with swords and escaped to Ararat. His son Esarhaddon reigned in his place. [e]